Tours sits at the heart of the Loire Valley, the gateway to France's most celebrated château country. This university city of tree-lined boulevards and half-timbered houses makes an ideal base for exploring the valley's Renaissance palaces, formal gardens, and vineyard-covered slopes that line the river.
The old quarter, Vieux Tours, clusters around Place Plumereau with its medieval timber-framed buildings now housing cafés and restaurants. Beyond the city limits, a dozen major châteaux lie within half an hour's drive, while the Loire itself flows past on its way from the Massif Central to the Atlantic.
No gîtes listed near Tours — yet
We're actively building our coverage in this area. In the meantime:
About Tours
Tours has served as a provincial capital since Roman times, though most of what you see today dates from the city's 15th-century revival after the Hundred Years' War. The Cathédrale Saint-Gatien took nearly 400 years to complete, its Gothic west front showing the evolution from 13th-century foundations to 16th-century Renaissance towers. The old town survived Second World War bombing that destroyed much of the city centre, preserving its network of medieval streets between the cathedral and the Loire.
The city rebuilt itself as a modern regional hub while maintaining its role as the Loire Valley's main town. It's a working city rather than a purely tourist destination — university students fill the bars around Place Plumereau, and the covered market at Les Halles de Tours operates six mornings a week. Self-catering gîtes in the surrounding countryside put you within easy reach of both the city's practical amenities and the valley's famous attractions.
The Loire Valley designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site recognises the entire cultural landscape: the châteaux certainly, but also the working vineyards, traditional stone villages, and the river itself. Staying near Tours means you can visit several châteaux in a day, then return to a base with proper shops and services rather than relying entirely on rural facilities.
Things to do near Tours
The Château de Villandry lies 15 kilometres west, famous for its formal Renaissance gardens laid out in geometric patterns — ornamental vegetable plots, water gardens, and parterres that represent different aspects of love. The Château d'Azay-le-Rideau sits on an island in the Indre river, a textbook example of early French Renaissance architecture with its white tufa stone reflected in the surrounding moat. Further east, the Château du Clos Lucé in Amboise was Leonardo da Vinci's final home; the house displays models of his inventions built from his notebook drawings.
The Château de Langeais offers a complete contrast — a stern medieval fortress on one side, elegant Renaissance lodgings on the other, with rooms furnished to show aristocratic life in the 15th century. In Tours itself, the Jardin botanique de Tours contains collections from around the world in its themed gardens and glasshouses. The Grand Aquarium de Touraine, despite its Loire Valley location, focuses on tropical marine life with walk-through tunnels and touch pools. For something lighter, Mini Castle Park displays scale models of Loire châteaux in landscaped grounds — useful for planning which full-size versions to visit next.
Typical climate
Typical weather
Monthly averagesOn the map
Food & drink
The Loire Valley produces more wine than Bordeaux, though it's less famous internationally. Vouvray and Montlouis, both made from Chenin Blanc grapes in vineyards just east of Tours, range from bone-dry to intensely sweet depending on the vintage. Bourgueil and Chinon, the red wines from Cabernet Franc grapes grown west of the city, pair well with the region's rillettes — potted pork that's smoother than a pâté, served cold with bread.
Sainte-Maure-de-Touraine, the ash-coated goat's cheese shaped like a log with a straw through its centre, comes from farms south of Tours. Les Halles de Tours, the covered market, operates Tuesday to Sunday mornings with stalls selling local cheeses, charcuterie, vegetables, and prepared foods — useful for stocking a gîte kitchen. The market also houses permanent food shops including a fishmonger and several specialist grocers.
Getting there
Limoges airport, 174 kilometres southeast, receives Ryanair flights from the UK and sits roughly 90 minutes' drive from Tours via the A20 and A85 motorways. Nantes Atlantique airport lies 176 kilometres west with a broader range of connections, though the journey involves more departmental roads unless you loop south via Angers on the autoroute.
Paris Gare du Nord, the Eurostar terminus, is 207 kilometres away — change to Gare Montparnasse for direct TGV services that reach Tours in 70 minutes, or drive south via the A10 autoroute in around two and a half hours. The Caen/Ouistreham ferry terminal (Brittany Ferries from Portsmouth) lies 214 kilometres north, a three-hour drive through Normandy and down into the Loire Valley.