Castle of La Roche-Guyon — Attraction in Pontoise

Very interesting castle overlooking the Seine, a reasonable drive from Paris. We spent the morning there before going to Giverny.

We went on a Wednesday morning and there were no other visitors. The chateau is interesting and a nice place to visit on a hot day. The restoration is still in progress, and there was a temporary art exhibit on local flora ongoing during our visit. At the ticket office, you can pick up a flyer listing all the points of interest offered in the audio guide that you can load on your phone.

There's a wide range of historical notes, including 12th century warfare, connections to the founding of New France, and World War II history (the castle was used by Rommel).

We visited during a heat wave, so the climb to the summit was closed for safety reasons. We were still allowed to climb the steep stairs to the dovecote, which was neat and offered a great view of the valley. Definitely worth the effort, but would be very difficult for people with mobility issues. The limestone walls have some sharp stones embedded in them, so be sure to use the handrail and not the wall to...

Stunning castle and donjon (keep) made famous by the WW2 occupation by Rommel. You can climb using a stairway from the magnificent castle to the tower and enjoy an unequalled panorama across the area. The casemates and other areas carved out of the limestone are somewhat dark and forbidding but offer a glimpse of the environment in which past farm etc workers would have lived in the past. Extremely good value for money, with a generous free carpark barely 100m away. The staff of the castle were unequalled in the warmth of their welcome and the knowledge of the site, and I wanted to say a special thank you for this. There was on display an exhibion of les frontières françaises et Internationales, which we found less interesting, and we couldn't understand why WW2 and Rommel's occupation were not covered in any depth, eg the lives of the soldiers etc. We did find as Brits the coverage of the current fishing dispute with France a little inappropriate when welcoming visitors from the UK however. Highly recommended and an...

Well kept and clean castle. Not a lot of furnishings inside, but what there was was nice.

There are approximately 300 steps from the castle to the top of the tower, and the steps themselves range in height from 6 cm to 30 cm (no joke). That said, there's a very strong metal handrail in the middle of the stairs to help you climb up.

The stairs in the final tower are narrow and wind around, but it's only about 20 steps, so not bad.

I went on a random Tuesday, and there weren't many people there.

The view was quite beautiful, and definitely worth the climb up. Small children and people with mobility issues would likely have a difficult time, though.

We stopped at the bakery next door, and had lunch at a local restaurant. Everyone spoke both French and English (castle and both shops we went to) and all the visitors we came across were English. Maybe on tour?

It was a nice visit. Certainly not Versailles, but far from as busy, as well. The gardens across rhe street were also very pretty and in bloom. Definitely...