Romantic, moat-ringed Azay-le-Rideau ( www.azay-le-rideau.monuments-nationaux.fr/en; adult/child €8.50/free; h9.30am-6pm Apr-Sep, to 7pm Jul & Aug, 10am-5.15pm Oct-Mar) is wonderfully adorned with slender turrets, geometric windows and decorative stonework, wrapped up within a shady landscaped park. Built in the 1500s on a natural island in the middle of a river, the château is one of the Loire’s loveliest: Honoré de Balzac called it a ‘multifaceted diamond set in the River Indre’.
Its most famous feature is its open loggia staircase, in the Italian style, overlooking the central courtyard and decorated with the salamanders and ermines of François I and Queen Claude.
Azay-le-Rideau is 26km southwest of Tours. The château is 2.5km from the train station, where there are eight daily services to Tours (€5.80, 30 minutes).
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