Even if gardens aren't your thing, those at the Château de Villandry (château daily: May–Sept 9am–6pm, mid-Feb to April & Oct to mid-Nov 9am–dusk; gardens daily: May–Sept 9am–7.30pm, Oct–April till dusk; €7.50 Château and gardens, €5 gardens only) are definitely worth a visit. Thirteen kilometres west of Tours along the Cher – a superb cycle trip – this recreated Renaissance garden is no ordinary formal pattern, but more like a tapestry that changes with the months and only fades in winter. Carrots, cabbages and aubergines are arranged into patterns beneath rose bowers, while herbs and ornamental box hedges are part of the artwork, divided by vine-shaded paths. The raised terraces that frame the potager are home to an elaborately patterned allegorical "garden of love", and peaceful lawns set around a formal lake.The Château itself is the epitome of elegance, concealing eighteenth-century interiors behind its graceful Renaissance facades. The turret-top view over the gardens and out to the confluence of the Loire and Cher is unmissable. In summer you can take a minibus directly from Tours to Villandry (tel 02.47.70.37.37); the service leaves from the tourist office at 10am and 2.30pm and costs €16 return. Just past the Château, 1km down the D121 towards Druye, there's an upmarket farmhouse restaurant, the Domaine de la Giraudière (tel 02.47.50.08.60; closed mid-Nov to mid-March; menus from €13), which throngs with families enjoying meals in the courtyard on summer evenings.
Pages in section ‘Villandry’: Château de Langeais.
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