“Noël au Pays des Châteaux” réunira cette année les châteaux d’Amboise, d’Azay-le-Rideau, de Chenonceau, de Chinon, de Langeais, de Loches et de Villandry.
Pour cette édition anniversaire, chaque site proposera une mise en scène spécifique, avec notamment des décors végétaux, des illuminations, des installations musicales ou encore des évocations de contes et de traditions de Noël.
Sept châteaux, sept ambiances de Noël
At Villandry, the theme “Christmas, nature invites itself to the castle” will highlight botanical decorations and Christmas traditions.
Azay-le-Rideau proposera “Christmas at the Table of the Castles”, around the arts of the table and gastronomy.
At Chenonceau, “Christmas Without Borders” s’intéressera aux traditions de Noël dans différents pays.
Chinon misera sur “Christmas in the Land of the Fairies“, Amboise sur “Royal Christmas with Animals“, Langeais sur “Musical and Fairy-tale Christmas” et Loches sur “Beauty and the Beast“.
Plusieurs sites proposeront également des nocturnes, les 5, 11, 12, 19, 23, 26 et 29 décembre, selon les châteaux.
To read: Cher: itinerary from Chenonceau to Mennetou-sur-Cher
Pour marquer les 10 ans de l’événement, un “Pass Noël au Pays des Châteaux” permettra par ailleurs de bénéficier de tarifs avantageux à partir de trois entrées.
Le pass sera valable pendant toute la durée de l’événement.
By bicycle, the Loire slows down its pace. The royal river offers a playground of strikingly diverse character: here, the majestic silhouettes of Chambord and Sully-sur-Loire recall the grandeur of Renaissance castles; there, the locks, canal bridges, and towpaths tell another story, that of river navigation. Further south, the Loire and the Allier reveal a wilder face, with sandbanks, forests, and nature reserves.
From Blois to Chambord: a bike visit to the most royal of estates
A fairly short itinerary, where the Loire dresses in its finest attire. Leaving the Blois train station, you simply let yourself drift to reach the river. We follow it westward, then quickly branch toward Chailles and the Russy forest, which we traverse along a shaded avenue to Cellettes, on the Beuvron river. This village boasts a total of… 18 castles and manor houses! The Beauregard estate, famous for its Gallery of the Illustrious with 327 portraits of historical figures, is open to visits.
A little further south, here is Cheverny, which inspired Hergé to create Moulinsart in his drawings. After passing the Château de Villesavin, at Tour-en-Sologne, comes the centerpiece of the journey: Chambord. Along forest tracks, the scent of the undergrowth precedes the visual impact of the 282 chimneys of François I’s colossal château, built in the 16th and 17th centuries. A stone’s throw away, La Loire à Vélo brings you back to Blois, where you should not forget to visit the royal château. This route can easily be extended, for instance by heading downstream toward Candé-sur-Beuvron and the Chaumont-sur-Loire estate, enhanced from April to October during the International Garden Festival.
To find inspiration, study the map “Châteaux de La Loire à Vélo,” available on bloischambord.com
Practical
Length : 70 km
Duration : 2 days
What to see along the way : Beauregard Castle and its Gallery of the Illustrious, Cheverny and Villesavin castles, the park and Chambord Castle…
To the east of Orléans: from Loire banks to canal tranquility
Starting from Orléans, this loop emphasizes water and canals. Leaving the city of Joan of Arc, first La Loire à Vélo invites cyclists to ascend the river along its southern bank, then the northern one. First stops: Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire and its Fleury Abbey, a Romanesque architectural jewel, then Sully-sur-Loire, 8 km further, whose castle ringed by moats stands at the confluence of the river and the Sange.
Next, at Briare, the Loire is crossed by a famous canal-bridge built at the end of the 19th century, spanning it over more than 600 meters. The ascent northward then begins along the Briare Canal, one of the oldest in France, linking the Loire to the Seine — with, along the way, the spectacular flight of locks at Rogny-les-Sept-Écluses. Here, you ride on EuroVelo 3, which connects Spain to Norway… and you leave it at Montargis, nicknamed “the Venice of the Gâtinais” for its 131 bridges and footbridges. The route then veers onto the Orléans Canal bike route, a newly inaugurated path in 2025. This bucolic greenway winds 80 km to Orléans, weaving between flowered locks, ponds, forests and tranquil villages.
Practical
Length : 230 km
Duration : 5 to 6 days
What to see along the way : the abbey of Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire, Sully-sur-Loire Castle, the Briare canal-bridge, Rogny-les-SeptÉcluses, Montargis…
Upstream of Nevers: a nature stroll along the wild waters
Is it the Allier that flows into the Loire, or the other way around? Some geographers argue that the tributary could be seen as the main branch… This loop explores the places at the heart of that debate. Leaving Nevers to the west along the initial (or final, depending on direction) kilometers of La Loire à Vélo, you reach the confluence of the two rivers: the Bec d’Allier, a mosaic of sandbanks with a touch of Amazonian vibe. From there, you head south along the Via Allier, a bike route that leads to Moulins via Apremont-sur-Allier, named a “Plus Beaux Villages de France”, then Le Veurdre, where the Maison de la batellerie narrates the history of navigation on this lively river.
From Moulins, the bike route 75 reconnects with the Loire at Diou, via the small roads of the Bourbonnais Sologne. We then descend the river along the rolling terrain of the EuroVelo 6, on the right bank, past the medieval town of Bourbon-Lancy (to reduce elevation and distance, follow the left-bank canal along the Loire). A detour to the Loire Bourguignonne nature reserve lets you connect with the river in a setting of sandy plains that shift with the floods. After Decize, the canal gently guides you back to Nevers.
Practical
Length : 230 km
Duration : 5 to 6 days
What to see along the way : the Bec d’Allier, the villages of Apremont-sur-Allier and Le Veurdre, Moulins, Bourbon-Lancy, the Loire Bourguignonne nature reserve…
➤ Article published in GEO HS magazine no. 134, “Grand Escapes at Slow Speed,” August-September 2026.
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Around Saumur: a subterranean escape in the land of “troglos”
The Saumur area offers the widest troglodyte ensemble in the Loire Valley! These cavities are former tuffeau quarries, the soft stone used to build the castles. Many have been converted into wine cellars, gîtes and other underground curiosities. Starting from Saumur, following La Loire à Vélo on the south bank, you come across the formidable caves of the Ackerman wine house, then those of the Mushroom Museum. After 15 km, from Gennes-Val-de-Loire, rural roads (marked route by Grézillé and Rochemenier) lead to Doué-en-Anjou, renowned for its “plain” caverns. There one tastes fouées, small bread loaves stuffed with rillette or mushrooms, before visiting the zoo, also troglodytic. After Le Puy-Notre-Dame, a short stretch of the Vélo Francette (the Ouistreham–La Rochelle véloroute) reconnects at Montreuil-Bellay with a winding path (marker “10”) to Fontevraud Abbey, via Brézé and its castle with underground chambers carved into rock. A few pedal strokes bring you back to the Loire and Saumur, through villages like Turquant and its Bistroglo. From Doué and Montreuil-Bellay, it’s easy to ride straight back to Saumur to shorten the itinerary.
Practical
Length : 150 km
Duration : 3 to 4 days
What to see along the way : the Ackerman cellars, the troglodyte village of Rochemenier, Doué-en-Anjou, Brézé Castle, Fontevraud Abbey…
Tours and the Indre Valley: in the saddle in the land of castles
A ride at the heart of the Loire Valley’s treasures, blending two cycling routes: La Loire à Vélo and the Cyclo Bohème, or the Indre véloroute. Starting from Tours, along the Cher to the west, one first admires the gardens of the Château de Villandry, considered one of the most accomplished examples of the French Renaissance style. A little farther, the banks of the Loire come into view. The fortress of Langeais, perched on the opposite bank of the river, is worth crossing for! At Bréhémont, head east onto the Cyclo Bohème, which leisurely climbs the Indre’s winding paths. The Château d’Azay-le-Rideau, this “diamond facet-set by the Indre” (as Balzac put it), does not take long to reveal itself. In Montbazon, Tours is only a few pedal strokes away. But it’s worth prolonging the experience: extend to Loches, then aim for Chenonceaux, via a marked route on quiet back roads. A cycling path runs along the left bank of the Cher, offering a striking view of the château. From here, a final detour to Amboise and Clos Lucé, where Leonardo da Vinci spent the last three years of his life, beautifully caps this excursion in the land of noble residences.
Practical
Length : 180 km
Duration : 4 to 5 days
Things to see along the way : the gardens of Villandry, the Château d’Azay-le-Rideau, the royal town of Loches, the Château de Chenonceau, Amboise, Clos Lucé…
➤ Article published in GEO HS magazine no. 134, “Great Escapes at Slow Speed,” August–September 2026.
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The Normandy D-Day beaches and the Royal Fortresses of Languedoc in the south of France, better known by their former name ‘Cathar Castles’, were inscribed on Sunday as UNESCO World Heritage.
Across just over 80 km of coastline, between the Manche and Calvados departments in the northwest of France, the Allied D-Day beaches of June 6, 1944 were the scene of a decisive battle to liberate Europe from Nazism and bring World War II to an end.
These beaches “are directly and physically associated with the Landing (…) which played a decisive role in the liberation of Western Europe from Nazi occupation”, recalled a representative of UNESCO’s International Council on Monuments and Sites (Icomos) at the session in Busan, South Korea. This ensemble of sites “symbolically commemorates the immense human sacrifice that was made to overturn an authoritarian occupation deeply rooted in Europe”, she continued.
The nomination concerned the five D-Day beaches known by their code names Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword, but also Pointe du Hoc, site of decisive fighting, the German Longues-sur-Mer artillery battery, and the artificial port of Arromanches-les-Bains, known as Port Mulberry, made up of enormous concrete caissons built in England to facilitate Allied logistics.
Numerous military cemeteries and commemorative monuments are associated. “We’re super happy, because we didn’t believe it would happen”, said AFP to the president of the Normandy Region, Hervé Morin, who was present in Busan for this bid launched in 2006. “There is no more prestigious label than this” he praised, estimating that it could bring 20% more tourists to the sites. “An immense pride for Normandy and for France!” rejoiced the Minister of the Armed Forces, Alice Rufo, on X.
Two inscriptions, two histories that marked France
The president of the Aude department, Hélène Sandragné, also welcomed UNESCO’s listing of the Royal Fortresses of Languedoc, calling it a “lever” for tourism and economic development. “It will increase our attractiveness and Aude needs it”, she told AFP.
Often perched atop steep rocky crags, the eight fortresses, including Montségur in Ariège and Peyrepertuse or Quéribus in Aude, were built after the Albigensian Crusade (1209-1229), when part of Languedoc fell under royal domain.
Some of these sites had previously served as refuges for the Cathars accused of heresy. With these fortresses, the King of France aimed to keep an eye on the local population still deemed dissident and to monitor the Kingdom of Aragon, located just a few tens of kilometers from Quéribus or Peyrepertuse.
The fortresses were administered by a seneschal based in the Cité of Carcassonne, itself rebuilt at the same time and already inscribed on the World Heritage list in 1997. Considered as an “central element of the defensive system”, its castle and ramparts are also part of these eight monuments now on UNESCO’s list.
“These fortresses attest to the exceptional adaptation of military architecture to topographical constraints and the emergence of new forms of territorial organization by the French monarchy”, UNESCO said.
“Irony of history, these fortresses which yesterday broke the rebellious ardor of the people of Languedoc will give them a new momentum tomorrow” also declared Mrs. Sandragné, who sees in this distinction an asset for the “preservation and restoration” of these citadels.
For Fabrice Chambon, a guide at Montségur castle, where more than 200 “heretics” were burned in 1244 before the fortress we visit today, the erasure of the word “Cathar” has “moved quite a few people”. A petition by opponents to this renaming was signed by nearly 9,400 people.
With these two new sites inscribed on the World Heritage list, “France now has 56 UNESCO-listed properties. It is a pride, but also a responsibility”, said the Culture Minister Catherine Pégard to AFP.
To be moved by these millennia-old stones nestled in the High Corbières, you must rise early. At dawn, indeed, but the effort is rewarded by the sight of the first sunbeams caressing the façade of the Château de Quéribus, perched on its pog (“piton rocheux” in Occitan) overlooking the Aude village of Cucugnan, 120 inhabitants. This eagle’s nest, scarred by cannonball impacts, lends itself perfectly to this play of early morning light.
From this overlook, reached by skirting the ramparts, an breathtaking panorama unfolds: to the east, the medieval tower of Tautavel, with, further away, the vast blue of the Mediterranean; to the south, the snow-capped peak of Canigou; to the west, the Ariège peaks of the Pyrenees; and, right opposite, to the northwest, seven kilometers away as the crow flies, tucked away on a ridge cloaked in arbutus trees and evergreen oaks, another fortress: Peyrepertuse, barely discernible as its walls and towers blur with the crenellations of the limestone crest.
Peyrepertuse (“pierre percée” en occitan languedocien), 800 mètres d’altitude, accueille 100 000 visiteurs par an sur ses remparts.
Quéribus and its four brothers in arms—Peyrepertuse, thus, and also Puilaurens, Aguilar and Termes—form the strategic ensemble known as the “five sons of Carcassonne.” These stone sentinels punctuate the ridgelines that weave between the Corbières massif and the Pyrenean foothills, near the medieval citadel. Radiating from it, the traveler discovers, for a weekend, this line of defense erected by Saint Louis in the 13th century to lock the kingdom’s border. And it offers a medieval getaway amid rugged reliefs, vertigo-inducing gorges, vineyard plains, and fortified villages.
Ambiance mystérieuse
Less than two hours by road from the ramparts of Carcassonne, Quéribus often marks the starting point of this escape. “This castle was a lookout, explains Bruno Schenck, a winemaker and deputy mayor of Cucugnan, who has been working for more than thirty years to renovate this historic monument. It is nicknamed the Finger of God because of its verticality.” This was the last bastion to fall: in 1255, eleven years after Montségur’s burning, the fortress still sheltered the Albigeois, those “heretics” hunted by the Inquisition, under the protection of the Languedoc lord Chabert de Barbaira. The site then became a royal stronghold, used to watch over the border with Aragon.
Bon à savoir
A small revolution is underway: the designation “Cathar castles” is giving way to the “royal fortresses of Languedoc.” Some lament the loss of a name steeped in mystery and identity, but historians remind us of an archaeological truth: the Cathars never built these citadels. It was Saint Louis who, in the 13th century, after the crusade against the Albigeois, ordered these giants of stone to be erected on the ruins of former lordly residences (castrums) to defend the border with Aragon. Today, eight of these military constructions hope for UNESCO inclusion on the World Heritage List. Verdict in July 2026.
Eight centuries on, each of these stone giants harbors a singular, mysterious atmosphere. Notably at Puilaurens, which sits at the heart of a forest of pines and holm oaks. The fortress, seventy kilometers from Carcassonne, rises at 697 meters on Mount Ardu, at the crossroads of the Boulzane and Fenouillèdes valleys.
“One must imagine that at the time of the castrum [the fortified village surrounding the citadel], there was no forest; everything was cultivated”,
explains Karine Duhil, the person in charge of the monument, as she makes her way up toward the first switchbacks. These thick, tusk-shaped walls were designed to slow down attackers. The structure blends so intimately with the rock that one struggles to distinguish human handiwork from nature. “The works carried out under Saint Louis are recognizable in the dressed stones, more regular than those of the vestiges of the original castrum”, notes Karine Duhil.
An hour and fifteen minutes by road from both Puilaurens and Carcassonne, perched on the southern slope of the Corbières massif, another fortress, abandoned after its military role ended, dominates the village of Termes, bathed by the Sou river. The fortress had been heavily degraded before benefiting from restoration campaigns led by the municipality and passionate volunteers. “Destroyed in 1653, the castle had been left to ruin; only the cruciform window of the chapel remained,” explains Michel Séguy, president of the association safeguarding the building. “We have been working for forty years to help visitors grasp the site’s original layout.”
Un vaisseau fantôme
Overlooking vineyards and hills 30 kilometers from Termes, the walls of Aguilar follow the shape of the rocky spur on which they stand. Nicknamed the Little Carcassonne, the castle mimics in miniature the Aude fortress, with its defensive towers and its polygonal enclosure. Here one is immersed in the stark light of the Corbières, which makes the white stones blaze, then steps into the shade of an ancient olive tree, before continuing on and reaching, 25 kilometers further, the most spectacular of the five fortresses: Peyrepertuse.
Hidden along the crest, the roughly 300 meters of rampart blend with the rock, evoking a ghost ship. “It is a true city; its construction spans several centuries”, explains Agnès Daubrege, guide of the castle. The best way to enjoy this poetic detour is to ascend the sixty or so steps of the “Saint-Louis” staircase, carved into the rock. From the terrace of the Sant-Jordi chapel, one can glimpse the Verdouble, this “river that unfolds its meanders over the stones”, which Claude Nougaro sang about. So, in the quiet of the mountaintops, vertigo takes on a new form. And one understands that these citadels, once ramparts against the enemy, have become promontories from which to embrace the world.
À Cucugnan, village rendu célèbre par une nouvelle d’Alphonse Daudet, le moulin d’Omer, datant du XVIIe siècle, a été réhabilité en 2003 et remis en marche en 2006.
Nearby to visit
Master Baker
Don’t tell Roland Feuillas that he’s merely making bread. Cucugnan’s baker (photo above) has put the village’s lordly mill back into service to craft “100% natural” loaves from ancient wheats. His School of Bread, right beside his shop, lets you learn all about sturdy sourdoughs that release flavors and about wood-fired baking. lesmaitresdemonmoulin.com
Rushing waters
Between Puilaurens and Quéribus, the Agly has carved the limestone to forge narrow gorges and basins suited for canyoning. On the rock face, the Saint-Antoine de Galamus hermitage, built into the cliff at 376 m above sea level, is accessible on foot. From the parking lot at the gorge’s entrance, follow the prepared trail winding up to the small sanctuary clinging to the cliff. gorgesdegalamus.fr
➤ Article paru dans le magazine GEO n°568, “Barcelone, l’atelier à ciel ouvert d’Antoni Gaudí”, de juin 2026.
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