Chinon, Vienne and Loire
Walk back in time through the beautiful medieval town of Chinon where you shall take the time to admire each house with wooden corners. Raise your eyes, the Royal Fortress of Chinon overlooks and guards the town. Located between the Loire and the Vienne, you can go aboard traditional boats of the Loire Valley and sail to the confluence in Candes-Saint-Martin, classified as the Most Beautiful Villages of France.
Land of history but also for good life and good eating, welcome to the native soils of François Rabelais, the epicurean humanist! Visit his native home in Seuilly, 7 km away from Chinon in the heart of the AOC Chinon vineyards, the opportunity to taste also the good wine of Chinon in its numerous wine cellars and vineyards.
Chinon and its medieval area
Old fortified town along Vienne, you will discover Chinon walking through its numerous alleys with its beautiful houses with wooden corners. Don’t miss the street Voltaire with its famous Red House located today next to the Carroi-Museum, museum of art and history of Chinon. The history can be read through each house of the town, from the 15th century half-timbered house to the beautiful mansions of the 16th to the 18th century. Around the collegiate church Saint-Mexme, you will also discover nice houses of canons. The town can be visited with a tour available at the tourist office but also with a guided tour along with a lecturing guide of Chinon, town of Art and History.
Treasures on the hillsides...
Climb by using either the elevator, the stairs (107 steps for sportsmen) or the street Jeanne d’Arc (put your foot as she did on the well edge at the beginning of the street!) to admire the panoramic view and enter the Royal Fortress.
While you walk along the hillsides, you will reach a place that is to be deserved: the Sainte-Radegonde Chapel, a semi-troglodytic chapel nestled in the hillside, famous for its beautiful 12th mural showing a royal hunting scene.
Olivier Debré's stained glass, Collégiale Saint-Mexme
Sainte-Radegonde Chapel
The spirit of Rabelais is everywhere in Chinon and its surroundings… The gentle way of life, the tasty specialties and the good wines of Chinon. The Devinière in Seuilly, birthplace of François Rabelais, today welcomes its museum dedicated to his life and his works. You can also reach via an interpretation path, a country house during the season (from April to September) where you can buy local products.
« Always drink, never die », he wrote, even if alcohol is to be drunk in moderation, a good glass of cabernet franc, either red or rosé or of chenin for white wine warms the taste buds and hearts. More than 200 wine growers for the AOC Chinon will be delighted to welcome you and make you taste their vintages. Follow the wine route along the Vienne and discover the beautiful troglodytic cellars…
This is with a good glass of Chinon wine that you will enjoy our numerous specialties: warm Touraine salad rillons, rillettes of Tours or of Loire fish: silurid, mullet, shad, river lamprey, eel, zander, with a touch of Touraine saffron.
Come and discover our AOC Sainte Maure de Touraine cheese accompanied by the Rabelaisian fouace, a real small brioche bread covered with a walnut and sweetened with honey and spices. Continue this gastronomic visit by tasting the vineyard’s tart, tasty caramel-coated fine pastry, with apples and topped with a confit of red wine.
Chinon Vineyard
La Devinière, François Rabelais's childhood house
The Loire and the Vienne rivers meet 15 km west of Chinon, in one of the Most Beautiful Villages of France, Candes-Saint-Martin. A beautiful collegiate church dedicated to Saint-Martin of Tours will welcome you as well as a magnificent panorama on the confluence at the top of the village. At that time, the rivers were traversed by many boats of the Loire Valley for trade, fishing… Discover this flourishing period at the Mariners’ Museum in Chouzé-sur-Loire but also at the Ecomuseum of Véron which will explain you the history of the bocage of the peninsula of Véron between the Loire and the Vienne.
Candes-Saint-Martin's confluence
Boat of the Loire Valley
Rien de tel pour terminer la journée qu'une balade en toue cabanée avec une dégustation de produits locaux.
La confluence de la Vienne et de la Loire à Candes-Saint-Martin. Une vue imprenable sur la loire, fleuve majestueux et sauvage...
Le Festival Avoine Zone Groove, des artistes de renommée internationale à deux pas de Chinon !
Saint-Benoît-la-Forêt en plein coeur de la forêt domaniale de Chinon. C'est un point de départ idéal pour les amoureux de randonnée et pour les adeptes d'activités sportives (accrobranche).
La galerie caquetoire de l'église de la Roche-Clermault.
Située en bas du village, l'église et son caquetoire invitent à la confidence.
