7 nights/8 days - The tour starts on the bank of the Loire at Amboise, our hotel is a fine provincial wood beamed 2* Logis de France with a restaurant well known for its Loire fish dishes. Our 2* Logis de France accommodation has a magnificent fire place and exposed beams in Chenouceaux. At Loches we stay in a 2* hotel which overlooks the historic town. Our next night is spent in Montbazon by the Indre, at a riverside annex (formerly a watermill) of the luxurious Chateau d’Artigny, one of the famous Relais et Chateaux chain. At Azay-le-Rideau our 2* hotel is situated in a semi pedestrian street in the heart of this charming village and just 50 meters from the elegant chateau. Our next night is spent in a 2* hotel in Chinon, with the charm of an authentic dwelling located a few hundred meters from the town centre. In Saumur, our final stop, our 2* hotel is in a quiet square near the centre. 
An upgrade to a rather special 3* hotel is possible in Chenouceaux at a supplement, (see price list). This hotel is 150m from the Chateau and has been patronised by the rich and the great; Churchill, Rockefeller and Eleanor Roosevelt to name just a few. Facilities include a swimming pool, a peaceful garden and a superb restaurant

Included:  Seven nights accommodation, breakfast daily, five dinners, bike hire, luggage transfer, route maps and notes, local representative for assistance.

Itinerary:    Start Point: Amboise                   End of Tour: Samur

 Day 1.  Arrive Amboise, a picturesque town on the south bank of the Loire. Amboise boasts the still impressive remnants of what was a magnificent chateau as well as Le Clos Luce, a redbrick manor house that was the home of the polymath Leonardo da Vinci for 3 years until his death in 1519. Chateau and Le Clos Luce (which incorporates a museum of models based on da Vinci’s designs) are both open to the public, each visit requiring approx. 1 hour. There will be time to visit either of these before departure on the morning of day 2. Entry fees: Chateau d’Amboise approx. 6 Euros; Le Clos Luce approx. 6 Euros.

Day 2.  Before leaving town try to find time to visit Le Clos Luce, where Leonardo da Vinci lived as the guest of Francois I from 1516 to 1519. Then on to the Chateau of La Bourdaisiere, built under the orders of Francois I for his mistress Marie Gauelin.

After following the Loire valley downstream for a few km, we turn off to visit the Chateau de la Bordaisiere, before continuing following the Cher Valley upstream to Chenonceau and our overnight stop. You could visit this famous chateau today, but we would recommend going tomorrow after breakfast (see below), before the tourist hoards arrive. Entry fees:  Le Clos Luce approx. 6 Euros; La Bourdaisiere approx. 5 Euros.

Day 3.  At Chenonceau, where you can easily spend two or three hours visiting one of the very finest of the Loire chateaux, the ‘chateau shaped by women’, including its early 16th century designer Catherine Bricennet as well as Diane de Poitiers and Catherine de Medici, which ‘stretches across the River Cher in a perfect harmony of water, greenery, gardens and trees in a fine natural setting’. After the visit and maybe lunch continue over the low hilly watershed to Loches on the River Indre. Entry fee: Chateau de Chenonceau approx 7 Euros.

Day 4. Time to visit the chateau of Loches in the morning before an easy ride down the peaceful Indre valley, stopping en route at Cormery, where the now ruined abbey stood for 100 years until 1791. Then on to Montbazon where your destination is Port-Moulin in the grounds of the Chateau d'Artigny, now converted to a hotel. Entry fee: Chateau de Loches: approx. 5 Euros.

Day 5. Today we ride from Montbazon to the celebrated gardens at Villandry, one of the wonders of France with the opportunity to visit the former home of the novelist Balzac in the small chateau at Sache. From Villandry it is about 1 hour’s ride past the confluence of the Rivers Cher and Loire and along picturesque woodland tracks and quiet roads to Azay le Rideau. Both Villan­dry and Azay are awarded the highest accolade of ‘worth a jour­ney’ by the Michelin Guide. The son et lumiere display at the Chateau of Azay, set on an island in the Indre, is highly recommended for a delightful and memorable, if relatively expensive (11 Euros) stroll after dinner. Entry fees: Villandry gardens approx. 5 Euros; Chateau d’Azay le Rideau (daytime) approx. 5 Euros, Son-et-Lumiere approx. 10 Euros.

Day 6. There is time for a daytime visit to the chateau of Azay, one of the gems of the Renaissance, before continuing our ride via the wonderful 'sleeping beauty' (la belle au bois dormant) chateau of Usse and on to Chinon itself, a medieval town on the north bank of the Vienne domi­nated by the walls of its ruined mediaeval fortress and the centre of a well-known wine-growing region. Within the fortress is a museum illustrating the career of the Maid of Orleans (otherwise known as Joan of Arc). Entry fees:  Chateau d’Ussy approx 10 Euros; Chateau de Chinon approx 5 Euros.

Day 7.  After crossing the river Vienne you ride through the Foret de Fontevraud to the celebrated abbey of that name, the most exten­sive set of monastic buildings in France. The 12th C abbey church houses the tombs of several Plantagenet royals (Kings and Queens of England in the 14^th and 15^th centuries). The way continues past vineyards along the steep south bank of the Loire to Saumur, famous for its white wines, its caval­ry school, and its chateau overlooking the Loire. Entry fees:  Chateau de Saumur and Museum of Decorative Arts approx. 6 Euros.

Day 8. The tour ends at Saumur on the morning of day 8. The bikes will be collected from your hotel in Saumur. Return by train from Saumur Rive Droite station (10 minutes walk or short taxi ride across the Loire bridge from the last hotel).

For further details ask for a Sherpa Cycling brochure.