Things to Do in the Loire Valley (Other than Castles)
Inflating the hot air balloons for our ride in the Loire Valley, France. September 9, 2020.
Castles, castles, castles… and more castles? Is that all there is? Castles?
Truth: The Loire Valley has more châteaux than I could count. (Even when you reference a guidebook, you don’t see all the castles that exist—you see simply the castles open to visitors.)
And I loved seeing the castles and highly recommend seeing them. To get a taste of seeing châteaux in the Loire Valley, read through my articles on the best Loire Valley castles to see for beauty and the best châteaux to see for history (from which you can click through to all my other articles about sightseeing in the region, too).
However, a trip with nothing but castles may not appeal to everyone. Fortunately, the Loire Valley has numerous other activities to give you and your fellow travelers a break from castle sightseeing, should you need one.
Unique Museums
I love museums and seek them out everywhere I visit (and live). Though art museums will always enchant, I’ve grown to particularly enjoy quirky museums with original subject matter or topic angles. And the Loire Valley has several of these.
Though you’ll find many traditional museums featuring art and history throughout the Loire Valley (and even within the châteaux, which often host exhibitions), the following unique museums will appeal to a variety of tastes and perspectives for adults and kids:
Musée des Blindés: Fans of military history—and great big military machines especially—could spend hours wandering through this museum dedicated to tanks from all countries and across all time periods.
Musée du Champignon: Bring a sweater to wander through underground caves of growing mushrooms in numerous varieties, including helpful information on the hows and the whys of their cultivation.
Musée du Compagnonnage: Nowhere near as stunning as the tool and labor museum we saw on our visit to Troyes, this museum has a massive collection of masterpiece projects from manual laborers over the 19th and 20th centuries.
Maison de la Magie: Kids and grown-ups alike will love this museum dedicated to the art and history of magic, which features an introductory magic show and a façade with mechanical dragons that emerge from the front windows. (See the video below for a glimpse!)
Rochemenier: This abandoned village provides a glimpse into the life and culture of people who lived in the caves carved from the tufa cliffs around Saumur.
See Horses in Saumur
Whether or not you see the Château de Saumur, you’ll love the behind-the-scenes guided visit at the École Nationale d’Équitation, one of the world’s most renowned equestrian academies.
And if you want more horse history after the tour, you can walk over to the Musée de la Cavalerie—also in Saumur—to see exhibits on the history of the French calvary. (In fact, this museum would provide a fantastic bridge in subject matter between the equestrian center and a quick drive to see the Musée des Blindés mentioned above.)
Visit Tours
Most people wouldn’t consider Tours a destination spot, though it has a lot to offer and is definitively the Loire Valley region’s “big city.”
In addition to a picturesque city center, you’ll find flagship museums like the Musée des Beaux Arts and a few quirky museums as well, including the Musée du Compagnonnage mentioned above.
Read my how-to guide on visiting the Loire Valley—in which we cite Tours as an ideal base of stay—for more nitty-gritty detail on what to uncover and expect in Tours.
Get Active
If you’d prefer to go from your car to your destination and back again—no judgement here, take that vacation, my friend—you can. However, if you’d like a little more activity during your Loire Valley trip, you’ll find it in abundance.
Throughout the Loire Valley, you’ll find places to rent bikes at reasonable rates. Though only the most hardcore cyclists will want to cycle between châteaux every day of their trip, you can do so for one of the days or your visit—or can cycle around one or two of the region’s many towns, use the bike for meandering around your base of stay location, or grab a picnic and cycle out into the countryside for a leisurely lunch or snack on a beautiful afternoon.
The Loire Valley has several rivers running through it, including the Cher River, which will take you under the Château de Chenonceau, and the Loire River itself, which winds through Tours. The tourist offices in Tours will guide you on canoe and kayak rental and locations. A definite sightseeing highlight: Canoeing under the Chenonceau’s river-spanning gallery.
Two people enjoying an afternoon on the River Cher in a canoe, as seen from the Château de Chenonceau gallery windows. September 11, 2020.
Go Hot Air Ballooning
If you get the chance to take a hot air balloon ride on your trip to the Loire Valley, take it.
The pictures and video I’ve included below likely speak for the experience better than anything I can write. With the region’s heavy agricultural focus making for multicolored landscapes dotted with small and picturesque towns—further punctuated by magnificent and elegant châteaux—the entire experience will serve your senses an unimaginable feast.
The Loire Valley Has a Lot to Offer
I won’t lie to you: The châteaux are the big thing to do and the main reason to visit the Loire Valley.
If you don’t care to even see a single castle, you may find other places in France or on this planet more interesting than the Loire Valley. (I hope you’ll reconsider your stance on the châteaux, though. You won’t believe what you see, I promise.)
Yet even if you’d like to see castles—yet want to see more than castles—the Loire Valley has a lot to offer.
To help everyone better navigate a trip to the Loire Valley in France, I’ve written a collection of articles with guidance:
If you visit, I’d love to hear what you think.
And if you found these articles helpful to you in planning your trip to the Loire Valley, consider hat-tipping me a coffee to help me keep up my work and keep this site ad-free!