If you're looking for an unforgettable cultural getaway, the Château de Blois is the place to be. Nestled in the heart of the Loire Valley, this French heritage gem will transport you back in time, through its various architectural styles.
Then immerse yourself in the intimacy of the kings as you stroll through the richly decorated apartments, and don't miss out on the unique collection at the Musée des Beaux-Arts.
In this article, you'll find some useful tips to help you prepare for your visit to the Château de Blois and have a wonderful time!
This guide is completely independent, based on our experiences. We visited the region anonymously, making our own choices and paying our bills in full.
Why visit the Château Royal de Blois?
Is the Château Royal worth it? Our opinion:
Yes, it's definitely worth a visit! The Château de Blois may not be the best-known castle in the Loire Valley, but it's still one of the most interesting. Outside alone, you'll get a quick lesson in architecture, as you observe the Château's 4 wings ranging from flamboyant Gothic to Classicism. Once inside, you'll be charmed by the opulence of the apartments' decor, and their many works of art. The artistic immersion continues in the Musée des Beaux-Arts, also housed in the Château. In short, the château alone is a reason to visit Blois!
Don't wait - book your queue-cutting ticket now!
Why is the Château de Blois famous?
The château is famous for its rich historical and architectural heritage, being the former residence of many kings of France (Louis XII, François 1er, Marie de Médicis) and the scene of several significant events.
The site also owes its success to the magnificent staircase commissioned by François 1er. A true masterpiece, this architectural feat was a means for the king to assert his power, and served as the model for Chambord.
Finally, the Château boasts the magnificent collection of the Musée des Beaux-Arts.
Our favorite moments
You'll be spoilt for choice at the Château de Blois, but here are our top 3:
- Enjoy the 360° panorama from the inner courtyard, like a snapshot of the Château's 4 centuries of superimposed architecture.
- Among the monumentality of the different wings, discover the small, hidden and fascinating historical details!
- Stroll through the opulent royal apartments and imagine yourself living in the Renaissance era...
WHERE TO STAY IN Blois
Downtown
Enjoy the city, its restaurants and beautiful architecture.
- Fleur de Loire Hotel - prices, pictures and availability
- Hotel Château des Basses Roches - prices, pictures and availability
In the southern countryside: Chambord, Chevery
Surrounded by castles and charming villages, less than 30 minutes from Blois
- Hotel Relais de Chambord - prices, pictures and availability
- Hotel Les Sources de Cheverny - prices, pictures and availability
In the northern countryside
For a little peace and quiet, but close to the city. Fewer castles.
- Hotel Le Grand Cèdre - prices, pictures and availability
History in brief
The Château de Blois is a story full of twists and turns, but here's a quick summary:
The Middle Ages: As early as the 9th century, a fortress and a count's palace dominated the town of Blois. From the year 1000 onwards, the Counts of Blois transformed the château to make it more impressive.
Renaissance: The château's heyday! In 1498, Louis XII transformed the fortress into an urban palace. The building remains faithful to Gothic architecture, but the candelabra decorations and galleries already show the Italian artistic influence. It was François I who really turned the Renaissance tide in 1515, notably with the construction of his monumental staircase.
17th century: The château continued to evolve with Gaston d'Orléans, brother of Louis XIII, who commissioned François Mansart to build a new wing in the classical style. The work is unfinished.
19th century: Abandoned and threatened with destruction after the French Revolution, the château was saved by the passion of architect Félix Duban. He undertook an ambitious restoration (1845-1870), restoring the château to its former glory.
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How to get there: Château Royal (Musée des Beaux-Arts), Blois
Where is the Château?
Located in the very heart of the city, it's easy to get to! The Château entrance is located at Place du Château in Blois, in the Loir-et-Cher département.
How to get there?
Several options are available to you:
- By car: The château is accessible via the A10 freeway from Paris/Bordeaux.
- By train: From the Blois-Chambord station, the château can be reached in 8 minutes on foot, or by bus, with a stop at the foot of the château. (more info here)
- Cycling: The château is on the Loire à Vélo cycle route, and has 2 bicycle parks at the foot of the château and in the square.
Parking
The Château underground parking lot is 200m away (416 spaces), on avenue Jean Laigret, and costs €3 for 3 hours. Otherwise, a few places are also available at Place Etienne Gaudet.
WHERE TO STAY IN Blois
Downtown
Enjoy the city, its restaurants and beautiful architecture.
- Fleur de Loire Hotel - prices, pictures and availability
- Hotel Château des Basses Roches - prices, pictures and availability
In the southern countryside: Chambord, Chevery
Surrounded by castles and charming villages, less than 30 minutes from Blois
- Hotel Relais de Chambord - prices, pictures and availability
- Hotel Les Sources de Cheverny - prices, pictures and availability
In the northern countryside
For a little peace and quiet, but close to the city. Fewer castles.
- Hotel Le Grand Cèdre - prices, pictures and availability
Useful tips: duration, schedules, eating...
Best time to visit
You can come at any time of year, as most of the Château can be discovered inside. As the site is quite popular in the afternoons, we advise you to come when it opens for a more leisurely visit, and to give preference to weekdays if you can.
Length of visit and main difficulties
As the visit to the Château is quite dense, we recommend you allow between 2 and 3 hours on site. This will give you :
- 1h30 to tour the apartments,
- 1h to visit the Fine Arts Museum collection,
- and 30min to admire the château from the outside and the panoramic view over Blois.
Take a look at the store, too, with its many guides to the region and local products.
There are no major difficulties to visit the site, apart from some stairs in the royal dwelling. Please note, too, that with so many exhibits on display, you're likely to do a lot of walking. Fortunately, seating is available in the rooms throughout the tour.
The site is partially accessible to wheelchair users (the courtyard, the chapel, the first floor of the François 1er wing, the exteriors and the store). Chair loans are also available.
Advice on how to visit
The Château has a map below, but as it's not always clearly indicated on site, we recommend the following order:
- Start in the François 1er wing, where you'll find the interpretation and architecture rooms to help you understand the history of the site before walking through it.
- Continue upstairs to discover the opulent decor of the apartments.
- Discover the Gaston d'Orléans wing and its magnificent vestibule.
- Return to the ticket office and take a look at the impressive Salle des Etats Généraux.
- Take a break outside and visit the Terrasse du Foix garden, admire the Tour du Foix, the town of Blois and the church of Saint-Nicolas.
- Discover the Chapelle Royale and its stained glass windows.
- Finish with the Musée des Beaux-Arts and its precious collection!
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Visiting with children
We'd like to emphasize the many features available to small businesses, such as..:
- The family tour "À toi la vie de château": revealing the secrets and habits of life of kings and queens. (Running time: 1h15)
- A booklet of games for children (6-8 years): to help them understand the architecture and collections through questions, games and drawings, with a little gift at the end!
- Antonieta's Secret Legacy" (ages 6 and up): an escape-game-style investigation to reveal the secret of Antonieta, the figure in one of the museum's paintings. Visitors can explore the castle while handling objects and solving puzzles. Find out more here.
The Musée des Beaux-Arts, meanwhile, presents educational and fun panels for children.
Schedules and rates
The Château is open every day of the year from 10 a.m. to at least 5 p.m., and prices are as follows: €14 (full price), €7 (6-17 years), free (under 6 and PRM). Find the latest information here.
Guided tours
While self-guided tours are perfectly possible thanks to the various labels presenting each room and the immersive Histopad tool, nothing beats a hands-on visit!
Good news: the château's mediation service offers a wide range of tours to bring the collections to life. You can choose between:
- Sous les jupons des reines" (Under the petticoats of queens): forbidden to children under 14, this daring themed tour puts women in the spotlight, revealing the secrets, eccentricities and living conditions of 10 queens who lived at Château de Blois. (Duration: 1H30)
- General guided tour: to discover the must-see collections of the Château de Blois, bookable all year round (duration: 1 hour).
- The unusual visit: which gives access to areas closed to the public and to the roof timbers. This tour is offered mainly in summer, with a few dates on public holidays. (Duration: 2h)
- The "Murmures Nocturnes" tour: discover the Château by candlelight, accompanied by music and poems. This mysterious tour is only available during the winter vacations and at Christmas. (Duration: 2h)
For more information and prices for guided tours, visit the official website here.
Catering
There are no restaurants on site, but the Château is located in the city center, so you'll have plenty of choice when it comes to eating out. Coming soon: our selection of the best restaurants in Blois.
And if you want to dine like royalty, try the Amour Blanc restaurant. We had a superb dinner there, with the town of Blois at sunset as a backdrop!
Must-sees at Château de Blois
The Château de Blois is one hell of a place to visit! We recommend that you take half a day to visit this must-see part of Blois, as it's so full of treasures! But if you're short on time, here's what you really need to see:
- The elegant façade of the Louis XII wing and its welcoming equestrian statue,
- The extraordinary spiral staircase on the François 1er façade,
- The spectacular vaulted ceiling inside the Gaston d'Orléans wing,
- The Queen's Gallery, the Studiolo, the Oratory within the royal apartments,
- The Salle des Etats Généraux, near the ticket office,
- And the collections of the Musée des Beaux-Arts, whose favorites we'll share with you a little further down the article.
Not forgetting, of course, the superb Façade des Loges!
To admire its Renaissance decor to the full, you'll need to leave the Château and go to the terrace of the Jardin des Simples et des Fleurs, just a 5-minute walk away. Open daily from 08:30 to 17:30 and free of charge, this garden offers the best view of the Façade des Loges. Designed by François 1er, it owes its name to the many balconies that make it up. Balzac compared this interweaving of galleries and windows"to the painted fantasies of the decorations in our modern operas, when the painters make fairy palaces there." (Sur Catherine de Médicis, 1841).
These balconies were once used to look out over the gardens, which have now disappeared.
An edifying castle
From the 9th century onwards, the Counts of Blois and the Kings of France transformed the château to suit their tastes. Superbly preserved, the château bears witness to the evolution of French architecture from the Middle Ages to the 17th century.
Get ready for an exciting journey back in time!
An architectural lesson through the centuries
The tour begins outside on Place du Château, where you can admire the brick façade of the Gothic wing. As you pass through the gate, look up to see the proud equestrian statue of Louis XII welcoming you.
Take time to observe each of the expressive gargoyles decorating the façade. Some are monstrous, others saucy. In the 15th century, this outer courtyard was designed so that the king could make a spectacle of himself to his subjects, hence the many openings in the façade.
Once inside the Château, you'll be able to admire the other side of the façade, and discover the richly decorated François 1er wing on your right. The magnificent staircase is an instant eye-catcher! Encased in an octagonal tower, it spirals outwards, adorned with rich carvings, floral motifs and royal emblems. This openwork staircase, which seems to stand out from the building, was the first architectural project of the reign of François 1er. Built in 1515, the staircase was inspired by the Italian Renaissance, which the king had fallen in love with during his campaigns, and turned outwards to dramatize his reign.
Finally, the last stage in the building process is to the left of the staircase, with the façade designed by Gaston d'Orléans, who imposed classicism in 1634. Having come to power because his brother had no sons, he wanted to totally destroy the wings of François 1er and Louis XII. Fortunately for us, his project was never to come to fruition, as Louis XIV came into the world and stole the throne from him at just 4 years of age! Construction of the palace was then suddenly halted for lack of funds. Some of the columns are fluted, while others are still waiting to be decorated...
The tour ends with a visit to the garden, home to the 13th-century Tour de Foix. A vestige of the medieval fortress, it protected the Foix district and the city's western gateway just below. In the 17th century, its defensive character was masked by the addition of a wooden staircase tower.
A fun tour
In addition to the fact that the Château is particularly well maintained and decorated, we also appreciated the efforts made to enhance its historical value. First of all, we can mention the interpretation rooms on the ground floor of the François 1er dwelling, which are particularly didactic. You'll find videos, 3D models and tactile tables to help you understand how the building has evolved over time. The architectural rooms showcase the different phases of restoration and, above all, some fragments of the facade decorations.
Then, inside the royal dwellings, you can get your bearings with the many explanatory panels, presenting the historical context of the rooms and details of the objects on display. For our part, we liked the fact that some panels focused on the lifestyles of the kings or provided historical reminders.
And if you want an even more in-depth visit, you can opt for the Histopad (included in the ticket price), which offers a 1-hour guided tour of the castle in an immersive way. Discover the fascinating details of historic objects in 360°, explore faithful reconstructions of vanished rooms, and immerse yourself in the lives of the sovereigns through never-before-seen anecdotes and other surprises!
Note also that the Salle des Etats Généraux features large touch screens for interactive learning of history. You can explore the château through the centuries, using 3D reconstructions, video animations and illustrated timelines to learn more about the key figures and events at Château de Blois.
A visit full of details
While the Château's monumental architecture will dazzle you, we invite you to take a closer look at the small, discreet details. In fact, a number of emblems have been incorporated into the various facades to identify the different owners. In the 15th century, for example, King Louis XII chose the porcupine to convey the idea that he should be feared by his enemies. This emblem will be associated with its motto "Qu'y s'y frotte, s'y pique". You'll find the half-amusing, half-menacing little animal on the main façade at the entrance to the Château.
To see the emblem of François 1er, you'll have to go to the inner courtyard. Its totem animal is none other than the salamander, a symbol of royal valour. Reputed to have power over fire, the motto that accompanied it was "Futrisco et extinguo" (I feed on it and extinguish it).
For Gaston d'Orléans, you'll notice his bust above the front of his dwelling, depicted with a lion's skin over his shoulder in the style of Hercules. Hercules, son of Zeus, wins immortality at the end of a life marked by feats of courage and strength. Choosing this mythological motif was a symbolic way of associating his image with bravery. In choosing this theme, Gaston d'Orléans reproduced what François 1er had done a hundred years before him. In fact, you'll see that the Façade des Loges features six bas-reliefs dedicated to the story of the ancient hero.
A château museum bursting at the seams
The Château de Blois is particularly well-stocked, with over 35,000 objects (paintings, sculptures, costumes). That's why we've decided to tell you all about the must-see rooms.
This will keep you focused on the essentials!
The royal apartments
Once you've had your fill of information in the interpretation rooms on the first floor of the François 1er wing, head upstairs to explore the royal apartments. For our part, we loved discovering the Queen's Gallery. Invented during the Renaissance to link the private apartments to the public areas of the château, the gallery is much more than just a corridor! It's a ceremonial room where works of art (here a collection of portraits) are exhibited and receptions held. We particularly liked the mix of colors in this room. In particular, the earthenware floor, with its typical Renaissance colors, actually dates back to restorations carried out in the 19th century by Félix Duban.
Still on the 1st floor, we spent a long time in awe of the mysterious Studiolo! This original room (from before 1520) is the only Renaissance royal cabinet preserved in France! Intended for reading or meditation, the studiolo is the ancestor of the cabinets of curiosities, small museums created by private individuals, in vogue around 1560, where art objects or natural objects brought back from travels were displayed in glass cases.
You'll be mesmerized by the abundance of 180 carved and gilded oak panels, inside which were hidden various objects from François 1er's collection (glassware, small bronzes, exotic pieces) that he only showed to a privileged few.
Once you've discovered the other parts of the 2nd floor (the King's bedroom, the Council chamber, the Duban gallery and the Neo-Renaissance room), you can move on to the Gaston d'Orléans wing. Take a look at the spectacular vault and the unfinished sketches, which show that the ornaments could not be carved due to lack of funds.
Leave the wing to return to the courtyard, and to the right of the ticket office, discover the oldest room in the château: the Salle des États Généraux! Built in 1214, this gigantic medieval hall (measuring almost 540m2) is one of the oldest surviving Gothic civil halls in France!
It takes its name from the assemblies held there, bringing together the three orders of society (nobility, clergy, third parties) to deal with a political crisis, at the request of the king. Look up and see the dazzling decorations on the ceilings: some 6,720 fleurs-de-lis adorn the vaulted panelling! Walls covered in polychrome terracotta paving, sculpted capitals and colorful stained-glass windows won't go unnoticed either!
The Musée des Beaux-Arts collection
Once you've taken the time to admire every room in the castle, where you'll already have the chance to appreciate the works of art, head for the Musée des Beaux-Arts. Located in the Château's Louis XII wing, it is unique in that its display is thematic rather than chronological! Take a stroll through the landscapes room and discover François Pierre Barry's 19th-century painting Naufrage, side by side with other paintings from the 16th and 17th centuries.
Among the Museum's iconic works is the monumental altarpiece by Marco d'Oggiono, principal pupil of the genius Da Vinci. Created around 1500, it depicts various saints and the Virgin and Child. It appears monumentally in the Virgin and Child room, dedicated to this emblematic motif from art history. We also liked to compare it with the other, very different paintings on display.
Another work that fascinated us for its brilliance was the painting Valentine de Milan pleurant son époux by Marie-Philippe Coupin de la Couperie (1822). It depicts Valentine Visconti at the bedside of her husband Louis d'Orléans, Count of Blois, who was assassinated in 1407. Created in the 19th century, this painting belongs to the troubadour style, known for its idealized reappropriation of the imaginary Middle Ages. Here, he eulogizes this romantic, murdered heroine, who dies of grief a year later. We spent a long time admiring the drape of the dress, the general light of the painting and the diaphanous skin of the subject.
To find out more, we also invite you to take a look at the must-see items on the Château's website here.
Saint-Calais chapel
Once you've completed your tour of the Museum of Fine Arts, you can finish off with a visit to the Royal Chapel. Dedicated to the hermit Saint Calais, the chapel, consecrated in 1508, was the private place of worship of Louis XII and Anne de Bretagne. You can admire their initials engraved in stone on the façade. Look out, too, for the spire rising proudly from the roof!
Inside, don't miss the magnificent stained glass windows designed by Max Ingrand in 1957 to replace those destroyed by the 1944 bombardments. They represent the various illustrious figures who have passed through the château.
Look out, too, for the painted vaults and various sculptures, including a beautiful 16th-century wooden Pieta.
One last thing before you leave: take in the view from the château's terraces. From here, you'll have a perfect panoramic view of the town of Blois, with its slate roofs, brick chimneys and beautiful Saint-Nicolas church.
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Frequently asked questions
Can the Château de Blois staircase rival Chambord?
Although the Chambord staircase is more famous for its technical ingenuity and its association with Leonardo da Vinci, the staircase at Château de Blois is no less remarkable. The staircase at Blois (circa 1518-15198) inspired the one at Chambord (circa 1545).
The ornamental richness and beauty of the Blois staircase make it a worthy rival. Especially as Blois was the royal town at the time, while Chambord was just a hunting lodge...
When can I see the show at Château de Blois?
If you get the chance, don't miss the castle's famous sound and light show. Scheduled every year between April and September (with a few dates during the vacations as well), it's sure to delight young and old alike!
For 45 minutes, a video-mapping show is projected into the castle courtyard at dusk for an evening as memorable as it is magical.
Prices : Adults: 11.50€ / Children (6-17): 7€ / under 6: free
Find out more here.
Is there a garden in the Château de Blois?
Unfortunately, the gardens of the Château Royal, designed by Louis XII and Anne de Bretagne, have now disappeared. Created by Pacello da Mercogliano, an Italian botanist and monk (also gardener at Château Gaillard in Amboise), the Renaissance gardens covered almost ten hectares, making them one of the most beautiful in the kingdom.
DON'T MISS THE BEST CASTLES IN the Loire Valley
- The most beautiful castles of the Loire Valley
- The most beautiful gardens
- Where to stay in the Loire castles: unforgettable hotels!
- The best Loire castles to visit with your family
- Castles you can visit with a dog
- Chambord or Chenonceau: our comparison
- itineraries: weekend - 3 days - 4 days - 5 days - 1 week
- Castles around Blois, around Amboise, around Saumur, around Tours, around Angers and around Nantes.
- or our list of over 100 Loire castles
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