Renaissance châteaux strung along a royal river
For a century and more the French court lived along the Loire, and it left behind an extraordinary run of châteaux. Chambord, with its double-helix staircase, is the grandest; Chenonceau spans the River Cher on its arches; Amboise and Blois hold the history of kings, and Leonardo da Vinci spent his final years at Clos Lucé. Between them lie vineyards producing Vouvray and Chinon, and the flat Loire à Vélo route makes cycling from château to château a pleasure.