Château d'Azay-le-Rideau — Attraction in Tours

Azay le Rideau is a beautiful, compact, château, within a few minutes walk of the village. We had no problem parking in the Chateau car park, but it was the end of September. We had a lovely meal in the restaurant at a reasonable price. The visit route takes you to the top floor first, then brings you down. We were advised, by a guide, to unhook the rope on the second floor and not proceed to the top as the stairs are much more uneven and my sister walks with a stick. I continued to the top, but she, wisely, followed the advice. I have to endorse what the guide told us; for anyone not too steady on their feet, do stop at the first floor. The rooms are furnished; particularly the ground floor which makes the chateau very homely. It is not a grand or pompous place, you can imagine a family living there! The chateau is surrounded by lovely parkland, which we didn't explore as my sister had walked as far as the day permitted and we still needed to return to the car park. Unfortunately, we hadn't realised that there was BLUE BADGE PARKING right outside the entrance where you...

This is your picture postcard French Chateau. We did visit the last time we were in the area but couldnt go inside as restoration work was being done - that's why we came back! You can see externally the brickwork has been tidied up and the roof. The entrance fee is comparable with others we have visited but you had to pay 3Euro extra for a information phone where others have included this in the entrance price. I wouldnt visit an attraction without being able to understand the history so would recommend this. Inside the rooms are nicely arranged. Most of the furniture are reproductions of what would be on show at the time. The gardens are tidy, not the most spetacular we have seen but nice for a wander round. At the end we stopped at the cafe on site and enjoyed a cocktail each. I would recommend this chateau if you are...

One of the jewels of the chateaux of the Loire. Made of striking white stone and sitting in the middle of its own lake. It has different facades so make time to walk around the lake on the nature paths and enjoy it from different angles. Sometimes you can catch the chateau reflecting in the pool. There are rooms inside with decorations from different periods that it was occupied, and they span several hundred years. There are some lovely paintings also. A word of warning there are many staircases and the round ones are very steep. There is a restaurant onsite and a gift shop. There are multiple paid parking lots but a certain T navigation put me behind the castle, while the big G put me in the nearby town. Well worth the price of admission. If not too busy plan for...