The town of Amboise

How it is laid out

Three streets do most of the work. The rue Nationale is the pedestrian spine, running parallel to the river with the clock tower across it — shops, restaurants, and the bookshop I kept for thirty years. The rue Victor-Hugo runs under the château cliff from the ramp to the Clos Lucé, five hundred metres, with troglodyte houses cut into the tufa on one side. The quays face the Loire and the Île d’Or, the island in the middle of the river with the bridge across it.

Everything is within a ten-minute walk of everything else, including the station, which is on the far bank.

What to do besides the château

The Clos Lucé, where Leonardo died, described on its own page. The Sunday market, one of the best in the region, along the quays. The Île d’Or, which is where locals go in the evening and where the view back up at the château is the one you have seen on every postcard. The church of Saint-Denis, twelfth century, quiet, free, and empty. And the Pagode de Chanteloup, a Chinese-style pagoda in the woods a couple of kilometres out, which is the strangest thing in the area.

Eating and staying

Restaurants cluster on the rue Nationale and the rue Victor-Hugo, with wider terraces on the quays — the practical version is on the eating page. Staying here rather than in Tours is worth it if you want the château in the early morning or the late afternoon, which is when it is best, as this page explains.

Getting here

Trains from Tours take about twenty minutes; from Paris Austerlitz it is a couple of hours direct, or faster via Saint-Pierre-des-Corps. The station is across the bridge, ten minutes on foot from the château. Full detail on the access page.

What there is to book

Not the entrance ticket — that is bought at the château’s own desk when you arrive. What is bookable is the guiding, and the day trips that include entry to Amboise along with the other Loire châteaux.

Frequently asked questions