D1 Tuesday, 21 May

Tim will meet you in the morning in Tours, at Tours Loire Valley Airport, the local airport, or at either of the two mainline railway stations – Gare de Tours or Gare de St Pierre des Corps – or, quite possibly, at your hotel.

Once we are all gathered together, we’ll drive directly to Amboise for lunch and a private guided tour of Château d'Amboise. This marvel of the Renaissance occupies a strategic site on 40-metre-high cliffs and which, for four hundred years, through the golden years of the French Renaissance, enjoyed a starring role in the nation's history, peaking when Leonardo da Vinci, possibly the most significant influence on the European Renaissance, made Amboise his home.

After our guided tour of the château, you will be able to visit its gardens and the Chapel Saint Hubert, the chapel erected by King Charles VIII, where Leonardo da Vinci is buried. There will be time, too, to explore the town before driving the short distance to Chenonceaux, to check in to our hotel, Auberge du Bon Laboureur, before drinks and dinner, at our hotel.

Today’s total driving is about 30 miles/50 km

D2 Wednesday, 22 May

We start the day at Château de Valmer, to explore its superb gardens and enjoy a tutored tasting of their delicious Vouvray wine. The château, once belonging to Charles VII, was a 16th-century Renaissance house which sadly burnt down in 1948 (ask about the maid, the iron and the granddaughter) and only its terraces, chapel and 17th-century gatehouse survive.

The gardens, its walls, balustrades and statues, comprise eight individual areas, beautifully terraced, and includes a one-hectare, checkerboard vegetable garden, flower gardens, fruit trees and topiary, all surrounded by the estate's 32-hectare vineyard.

From Valmer we drive along the Loire for lunch and the rest of the day at Château Chaumont-sur-Loire. The site of a medieval fortress, razed to the ground by Louis XI in 1465, it was rebuilt as a Renaissance Château by Charles I d'Amboise and acquired by Catherine de Medici in 1550, and it was here that she entertained Nostradamus. In 1750, Jacques-Donatien Le Ray, a "Father of the American Revolution", bought Chaumont, only to have it seized in 1789 by French Revolutionaries!

We have the whole afternoon to explore the house, its grounds and some 32 gardens, recreated each year as a part of an International Garden Festival, before dinner at Fleur de Sel a local, family-run restaurant, en route home to our hotel.

Today’s total driving is about 60 miles/100 km

D3 Thursday, 23 May

Our day starts at Château d'Azay-le-Rideau, one of the finest examples of early Renaissance architecture. The original 12th-century fortress was burnt to the ground by an angry, future Charles VII and remained in ruins until 1518, when Gilles Berthelot, the Treasurer-General, started work on the château we see today.

Francis I confiscated the château and gave it to Antoine Raffin, who sold it to the Marquis de Biencourt, who undertook extensive alterations and who almost burnt it down again! It passed to the state in 1905.

We have lunch at d'Azay, before visiting its nearby neighbour, Château de Villandry. Built in 1532 by Jean Le Breton, Minister of Finance to François I, Villandry was the last of the great châteaux of the Loire. Le Breton laid out the original gardens and the Marquis of Castellane, who bought Villandry in 1760, enlarged them and relaid them in the latest fashion. It wasn't until the early 20th century, when Joachim Carvallo and his wife, Ann Coleman, bought Villandry that they changed the gardens yet again. Indeed, Joachim and Ann made Villandry their life's work and Henri Carvallo, their great-grandson, continues to develop the garden, adding a herb garden in the 1970s and a sun garden in 2008.

We spend all day at these two châteaux, returning to our hotel for dinner.

Today's total driving is about 60 miles/100 km

D4 Friday, 24 May

We spend the day in and around the village of Chenonceaux, the village we have made our home for the week, starting our day with a stroll through the village for a visit to the Château de Chenonceau for lunch and for the whole afternoon exploring this marvel of the Renaissance.

Francis I brought Chenonceau into the Crown Estate and his son, Henry II, gave it to his mistress, Diane de Poitiers, until, on his death in 1559, his widow, Catherine de’ Medici, promptly turfed Diane out, and Catherine moved in. From here she ruled France in the name of her five-year-old son, Francis II.

In the 18th century, Chenonceau became home to Louise Dupin, a woman famous for her 'literary salons', who turned Chenonceau into a centre of the Enlightenment, welcoming the greatest and brightest scholars, philosophers and academicians of the day. Famous for drafting a Code of Women’s Rights, she also saved the château from the ravages of the Revolution by claiming that, as it was the only bridge for miles around, trade would be badly harmed!

It was a hospital during WW1 and an escape route in WW2 used to escape occupied France, by crossing the River Cher to the 'free' zone, south of the river.

There is plenty to do in the afternoon, including a lovely circular walk along the banks of the Cher, sitting by the pool sipping something refreshing or putting your feet up and reading a book. Whatever you do we will continue the relaxed theme with dinner in the hotel’s bistro.

D5 Saturday, 25 May

Our day starts in Montrichard, for a stroll around this pretty medieval market town, historically an important crossing point on the Cher, where its castle stands guard over the historic town.

We continue to the Royal City of Loches, a magnificent town, built on a rocky outcrop and overlooking the Indre, it has one of the best-preserved medieval fortresses in Europe. Count of Anjou, Fulk the Black, built the 11th-century keep, Richard the Lionheart and Philip Augustus did battle here in the 12th century and Joan of Arc met Charles VII here, to persuade him to be crowned in Reims. It was a state prison, for high-ranking political prisoners, before its 15th century restoration to a Royal residence. It is market day in Loches, and lunch will be on the stalls in front of you!

After the hustle and bustle of the market, we drive north to nearby Chédigny, to enjoy this unique village’s Rose Festival and to admire its remarkable collection of roses. We’ll have all afternoon to stroll around and visit one or two of the locals’ gardens before meeting up for a drink.

Dinner is at Restaurant La Cave, on the banks of the Loire, en route home.

Today’s total driving is about 60 miles/100 km

D6 Sunday, 26 May

We start the day at the most majestic of all châteaux, Château de Chambord. Built as a royal hunting lodge by Francis I, it has had a chequered history. Work started in 1519, took almost 30 years to build and, even then, was neither finished nor habitable. Heating the huge rooms, all with unglazed windows, was quite impractical and, because of its remoteness, everything, including all the furnishings, had to be brought to Chambord.

Unfurnished, unloved and a logistical nightmare Chambord was abandoned until 1639 when Louis XIII gave it to Gaston d'Orléans, who carried out much-needed restoration work. Louis XIV added the stables but abandoned the château in 1685, and so it continued. Ownership passed from kings to Napoleon, to the Duke of Bordeaux, to the Dukes of Parma until, finally, it passed to the French state.

From Chambord, we drive north, for an afternoon’s visit to Jardin du Plessis Sasnières, an English garden created in 1960 by Rosamée Henrion, who had inherited an abandoned family property. In her lifetime she restored the property and created this wonderful garden.

Today's total driving is about 100 miles/160 km

D7 Monday, 27 May

We spend our last full day of the tour visiting l’Abbaye Royale de Fontevraud – the Royal Abbey of Our Lady of Fontevraud – the largest abbey in Europe.

Founded in 1101 by Robert of Arbrissel, the foundation flourished as a new monastic order, the Order of Fontevrault, unique in that it admitted men and women – in separate orders – from a cross-section of society, and it was led by an Abbess. The order spread rapidly, with daughter communities as far as England and Spain, and attracted royal patronage – Henry II, King of England, his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine, and son, Richard the Lionheart were all buried at Fontevraud.

The last abbess was given her marching orders in 1792, three years after the Revolution, when it became a notorious prison, one of the toughest in France and where, during WW2, members of the Resistance were held, and ten were shot. The prison closed in 1963, allowing restoration work to begin and the public to enter, which they did, in 1975 – ending almost 900 years of confinement.

From Fontevraud we visit nearby Chinon, for a walk around the towns almost complete fortifications and to taste some Chinon wines, before returning for dinner.

Today's driving is about 125 miles/200 km

D8 Tuesday, 28 May

You will simply have to trust us with this one, but we start the day with a visit to Caves des Roches, some caves – manmade excavations, quarried for stone since Roman times – where the conditions are perfect for mushroom cultivation. And that’s what we’re going to see! We have a tour of the caves, including some surprises, and an explanation of the mushroom cultivation – and a tasting.

It’s only for an hour or so, and we will return to the hotel to load the minibus and depart for Tours, where the tour ends.

As with the first day, our plans will become clearer, once we know everyone's travel arrangements. If you are staying in France, and don't need (or wish) to return to Tours, then please let us know your onward travel plans, so that we may assist you in getting to your next destination.

Today's driving is about 50 miles/80 km