Castles & Palaces
Château de Chambord reflected in the Loire River at dawn

46 historic sites

Castles in France

Home to more than 40,000 châteaux, France is the world's premier castle destination. From the Loire Valley's fairy-tale palaces to the fortified bastides of the South, French castles shaped European history, architecture and royal culture for centuries.

The medieval keep of the Château de Vincennes rising above the Bois de Vincennes, Paris, France

france · Île-de-France

Château de Vincennes

France's tallest medieval keep, the primary royal residence before Versailles existed

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Château de Chantilly's Neo-Renaissance facade reflected in its moat, with André Le Nôtre's formal gardens stretching toward the canal

france · Île-de-France

Château de Chantilly

The neo-Renaissance château 25 minutes from Paris housing the second-greatest old masters collection in France

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Château d'Azay-le-Rideau's Renaissance facade reflected in the still waters of the Indre river
UNESCO

france · Loire Valley

Château d'Azay-le-Rideau

The château that floats on an island in the Indre — the most purely beautiful building in the Loire Valley

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The geometric parterres of Château de Villandry's ornamental kitchen garden seen from the terrace above, with the Renaissance château in the background
UNESCO

france · Loire Valley

Château de Villandry

The Loire château where the gardens are the architecture — Renaissance geometry made living

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The striped black-and-white Angevin towers of Château d'Angers rising above their moat-side gardens
UNESCO

france · Loire Valley

Château d'Angers

The 13th-century Angevin fortress that protects the world's greatest surviving medieval tapestry

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Château du Clos Lucé in Amboise — the pink brick manor where Leonardo da Vinci spent his final three years as guest of Francis I, now housing the Leonardo da Vinci Museum and Park
UNESCO

france · Centre-Val de Loire

Clos Lucé Castle

Where Leonardo da Vinci spent his last three years — the manor Francis I gifted to the greatest mind of the Renaissance, still connected to the Château d'Amboise by the underground passage the king built so he could visit whenever he chose

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The François I wing of Château de Blois with its famous spiral staircase and Renaissance loggia facade facing the courtyard

france · Loire Valley

Château de Blois

Where four French architectural centuries collide — and where a queen kept her poisons

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The medieval ramparts and Tour de Constance of Aigues-Mortes rising from the Camargue marshes — Saint Louis's 13th-century Crusade port and Huguenot prison, with nearly a mile of walkable medieval walls

france · Camargue, Gard, Occitanie

Fortifications of Aigues-Mortes

Saint Louis's Crusade port and Marie Durand's prison — the complete 13th-century fortified town in the Camargue marshes built as France's Mediterranean gateway, with nearly a mile of walkable medieval walls, 20 towers, and the word RÉSISTER carved in stone by a woman imprisoned 38 years

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Château de Rambouillet's 18th-century facade and round towers in the Île-de-France forest

france · Île-de-France

Château de Rambouillet

The Republic's quiet château — a presidential retreat with Marie Antoinette's theatrical dairy

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Château de Meung-sur-Loire's medieval fortress and 18th-century classical wing on the Loire, France

france · Loire Valley

Château de Meung-sur-Loire

The Bishops of Orléans' castle, where the poet François Villon was imprisoned and Alexandre Dumas found his Musketeers

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Genoese Tower at Porto, Corsica — the 16th-century cylindrical watchtower on a red granite promontory above the Gulf of Porto, part of the UNESCO World Heritage coastal landscape

france · Corsica (Porto, Corse-du-Sud)

Genoese Tower

Three dollars and the best view in the Gulf of Porto — this Genoese watchtower on a red granite outcrop is at the centre of Corsica's UNESCO World Heritage coastline, and the entry fee is as close to free as a paid attraction gets

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Château de Salignac in the Périgord Noir, Dordogne — the 12th-century medieval château undergoing active restoration, visited on adult-only guided tours near Sarlat

france · Nouvelle-Aquitaine (Dordogne)

Château de Salignac

An active restoration project in the Périgord Noir — Château de Salignac opens its medieval walls and ongoing restoration work to adult visitors, offering behind-the-scenes access that the polished heritage sites of the Dordogne do not provide

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Château La Gordonne in Pierrefeu-du-Var, Provence — the Côtes de Provence wine estate in the Var hills, known for its pale rosé wines and guided estate tours

france · Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (Var)

Château La Gordonne

Côtes de Provence rosé in a wooded Var estate — Château La Gordonne offers the complete Provençal wine-estate experience: manor house, working cellars, and tasting of the pale pink wines that made the appellation one of the most recognised rosé names in the world

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Château de Tavannes in the Châtillonnais countryside of northern Burgundy — the 18th-century classical estate with a medieval turret, listed Historic Monument of France since 1988

france · Burgundy (Châtillonnais)

Château de Tavannes

A working Burgundy estate led by its owner — exteriors, octroi pavilions, a Burgundy-stone cellar, and an 18th-century château with a medieval turret that predates everything around it, deep in the Châtillonnais countryside

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Mont-Saint-Michel rising from the tidal bay of Normandy at high tide, surrounded by sea at dawn
UNESCO

france · Normandy

Mont-Saint-Michel

The tidal island-fortress rising from the sea that has defined French Gothic architecture for a thousand years

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The Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles, with gilded arches and chandeliers reflected in 357 mirrors
UNESCO

france · Île-de-France

Palace of Versailles

The palace that defined royal ambition for three centuries

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Carcassonne's double ring of towers and ramparts rising above the Languedoc plain at sunset
UNESCO

france · Occitanie

Carcassonne

The largest medieval walled city in Europe — two kilometres of ramparts rising from the plains of Languedoc

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Palais des Papes in Avignon — the largest Gothic palace in the world, built by the medieval papacy between 1334 and 1352 on the Rocher des Doms above the Rhône
UNESCO

france · Avignon, Vaucluse, Provence

Palais des Papes

The largest Gothic palace in Europe — seat of the medieval papacy during the Avignon exile

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Château d'If rising from the Mediterranean Sea, its pale stone towers seen from a ferry approaching from Marseille's Vieux-Port

france · Provence

Château d'If

The island fortress that inspired The Count of Monte Cristo — Marseille's most dramatic and literary landmark

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Château de Chambord reflected in the Cosson river, with its extraordinary roofline of towers and chimneys against a stormy sky
UNESCO

france · Loire Valley

Château de Chambord

François I's Renaissance fantasy — the Loire Valley's most theatrical château

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Château de Chenonceau spanning the Cher river on its five arches, reflected in still water at sunrise
UNESCO

france · Loire Valley

Château de Chenonceau

The ladies' château — built on arches over a river by the women who loved it most

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Château de Fontainebleau's classical facade reflected in the ornamental carp pond, with the formal parterre stretching towards the Fontainebleau forest
UNESCO

france · Île-de-France

Château de Fontainebleau

A thousand years of French royal history — the palace that Versailles aspired to become

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Château des ducs de Bretagne in Nantes — the last independent ducal castle of Brittany, with the Tour de la Couronne d'Or and the polygonal enceinte above the moat

france · Pays de la Loire, Loire-Atlantique, Nantes

Château des ducs de Bretagne

The last seat of the Dukes of Brittany — and the castle where Anne of Brittany brought the first Renaissance light to the Atlantic coast

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Haut-Kœnigsbourg Castle rising above the Alsatian wine route in France

france · Alsace, Bas-Rhin

Haut-Kœnigsbourg Castle

Alsace's most-visited castle, rising above the Rhine plain

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Les Baux-de-Provence castle ruins on a white limestone spur above the Alpilles

france · Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Bouches-du-Rhône

Les Baux-de-Provence Castle

A ruined citadel on a white limestone spur above the olive groves of Provence

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Château de Buranlure in the Berry countryside — a 17th-century French manor in the same family since 1769, near Sancerre and Henrichemont in the Centre-Val de Loire

france · Centre-Val de Loire, Cher — near Sancerre and Henrichemont, Berry

Buranlure Castle

Same family, same château since 1769 — a Berry manor personally shown by its hereditary owner, accessible only in July, August, and on Heritage Days

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Château de Lichtenberg in the Vosges du Nord Regional Natural Park, Alsace — the 13th-century castle comprehensively redesigned for gunpowder artillery in 1580, with its warm red Vosges sandstone walls above the Alsatian forest

france · Alsace / Bas-Rhin

Castle of Lichtenberg

An Alsatian castle redesigned for cannon in 1580 — a Vosges du Nord sandstone fortress in the Regional Natural Park, one of France's less-visited medieval sites with excellent indoor exhibitions and panoramic views

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Château de Beynac perched on a cliff above the Dordogne River

france · Dordogne, Nouvelle-Aquitaine

Château de Beynac

A medieval fortress perched above the Dordogne River

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Château de Castelnaud overlooking the Dordogne valley in France

france · Dordogne, Nouvelle-Aquitaine

Château de Castelnaud

The English fortress of the Dordogne and museum of medieval warfare

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Château de La Rivière above the Dordogne Valley — the 16th-century Fronsadais castle on its limestone promontory with 20km of underground quarry cellars below

france · Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Gironde — Fronsadais, La Rivière, 35km east of Bordeaux

Château de La Rivière

Twenty kilometres of underground quarries turned wine cellar beneath a 16th-century château overlooking the Dordogne Valley

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Château de Luc in the Minervois wine country, Languedoc — a 14th-century fortified castle with medieval wine cellar and organic vineyards in the Aude garrigue

france · Occitanie, Aude — Minervois wine country, 50km northwest of Carcassonne

Château de Luc

A 14th-century fortified castle in the Minervois, producing organic wine in a cellar that has functioned continuously since the medieval period

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Château de Reignac in Saint-Loubès — the 16th-century estate with a colombier dovecote tasting tower and Eiffel-designed greenhouse on the Bordeaux right bank

france · Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Gironde — Saint-Loubès, right bank Bordeaux, 25km east of the city

Château de Reignac

An Eiffel-designed greenhouse, concrete-egg fermentation, and a 16th-century dovecote tower tasting in the Bordeaux countryside

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Château de Saint-Fargeau in the Puisaye, Burgundy — the five pink-brick towers of the 15th-century château at dusk, with the illuminations of the Spectacle de Saint-Fargeau visible

france · Saint-Fargeau, Yonne, Burgundy

Château de Saint-Fargeau

A medieval Burgundian château and France's largest historical spectacle — 600 volunteers, 50 horsemen, and fireworks

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Château de Savigny-lès-Beaune in Burgundy — medieval towers with military aircraft in the grounds, combining a 14th-century castle with one of Europe's largest private plane collections

france · Burgundy, Côte d'Or — 6km northwest of Beaune

Château de Savigny-lès-Beaune

A medieval Burgundy castle containing one of Europe's most extraordinary private collections: 100 fighter planes, Abarth race cars, and 200 motorcycles

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Château de Valençay — the Renaissance north wing and tower where Talleyrand held the Spanish royal family for six years

france · Centre-Val de Loire (Indre), Berry

Château de Valençay

Napoleon's foreign minister, the captive king of Spain, and the chef who invented haute cuisine — all under one Renaissance roof in the Berry

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Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte reflected in the grand canal, with Le Nôtre's formal parterres stretching from the château steps to the horizon in Île-de-France

france · Île-de-France

Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte

The château that made Louis XIV jealous — and gave France its greatest landscape designer

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Château du Moulin-à-Vent in the Beaujolais cru appellation — the 16th-century estate with vaulted cellars and Clos de Londres old-vine Gamay vineyards in Romanèche-Thorins

france · Beaujolais, Rhône — Moulin-à-Vent appellation, near Romanèche-Thorins

Château du Moulin-à-Vent

A 400-year benchmark Beaujolais estate — 16th-century vaulted cellars and a seven-vintage vertical tasting under the Clos de Londres vines

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Château Olivier in the Pessac-Léognan appellation — a 14th-century fortified manor 10km from Bordeaux, surrounded by classified vineyards and a 220-hectare biodiversity reserve

france · Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Gironde — Pessac-Léognan appellation, 10km south of Bordeaux

Château Olivier

A 14th-century fortified manor 10km from Bordeaux, home to a biodiversity reserve and one of the Graves' finest white wines

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Château Picque Caillou in Mérignac — an 18th-century Pessac-Léognan wine estate on the urban fringe of Bordeaux, one of the last working vineyards within the city limits

france · Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Gironde — Pessac-Léognan appellation, Mérignac, 7km from Bordeaux

Château Picque Caillou

One of the last urban vineyards in Pessac-Léognan — an 18th-century château, vat room, and cellar walk minutes from Bordeaux

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Château d'Amboise perched on its clifftop above the Loire river at sunset, towers and chapel silhouetted against the sky
UNESCO

france · Loire Valley

Château d'Amboise

Where the French Renaissance began — and where Leonardo da Vinci died

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Château de Cheverny — white Classical facade with symmetrical towers in the Loire Valley
UNESCO

france · Loire Valley

Château de Cheverny

The original Moulinsart — Tintin's château, still owned by the family who built it 400 years ago

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Château de Guise above the Oise valley — the medieval keep and 16th-century bastioned earthworks of the Dukes of Guise fortress in Picardy

france · Hauts-de-France

Château de Guise

One of the largest bastioned strongholds in northern France — a fortress nearly a thousand years old, damaged in the First World War and restored since 1952 by volunteers of the Club du Vieux Manoir

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Château de Lacypierre — the family-restored Périgord Noir manor château at Saint-Crépin-et-Carlucet, Dordogne, France, with its characteristic steep slate roofs and local limestone walls

france · Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Dordogne (Périgord Noir), Saint-Crépin-et-Carlucet

Château de Lacypierre

A family still gives the tour — the daughters of the couple who spent 47 years restoring this Périgord château guide you through the house where they grew up

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Château de Pierrefonds rising above the village, towers and ramparts reflected in the village lake

france · Picardy / Oise

Château de Pierrefonds

Napoleon III's restored medieval fantasy — Camelot in the forests of Picardy

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Château de Pierry in the Champagne wine country near Épernay — the 18th-century limestone manor and its vineyards on the Côte des Blancs

france · Pierry, Marne, Grand Est (Champagne)

Château de Pierry

An 18th-century Champagne estate — royal portrait galleries, a wine cellar, and tastings by the glass

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Château du Taillan — the classical 18th-century Médoc wine château and its heritage cellars, four generations in the Cruse family

france · Nouvelle-Aquitaine (Gironde), Haut-Médoc, Bordeaux

Château du Taillan

Four generations in the Cruse family, 16th-century cellars classified as a French national monument, and one of Médoc's rare serious white wines — 12 kilometres from central Bordeaux

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