Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire

This is a beautiful chateau with amazing gardens. The chateau itself is nice, focusing on modern art. That was ok but not our thing. But, the gardens were amazing, in the whimsical side. The views of the Loire River we're stunning. It is recommended to visit.

Amazing visit! I went twice in a day to see as much as possible but it was not enough still. 32ha park divided into different areas, with art exhibitions all across: - the medieval style castle! Beautiful castle nicely decorated with original furnitures and stunning views of the Loire - the village with the different castle’s dependencies including the stables (a must see), the vegetable garden or the tropical greenhouse - the historical garden perfect for a long walk with lots of pieces of art - the festival garden! Another must see! Small gardens decorated around a specific topic each year. The main topic this year was ‘once upon a time’. Really magical. You can even visit that part at night with lights. - enchanting tales walk. A small nice walk in the middle of the forest with fun attractions on the way. Ideal for kids. You can also go and visit a mini waterfall and walk under an old wooden bridge. - Goualoup meadow: another very nice walk with small hidden gardens playing with nature and plants surrounded by meadows.

I visit Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire every year, and it never fails to surprise. The ever-evolving garden exhibitions are the real draw—each year brings a fresh theme or landscape that stimulates both imagination and tranquility. The stately exhibitions indoors are also top-notch, blending art, architecture, and nature in that signature Loire Valley style. Plan to stay the whole day. My advice: arrive early—especially in summer—to enjoy the gardens before the heat peaks. You can linger over lunch at one of the on-site restaurants, or bring a picnic and enjoy it in the designated picnic area just outside the castle grounds near the parking lot. It’s a quiet, shaded spot perfect for refuelling without breaking the serene mood. Whether you’re a lifelong garden buff or just looking for a peaceful, creative escape, this place rewards repeat visits—even after years of going back, there’s always something new to uncover.

I loved the Garden Festival - so many garden “rooms” unified by a theme - this year is fairytales, and they are charming. The chateau is also beautiful and interesting, but definitely go if you want to see beautiful and creative grounds.

The castle has a beautiful position and the rooms have furniture that reflect how life was for those living in it. But the international garden festival was the reason for choosing this Domaine among other beautiful places, when visiting the region for such a short time. It was so diverse and beautiful. I highly recommend it.

This chateau here is one of the most beautiful in the Loire Valley. Really picture perfect example of a fairytale castle. Easy to access with parking closeby. Public restrooms, restaurants, many exhibitions, a wonderful park with valley views and amazing gardens. Well worth the entrance fee of 20 Euros. There's lots to see and do. The castle was built as it is today in the late 15th / early 16th Century. But was originally founded in the 10th century. Protected as a monument historique since 1840, the château was given into state ownership in 1938 and is now open to the public. It belonged to the Amboise family for five centuries. Pierre d'Amboise unsuccessfully rebelled against King Louis XI and his property was confiscated, and the castle was dismantled on royal order in 1465. It was later rebuilt by Charles I d'Amboise from 1465 to 1475 and then finished by his son, Charles II d'Amboise de Chaumont. The chateau itself is such a wonderful sight. And despite many visitors it's easy possible to get some great views and pictures of it. The grounds are very big, so it never feels crowded. It's just a beautiful piece of art and history. Besides the chateau there is a wonderful park area with picnic spots, many options to sit down and rest to enjoy the views of the castle and the valley. Makes a lovely circular walk through the park. Then there are the gardens. An amazing place - with its many paths and ways it feels like a maze at times. Nice to just wander around and to get lost a bit. Wonderful trees, bushes, flowers and more. Some greenhouses as well. It's a lovely place to be and to walk around. This Chateau and grounds are really impressive. One of the best castle experiences we've had yet. You can spend easily a whole day here. Always something new to explore. And: Dogs are welcome as well here. Our Bulldog enjoyed. And so did we. Highly recommended.

Gorgeous château with superb gardens. Lots of spots to eat and drink on-site. It was quieter than the other châteaus we visited in the area.

This is the second time we have visited here. It is one of the prettiest and well maintained out of all the Châteaus in the Loire valley. However since last going there seems to be a lot of changes. They have been very strict around rules, making it at times a little different to relax. We were taking a few moments under a tree with the dog to keep her out of the sun, but were instructed to move to another location, but could not see any reason🤷‍♂️, then wanted to visit the courtyard but was told I couldn't with the dog, but this was clearly not requiring entry into the main building so again could not understand why. Then to leave the courtyard you were forced to go through the shop, again changes. But don't be put off by these rather regimented ruled. It is amazing with loads of small unique gardens, beautiful buildings and large garden. Most are fine for your dog to visit and go early, there is a lot to see and your need the time. Icing on the cake, huge carpark for your motorhome

This chateau here is one of the most beautiful in the Loire Valley. Really picture perfect example of a fairytale castle. Easy to access with parking closeby. Public restrooms, restaurants, many exhibitions, a wonderful park with valley views and amazing gardens. Well worth the entrance fee of 20 Euros. There's lots to see and do. The castle was built as it is today in the late 15th / early 16th Century. But was originally founded in the 10th century. Protected as a monument historique since 1840, the château was given into state ownership in 1938 and is now open to the public. It belonged to the Amboise family for five centuries. Pierre d'Amboise unsuccessfully rebelled against King Louis XI and his property was confiscated, and the castle was dismantled on royal order in 1465. It was later rebuilt by Charles I d'Amboise from 1465 to 1475 and then finished by his son, Charles II d'Amboise de Chaumont. The chateau itself is such a wonderful sight. And despite many visitors it's easy possible to get some great views and pictures of it. The grounds are very big, so it never feels crowded. It's just a beautiful piece of art and history. Besides the chateau there is a wonderful park area with picnic spots, many options to sit down and rest to enjoy the views of the castle and the valley. Makes a lovely circular walk through the park. Then there are the gardens. An amazing place - with its many paths and ways it feels like a maze at times. Nice to just wander around and to get lost a bit. Wonderful trees, bushes, flowers and more. Some greenhouses as well. It's a lovely place to be and to walk around. This Chateau and grounds are really impressive. One of the best castle experiences we've had yet. You can spend easily a whole day here. Always something new to explore. And: Dogs are welcome as well here. Our Bulldog enjoyed. And so did we. Highly recommended.

This chateau is about 4.5 star. The visit need 4 hours. It is because the compound has several regions to visit. The area includes the castle, middle garden, herb garden, front garden and the stable. This chateau is established in early 10 century. Later it was burn down and rebuilt at 15 century. Later the chateau was bought by Catherine de Medici at mid 15 century. The castle is beautiful for the round tower make up the beauty of the chateau. Since it was own and decorated by Catherine de Medici, the interior decoration is beautiful. I like the creative tile floor with tapestry. There is room like library but the book is make from luminaire stone. There is a beautiful chapel in the castle. The stable is beautiful and comfortable for each horse. There are some art display in the stable. The herb garden is interesting. But the garden on the front is more beautiful. The compound actual has more buildings to explore.

Great chateau that has incorporated history with modern art All throughout the house and grounds, there are a variety art installations ranging from modern to classic and they have incorporated the artworks into their "everyday" displays in a pleasing way We saw the coolest geode display in the stables that held thousands of white / clear geodes and in the center was one, lone, amethyst geode. Extremely cool! The grounds are lovely and expansive. We visited the main house, the stables, and the gardens. Their wooded & river area offered bikes and paddle boats and there were black swans along the water - very awesome Their Orangerie held nice cakes and cold drinks - fantastic way to spend the afternoon!

The reason I picked this castle over the others was simply because it resembles a Disney castle, well at least from the outside. The Chateau de Chaumont was built in the 15th and 16th century primarily for defense purposes, and this is obvious from the fact that one has to access a steep road leading up to the castle. After Catherine de Medici kicked Diane de Poitiers out of Chateau de Chenonceau, she exchanged Chenonceau for Chaumont. A walk inside the Chateau de Chaumont takes you through the bedrooms of Catherine de Medici and Diane de Poitiers, the kitchen and the dining room. It leads up to the courtyard from where the beautiful views of Loire River await you. Check out the well-maintained stables in the property. If you visit the castle between April and October, you should not miss the popular Garden Festival.

I rode my rental bike here from Blois and had an excellent ride, but was quite disappointed in the château and grounds. A lot of the furniture is on loan from other châteaux or museums. I don't know if that's the case at other châteaux, but at Chaumont, I could really tell. Everything seemed out of place. Another very distracting feature of this château is that there are enormous modern art installations everywhere. I suppose that's nice if you're into photography and art, but for me, it really took away from my enjoyment of the château. For example, I wanted to poke around the kitchens and servant area, but there was a luminous crystal growth pool in one room and giant flower photography in another. I sprang for the combo ticket which included admission to the International Garden Festival, but it was *also* super artsy and hard to enjoy. Like... the plants were neat, but they were in these themed installations with little plaques in front like "Submarine allows you to experience the feeling of being in a Venus Fly Trap first-hand. Close your eyes and imagine being digested alive." Cool for art school fanatics, weird for me. And I think the large amounts of dirt or fertilizer made the grounds smell like old milk in a way that I didn't experience at any other château I visited. A lackluster experience. I wouldn't go back.

Chaumont is beautiful on the outside with an amazing park and gardens, however I was not as impressed with the inside as i was with the rest of the chateaus in the Loire Valley. This one still needs a lot of work to be restored and maintained. There are a few rooms that look great and you can see the history but then as you go up stairs, you are taken into an area that looks really creepy and almost like you are walking through a haunted house. The rooms look like there was either a fire or just destroyed with age and turned into some type of "gallery". It almost felt like I wasn't suppose to walk through there.