Hiking and cycling make good bedfellows. There are only a few areas where you see one and not the other – even in high altitudes on rugged terrain where mountain bikers have become ever more prominent over the past decade.
One exception is the Valley of the Loire in central France.
This valley is famous for what is probably Europe’s favourite cycling route, but you will rarely see the Loire’s river banks advertised as premier hiking country. Why is that?
I believe it has to do with the narrative of the landscape, its pleasant but predictable melody, which is beefed up by the GONG of a major castle every 20 kilometres or so – an almost perfect rhythm for cycling, but for hiking, the highlights are a trifle too widely-spaced.
In other words: if you intend to go hiking in the Val de la Loire, to just do what the cyclists do while allowing for more time will not do.
So what are the alternatives?
Here is one: to pick a stretch of the river that connects two castles over a distance of 5 to 10 kilometres.
The stretch must have train stations at either end and, where appropriate, a bridge in the right place that allows you to cross over.
There must be a foot path on the river bank for nearly the full length of the route – 5 km of cycling on a busy highway will not spoil your entire day, but in a short hike, the same amount of asphalt surely will.
And finally, the destination castle will ideally be surrounded by a picturesque historical town, for lunch and a little post-prandial exploration of side streets and perhaps some shopping or a drink in the shadow of a leafy tree.
Let us not forget, after all, that there is a reason why this site is called Easy Hiker.
Amboise – The Perfect Hike in the Loire Valley
If you study a map of the area with these requirements in mind, you will find several seemingly suitable candidates, but number one on the list is surely a circuit around the small town of Amboise, a 20-minute train ride east of Tours (for all practical purposes, the capital of the region).
This route ticks nearly all of the boxes to make it the perfect hike in the Valley of the Loire
First of all, the hiking on the river bank.
Turn right out of the train station and right again on the first bridge, crossing the Loire but, before reaching the town of Amboise on the left bank, descending the stairway on the near side of the Ile d’Or, a long and stretched-out island in the middle of the river. Turn left for a clockwise circuit.
Keep as close to the river as you can, away from the main road, and you will soon enter a footpath called the Chemin de Clovis, named after the first king of the Franks who is said to have met his fellow royal Alaric II, ruler of the Wisigoths, for a peace conference somewhere on this island in 503 AD.
Nobody knows exactly where on the island the two have met (they failed to take a selfie for Instagram), so you may let your imagination roam.
Legend has it that the two kings rounded off their conference with a festive dinner, eating from golden plates and, rather than cleaning up, chucking the dirty plates into the river. Feel free to dive for them, but don’t blame us if you come up empty-handed. (I clearly said “legend”.)
Having rounded the tip of the island where the views open up and you get some grand views over the Loire, …
… you will soon spot some handsome period mansions …
… which serve as a perfect prologue to a full view of Amboise Castle towards the end of the near-circuit.
The Castle of Amboise – a merry mix of architectural elements from nearly every period since the late Middle Ages – is one of the “Top Ten” of the Chateaux de la Loire in terms of both visitor numbers and historical importance.
This is quite a distinction, because the full list features thousands of palaces and stately homes. Stripping away all buildings of minor importance and aesthetic appeal, around 300 major castles remain, most of which were built between 1500 and 1650 for either high-ranking aristocrats or the royal family.
The royals of this period appear to have loved the Loire Valley much more than Paris, and King Louis XI (who ruled France from 1461 to 1483) even transferred his main residence to Tours, turning the town – for a while – into the official capital of France.
And since everybody who was anything at the time needed a residence near the royals, the entire Valley was turned into a virtual French Court, something like a stretched-out Versailles.
The Chateau of Amboise is of medieval origin. It was built by the local counts as a fortress and seized by the royal family as a penalty for an alleged plot against them in the late 15th century.
Almost immediately, it was converted into an official royal residence, one of the country’s first major palaces to be done up in the “Italian style”.
King Charles VIII died here when he hit his head against a doorframe (in 1498), and Francis I, the greatest of all French Renaissance kings, spent his childhood in Amboise and always loved to come back throughout his later life.
Francis was also the king who brought Leonardo da Vinci to France – which is the reason why the Mona Lisa hangs in the Louvre, not in the Uffizi. The famous artist was accommodated in the official royal guest house – the Chateau du Clos Lucé – which had been built in 1471.
Leonardo spent the last three years of his life here.
For the purposes of our walk, the Clos Lucé is the second Chateau on our itinerary. To get there, we simply follow the street at the foot of the castle …
… past some other landmarks of Amboise such as the 15th century Clock Tower …
… and interesting troglodyte houses that were carved into the limestone underbelly of the Chateau…
… as well as a good restaurant, called La Terrasse.
From the outside, it looks a little scary, not entirely unlike a military prison, but on the inside, it is roomy, modern and comfy.
We ordered silure from the Loire (a local species of catfish), a stew with a dark sauce that goes surprisingly well with red wine.
After lunch, you should make the effort and walk around a little more to explore the town and its surroundings. There are many things to discover in Amboise!
