Into Saumur, the sparkling heart of the middle Loire
Arrive in Saumur
This is a trip built for spring (April to June) or early autumn (September to October), when the cellars are calm and welcoming; note that many family estates close for a few weeks in August, and harvest in September means growers are busy, so book cellar visits ahead either way. Saumur is your base for the first two nights. Most people reach it by flying to Nantes or Paris and taking the train (direct trains run from Nantes, Angers and Paris-Austerlitz), then hiring a car locally, a car is what unlocks the smaller growers' cellars, though the town-to-town legs later in the week all work by train too. Book flights →
Check in and get your bearings
Base yourself in Saumur's centre, within walking distance of the old town and the riverfront, so you can leave the car parked for the evening. This is Cabernet Franc and Chenin country on tuffeau limestone, and the same soft white stone the town is built from is what makes the underground cellars possible. Search hotels →
Château de Saumur and the old town
The white château on its bluff above the Loire is the postcard shot of the town, and the cobbled streets below it reward a slow wander. The château-museum is open Tuesday to Sunday (closed most Mondays outside bank holidays), so if you arrive on a Monday, admire the exterior and the ramparts view and save the interior for another day, the walk up is worth it regardless.
First glass in the old town
Ease in over dinner at a bistro on or near Place Saint-Pierre with a glass of Saumur fizz, the region's traditional-method sparkling made mostly from Chenin Blanc. It's the gentlest possible introduction to what the valley does with its two signature grapes, and a good moment to plan tomorrow's cellar visits.
Saumur bubbles and the Cabernet Franc of Saumur-Champigny
Troglodyte sparkling cellar tour
Start underground in the tuffeau galleries on the western edge of town, around Saint-Hilaire-Saint-Florent, where several long-established houses age their sparkling Saumur and Crémant de Loire in kilometres of cool stone tunnels. A guided visit walks you through the traditional method, the same second fermentation in bottle used in Champagne, and finishes with a tasting. Book ahead, as tours run to set times. Search wine cellar tours in Saumur on GetYourGuide →
Cycle into the Saumur-Champigny vineyards
The Loire à Vélo, the valley's long signposted cycle route, runs right past Saumur, and the vineyards of Saumur-Champigny sit just south-east of town around villages like Varrains and Chacé, an easy, mostly flat pedal on a hire bike or e-bike. This is Cabernet Franc at its most drinkable: crunchy red fruit, a leafy edge, low in tannin. Search Loire bike tours in Saumur on GetYourGuide →
Lunch in a vineyard village
Stop for lunch at a village restaurant among the vines, rillettes, goat's cheese and a bottle of the local red are the honest order here. A couple of hours off the bike in the middle of the day is the right pace for this trip.
A grower's cellar in Saumur-Champigny
This appellation is one of the reasons the natural wine world reveres the Loire: a cluster of low-intervention growers making bright, savoury Cabernet Franc with minimal added sulphur. Rather than name one, book a tasting or a small-group grower visit and taste side by side, the differences between neighbours here are the whole education. If you're driving between cellars, keep it to a taste and spit, or nominate a driver. Search wine tastings in Saumur on GetYourGuide →
Back to Saumur for the evening
Return to town for a relaxed dinner. After a day of fizz and reds, a plate of freshwater fish or a simple steak with more of that crunchy Cabernet Franc rounds things off without overdoing it.
Chinon's Cabernet Franc, then east to Tours
Drive to Chinon
Chinon sits about 40 minutes south-east of Saumur by car, on the banks of the Vienne just before it joins the Loire. Without a car, the cleanest route is to base the day around Tours later, but the short drive today keeps Chinon, its fortress and its cellars all in one easy loop. Chinon has become a darling of the natural wine movement, so this is the day the trip's theme really lands.
Forteresse Royale de Chinon
The long medieval fortress strung along the ridge above the town is where Joan of Arc first met the future Charles VII in 1429. It's open daily year-round (bar a couple of dates around Christmas and New Year), with a self-guided visit helped along by a Histopad augmented-reality tablet, and the ramparts give you the lie of the land: the river, the old town below and vineyards running off in every direction. Adult entry is around £11 (about €12).
A Chinon cellar tasting
Chinon's Cabernet Franc is the darker, more structured cousin of Saumur-Champigny's, meatier, more tannic, built to age for years. Many of the town's cellars are cut straight into the tuffeau beneath the château. Book a tasting rather than chasing a specific name; the appellation is where the story is, and a good host will pour across styles from bright and glouglou to serious and cellar-worthy. Search wine tastings in Chinon on GetYourGuide →
Lunch in medieval Chinon
The old town's timber-framed lanes are lined with small restaurants and wine bars. Take a leisurely lunch by the river or on one of the quiet squares before the afternoon transfer, Chinon rewards not rushing.
On to Tours
Move to Tours for the final two nights, about 45 minutes by car, or a direct TER train that takes roughly 47 minutes if you'd rather not drive. Tours is the compact, walkable hub for the eastern half of the valley's wine country, with Vouvray and Montlouis a short hop away tomorrow. Check in near the old town. Search hotels →
Evening around Place Plumereau
Tours' half-timbered old quarter around Place Plumereau is the city's liveliest evening corner, full of wine bars pouring Touraine's lesser-known appellations by the glass. A good night to ask sommeliers what they're excited about, this is a city that takes its local wine seriously.
The Chenin heartland: Montlouis, Vouvray and the river
Guided paddle on the Loire
Start on the water before the wine. Operators around Amboise, about 25 minutes east of Tours, run guided canoe and kayak descents on the Loire, drifting past sandbanks and châteaux at an unhurried pace. Go with a guided trip rather than alone: the Loire looks placid but has shifting currents and shallow bars, so life jackets, a briefing and someone who reads the river are non-negotiable. Operators mostly run from late spring to early autumn, and summer's gentler flows suit beginners best. Search kayak trips in Loire Valley on GetYourGuide →
Lunch in Montlouis-sur-Loire
Cross to the south bank to Montlouis-sur-Loire, a small town on a plateau above the river. Lunch here at a bistro on or near the main street, light, mineral Chenin is the natural pairing, and the town is compact enough to leave the car and walk to the afternoon's cellars.
Montlouis-sur-Loire: natural wine's quiet capital
If any single appellation explains why the natural wine world adores the Loire, it's this one. Montlouis makes dry, taut, ageworthy Chenin Blanc, Vouvray's quieter neighbour across the river, and it became a magnet for a generation of low-intervention growers. Producers cluster around Montlouis, Saint-Martin-le-Beau and Lussault-sur-Loire; book a cellar visit (appointments are the norm, a day or two ahead) and taste dry, off-dry and sparkling styles from the same grape. Search wine tastings in Montlouis on GetYourGuide →
A Vouvray troglodyte cellar
Cross back to the north bank to Vouvray, about fifteen minutes from central Tours, for the more famous face of Loire Chenin. Its cellars are dug deep into the tuffeau, and the appellation runs the full range from bone-dry to lusciously sweet moelleux, plus its own sparkling. Drop into a grower's cave for a comparison tasting, putting Vouvray and Montlouis side by side in a single afternoon is the clearest lesson in terroir the valley offers.
Back to Tours
Return to the city for the evening. After a day of Chenin in all its guises, a light dinner and an early night sets you up for a final morning in the market.
Market morning in Tours, then home
Les Halles de Tours
Spend your last morning at the city's covered market, Les Halles, a proper food hall stacked with Loire goat's cheeses, rillettes, river fish and seasonal produce. It's the best place to understand what all that Chenin and Cabernet Franc is actually made to be drunk with, and to pick up a picnic or edible souvenirs for the journey.
A market-to-table cooking class
If your departure is later in the day, a Tours cooking class is a fitting close: many start with a walk through Les Halles to choose ingredients, then a hands-on session cooking a seasonal Loire lunch paired with local wine. These typically run three to four hours, so it suits an afternoon or evening train home, if you're leaving in the morning, enjoy the market on its own instead. Search cooking classes in Tours on GetYourGuide →
Last bottles and check out
Gather up the bottles you've been promising to take home. If you're heading back to the UK, remember your personal allowance and that wine travels best in the hold, well padded, the growers you've met can rarely be found on British shelves, so this is your chance.
Onward from Tours
Head home from Tours by train (fast connections run to Paris, and on to Nantes and Angers for onward flights) or drive back to your arrival airport. Build in buffer time for the transfer, and leave room in your memory for the appellations you'll want to come back for. Book flights →