Although the Loire Valley is most famous for its castles, nature and the beauty of the landscape make up a large part of the outstanding value of this WHS. The Loire is often referred to as the last wild river in Europe, which actually means that it is a free-flowing waters, no dams and locks affect the lower course of the river. However, “wild" was not our predominant impression when we stood on the river banks for the first time, a few kilometres behind Angers. The Loire has a wide bed and flows slowly and smoothly, but carries along large quantities of sand that build up sandbars and displace them again, so that the river constantly changes its appearance. There are only few boats on the river, mainly traditional fishing boats with low draught, no cruise ships and tour boats along the stretch of the WHS. It's a beautiful and scenic landscape, no surprise that the French monarchs built their castles in the Loire Valley.

A beautiful river landscape, very good and 'typical French' cuisine, the Château de Chambord - reasons enough to schedule a few days for this WHS. In total, we spent four days in the Loire Valley in August 2015 and we explored the entire stretch of the WHS from Angers to Sully-sur-Loire. We stayed one night in Saumur and three nights in Blois. In particular, Blois was a good choice, it has a charming town centre and we liked it better than Tours or Orleans.

Visit the Loire Valley means to visit castles. Chambord is a must, but we thought that just one chateaux is not enough to visit this site properly. So we also chose Chenonceau, Château de Blois, the Fontevraud Abbey and the Gardens of Villandry.

Chambord: an amazing building and well described by other reviewers. Most impressive are the double-helix staircase and the roof.

Chenonceaux: an exceptional and elegant architecture, and a beautiful location. Most striking is the gallery that spans the river Cher. It is amazing, that Chenonceau is not included in the WHS. [edit 2018: in 2017 the Château de Chenonceau was included after minor boundary modification].

Villandry was a pleasant surprise. We only visited the beautiful gardens. We enjoyed strolling through the different sections, it was very relaxing. I liked best the sun garden and the kitchen garden. I never thought that onions and cabbage could be arranged in such a decorative manner. The photo shows parts of the ornamental garden and the kitchen garden.

Blois: the best part is the courtyard with the striking open spiral staircase. The façades show the architectural styles of the Loire Valley: Gothic, Renaissance and Neo-Classical. The interiors are nice but nothing special, the usual sequence of rooms.

Fontevraud Abbey was quite interesting, the tour with audioguide took almost two hours. Fontevraud has an eventful history: once a powerful monastery for both, monks and nuns, under the rule of Napoleon converted into a prison and today a cultural centre and open to visitors. The Abbey is most famous for the recumbent effigies on the Plantagenet tombs.

A few general comments:

For most of the castles is the ticket office at the outer gate and you have to pay the entrance fee even if you only want to see the inner courtyard. However, some castles can be admired from a distance, Blois, Chinon and Amboise offer nice panoramic views from the opposite bank of the Loire. In Chenonceau it is not possible to catch a glimpse of the castle without paying, the ticket office is at the park entrance, some hundred metres from the castle. In contrast Chambord, admission to the park is free, you can walk around the castle or rent a rowboat, but you have to pay four Euro for parking.

Our days at the Loire were calm and relaxing, even though our visit was in high season in late August 2015. But there are plenty of quiet places to enjoy the river landscape, for a walk along the riverbank at twilight or a bike ride. For the most popular castles, Chambord and Chenonceau, I would recommend to visit early in the morning to avoid the crowds.

River landscapes have a particular charm and the Loire Valley was a highlight of our trip and is one of my favourite WHS in France.