Tours travel guide
Loire châteaux base with a half-timbered old town
Tours sits between the Loire and the Cher, with a half-timbered old quarter, a Gothic cathedral and busy terraces on Place Plumereau. It works best as a base for the châteaux from April to October; give it three or four days to fit in a few castles. Prices are high, and many passports enter visa-free.
Tours lies on a strip of land between the Loire and the Cher, and it is the most practical base for the châteaux of the Loire Valley: Villandry, Azay-le-Rideau, Amboise and Chenonceau are all within easy reach. The city itself repays a day or two. Its historic centre falls within the UNESCO-listed stretch of the Loire, and the Vieux-Tours quarter keeps its half-timbered houses around Place Plumereau.
Place Plumereau is where the evening happens. In summer restaurant chairs spill across the whole square and stay busy late. Rue Colbert, a short walk east, is the other eating street, with Iranian and Japanese cooking next to French bistros. Look up while you walk. Saint-Gatien Cathedral has flying buttresses and gargoyles worth inspecting closely, while the Basilica of Saint-Martin keeps the saint's tomb in its crypt beside two towers of a far older church.
Eat local. Touraine gives you rillettes de Tours, Sainte-Maure goat's cheese and Vouvray white wine from the slopes just upstream. On warm days follow the Loire à Vélo path from Pont Wilson, or sit at the riverside guinguette by the bridge. After dark the old centre is fine; the high-rise districts on the east and south-east side are best avoided.
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Top things to do in Tours
A walkable old quarter, two great churches and the Loire châteaux a short ride away.
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Best time to visit Tours
Month by month, so you can pick the weather and the crowds you want.
Mild days for cycling the Loire and touring château gardens before and after peak crowds.
Warm and busy; château queues lengthen and Place Plumereau runs late into the night.
The road train around the centre runs daily in high summer and usually only at weekends in spring and autumn; check the tourist office for this year's dates.
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Getting there
TGVs to Saint-Pierre-des-Corps and Ryanair into TUF
TGVs from Paris Montparnasse take about an hour, but many stop only at Saint-Pierre-des-Corps on the eastern edge of the city, where the navette shuttle train covers the last stretch to Tours station in about five minutes. Direct TGVs from Paris-Charles de Gaulle reach Saint-Pierre-des-Corps in about two hours, which beats crossing Paris. Tours Val de Loire Airport, 5 km north, has year-round Ryanair flights from London Stansted, Porto and Marrakech plus a few seasonal routes; Tempo 2 buses link it with the centre. Drivers from Paris follow the A10.
- TGV from Paris Montparnasse
- About 1 hour, often to Saint-Pierre-des-Corps
- Navette shuttle
- Saint-Pierre-des-Corps to Tours station in about 5 minutes
- From Paris-CDG
- About 2 hours by direct TGV to Saint-Pierre-des-Corps
- Tours Val de Loire (TUF)
- 5 km north; taxi rank or the Tempo 2 bus
- Flying into Orly means a cross-Paris trip to Montparnasse first, so CDG is usually simpler for a train connection.
- Nantes airport is another option, with more European routes, about 1.5 to 2.5 hours away by train.
Where to stay
Plumereau lanes, the cathedral quarter or by the station
Every area below is within walking distance of the others. Choose by noise tolerance and how early you need a train.
- Vieux-Tours
- Half-timbered lanes by Place Plumereau, lively and noisy late into the night
- Cathedral quarter
- Quiet old streets round Saint-Gatien, a short walk from the restaurants
- Station and Boulevard Heurteloup
- Next to trains, the tourist office and the road train; less charm
- Rue Colbert
- Between the old town and the cathedral, with the widest choice of restaurants on the doorstep
- Prébendes
- Residential streets by the Jardin des Prébendes south of the station, calm and on the tram
Getting around
Tram A to Joué, Tempo 2 and the Loire à Vélo from Pont Wilson
The historic centre, from the cathedral to Place Plumereau, is easy to cover on foot. Tram A crosses the city from the north, near the airport, through the centre and on to L'Heure Tranquille and Joué-lès-Tours. Tempo 2, a rapid bus line, links the north and the airport with the centre and Chambray-lès-Tours. The navette shuttle connects the two railway stations. On a fine day the Loire à Vélo path, starting at Pont Wilson, runs along both banks for miles.
- Tram A
- North Tours through the centre to Joué-lès-Tours, every 4 to 8 minutes by day
- Tempo 2
- Rapid bus from the airport and northern Tours to the centre and Chambray
- Navette
- Tours to Saint-Pierre-des-Corps in about 5 minutes
- Loire à Vélo
- Riverside cycle path from Pont Wilson in both directions
- The road train leaves from Boulevard Heurteloup, outside the tourist office; it is a painless first loop of the centre for families.
Know before you go
What makes Tours worth the trip, and what catches visitors out.
Why travelers love it
- Place Plumereau on a summer night, when café chairs cover the square under the timbered façades.
- Saint-Gatien's gargoyles, some of them far cheekier than you would expect on a cathedral.
- An early ride on the Loire à Vélo, starting at Pont Wilson with the river almost to yourself.
Good to know
- Midsummer highs reach about 26°C and shade is scarce in the château gardens, so carry water and a hat.
- Saint-Gatien's cloister closes at lunchtime, roughly 12:30 to 14:30, so plan your visit around the break.
Trip fit
BookingMentor editorial ratings out of 5, based on a first-time visitor's experience.
Weather in Tours, month by month
Tours has a mild Loire valley climate, with warm summers for cycling to the châteaux and cool, damp winters. Choose any month for long-run temperatures and rainfall measured at Tours.
Climate figures are approximate long-term averages for Tours (Meteociel, via Wikipedia).
Chenonceau, Amboise and Villandry on three days from Tours
From Tours, plan two châteaux a day at most. On day one, take the train to Chenonceau at opening time and continue to Amboise and Clos Lucé. On day two, cycle the Cher to Villandry's gardens or ride to Azay-le-Rideau. Keep the third morning for the Basilica of Saint-Martin and Saint-Gatien Cathedral.
Take an early regional train east to Chenonceau, built in arches across the Cher, and be at the gate when it opens, ahead of the coaches. Walk the long gallery over the river, then catch a train back towards Tours and change for Amboise, where the royal château stands on its rock above the Loire. Leonardo da Vinci is buried in its chapel, and his last home, Clos Lucé, is a short walk up the street.
Spend the second day closer to the city. Hire a bike and follow the Cher west on the flat cycle path to Villandry, about the gardens more than the house: geometric kitchen plots, clipped box hedges and a water garden. The Chinon line continues to Azay-le-Rideau, a Renaissance château mirrored in the Indre.
On the third morning, stay in town. Climb to the towers of the Basilica of Saint-Martin, see the saint's tomb in the crypt, then cross to Saint-Gatien Cathedral and its cloister before it shuts for lunch. In July and August, book the first slot of the day at the big châteaux.
Rillons, Sainte-Maure goat's cheese and Vouvray in Tours
Tours food is Touraine pork, goat's cheese and Loire wine. Eat rillettes de Tours and rillons, crisp cubes of pork belly, from the covered market at Les Halles. Sainte-Maure-de-Touraine is the ash-dusted local cheese, Vouvray and Montlouis make Chenin Blanc just upstream, and Chinon and Bourgueil supply the reds.
Rillettes de Tours are pork cooked slowly in its own fat until it falls into threads, darker and richer than the Le Mans version, spread thickly on bread. Rillons, big cubes of pork belly cooked the same way until crisp outside, are eaten warm or cold with a glass of white.
The local cheese is Sainte-Maure-de-Touraine, a log of goat's cheese dusted with ash, with a rye straw running through the middle to hold it together. Young, it is fresh and lemony; aged, it turns dense and nutty.
Vouvray makes still and sparkling Chenin Blanc in caves cut into the chalk cliffs of the north bank; the Chinon and Bourgueil reds are Cabernet Franc. Finish with nougat de Tours, a tart of candied fruit under almond macaroon.
For dinner, Place Plumereau is about the setting more than the cooking, so pick a place on the side streets. Rue Colbert has the range, and the guinguette by Pont Wilson serves drinks on the riverbank in summer.
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How we research our Tours travel guide
TGV, the navette, Fil Bleu tram and airport details are compared with SNCF and the operators before each review. City facts come from tours.fr and France.fr, entry rules from the EU's Entry/Exit and ETIAS portal.
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Checked against trusted sources:
Official website of ToursFrance.frEU Entry/Exit System and ETIAS
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Quick answers to the questions travelers ask most before visiting Tours.
Getting there
Yes. Tempo 2 links the airport, 5 km north, with the city centre. Taxis also wait at the rank outside.
Amboise, Chenonceau and Azay-le-Rideau all have regional train stations. Villandry is an easy bike ride, and minibus tours cover the rest.
TGVs from Paris Montparnasse take about an hour, but many stop only at Saint-Pierre-des-Corps on the eastern edge of the city, where the navette shuttle train covers the last stretch to Tours station in about five minutes. Direct TGVs from Paris-Charles de Gaulle reach Saint-Pierre-des-Corps in about two hours, which beats crossing Paris. Tours Val de Loire Airport, 5 km north, has year-round Ryanair flights from London Stansted, Porto and Marrakech plus a few seasonal routes; Tempo 2 buses link it with the centre.
General
Saint-Pierre-des-Corps sits on the high-speed through route, while Tours station is a terminus. Take the navette shuttle into Tours, about 5 minutes.
Yes. Direct TGVs from Charles de Gaulle take about two hours, then the shuttle reaches Tours station.
Place Plumereau for terraces in the old town, and Rue Colbert for a wider range of cooking from French bistros to Iranian and Japanese.
Rillettes de Tours, Sainte-Maure-de-Touraine goat's cheese and white Vouvray from just upstream. Nougat de Tours, a fruit-and-almond tart, is the local sweet.
The centre is fine day and night. The high-rise estates to the east and south-east are best avoided after dark.
Yes, the Carte Multi-visites covers several city museums, including the Fine Arts Museum and the Compagnonnage Museum. Buy it at any participating museum or the tourist office.
Booking
About two a day, plus a day for the city itself. Three or four days covers the main names without rushing.
It works best as a base for the châteaux from April to October; give it three or four days to fit in a few castles.
Timing & weather
April to June and September to October. In July and August, arrive at opening time to stay ahead of the coach groups.
The best time to visit Tours is Apr to Jun, Sep to Oct. Château gardens in bloom or autumn colour, and cycling weather without the August crowds.
- Best overall: April - June, September - October (Mild days for cycling the Loire and touring château gardens before and after peak crowds)
- Summer: July - August (Warm and busy; château queues lengthen and Place Plumereau runs late into the night)
Visa & documents
France belongs to the Schengen area. Citizens of the EU and of many other countries, including the US, UK, Canada and Australia, can visit visa-free for up to 90 days in any 180-day period; other nationalities need a Schengen visa. The EU's Entry/Exit System (EES) records non-EU travelers' fingerprints and a photo at the border.
Health & safety
Crime against visitors to France is mostly petty. Pickpocketing is common in Paris on the Metro, especially line 1, and around the Eiffel Tower, Montmartre and Gare du Nord. Rail and air strikes and street demonstrations can disrupt transport, so check before travel days and keep away from protests.
