Loire Castles & D-Day Experience

Paris – Chambord – Amboise – Chenonceau – Mont Saint-Michel. We collect you from your hotel in Paris at 07:30 and set off in a comfortable, air‑conditioned Mercedes minivan. It is about 180 km on the motorway to your first stop, Chambord, taking roughly 2 hours 30 minutes with one break at a motorway service area. En route you share background on the Loire Valley and its châteaux.

From 10:00 to 11:45 you visit the Château de Chambord with your guide. Built between 1519 and 1547 for King Francis I, it is a landmark of French Renaissance architecture and the largest château in the valley, with 440 rooms, 282 fireplaces and 84 staircases. Its celebrated open double–spiral staircase allows two people to ascend without meeting – it may have been designed by Leonardo da Vinci.

You depart at 11:45 for Amboise – about 60 km or one hour – arriving around 12:45. You can take lunch from 12:45 to 13:45 at a restaurant of your choice.

From 13:45 to 15:00 you explore the Royal Château d’Amboise with your guide and a Histopad. Once the 15th–century residence of King Charles VIII, it illustrates the transition from Gothic to Renaissance styles and is associated with royal births and reigns. You can visit the chapel where Leonardo da Vinci was buried.

A 20‑minute drive brings you to the Château de Chenonceau for a visit from 15:20 to 17:00. You explore the château and its gardens as your guide explains its history, and we provide a brochure detailing each room. Known as the ladies’ castle for its connections to figures such as Catherine de Medici, Chenonceau is noted for its elegant arches spanning the River Cher and its Renaissance–style gardens, planted with more than 130,000 flowering plants each year. Departure times vary with seasonal opening hours – typically 17:10 in low season or 17:30 in high season.

You then continue to Mont Saint–Michel – approximately 300 km or about 3 hours 30 minutes – arriving around 20:30 to check in to a 3–4 star hotel in Mont Saint–Michel, Normandy. Your evening is free.

Mont Saint-Michel – Omaha Beach – Colleville-sur-Mer – Paris. Check out is at 08:15 – store your luggage in the minivan parked nearby. From 08:30 to 12:00 you explore Mont Saint‑Michel, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and its Benedictine Abbey. Your guide leads us up through the narrow medieval streets to the summit for panoramic views over the bay and the Atlantic. Abbey entry is included, and audio guides are available in multiple languages.

From 12:00–13:00 you have free time for lunch on Mont Saint‑Michel – choose a restaurant that suits you.

At 13:00 you depart for Omaha Beach – about 1.5 hours (147 km) to the Signal Monument – arriving around 14:40. You visit the monument and reflect on the sacrifice of the 34,000 men who landed here. A 5 minute drive (4 km) then brings us to the Normandy American Cemetery in Colleville‑sur‑Mer.

From around 15:00–16:15 you visit the Normandy American Cemetery and Visitor Centre overlooking Omaha Beach. The cemetery contains 9,387 US service members, with the Wall of the Missing listing a further 1,557 names. The cliffs above the beach still hold remnants of German defences, including concrete casemates. You also see the semicircular memorial colonnade with the sculpture Spirit of American Youth Rising from the Waves and large maps of military operations. You have free time to walk around the gardens.

You continue to the nearby Overlord Museum – from 16:30 to 17:15 you visit the collection located close to the cemetery. You then depart for Paris at around 17:15 – the journey takes about 3.5 hours (290 km) with one stop at a service area.