Tours: Museums, Architecture and Botanical Diversity
Accommodation in Tours
Tours’ cultural offerings range from art and architectural history to natural sciences, botanical collections and regional tastings. They also include a guided tour with a tower climb and a route from the cycling programme. If you’re looking for a hotel for a trip to Tours, you can choose the city based on the focus of your stay: art, nature, history or a culinary tour.
Art, architectural history and a guided tower tour
The Musée des Beaux-Arts de Tours is located in the former bishop’s palace near the cathedral in Vieux-Tours. Its collection spans from antiquity to contemporary art. The museum preserves nearly 18,000 objects, of which 1,000 are on display; the number on display may be revised over time. This brings together a broad span of art history with a considerably smaller selection of works on view.
The Cathédrale Saint-Gatien is a Gothic building in the Centre-Val de Loire region and was built between 1170 and 1575. The Musée du Compagnonnage offers a different building history: it is housed in the former Abbaye Saint-Julien and is classified as a “Musée de France.” The Gothic cathedral and the museum housed in a former abbey offer a look at different historical building contexts.
The Tour Charlemagne also connects the city’s history with a specific visitor experience: the tower can be climbed as part of a guided tour; tour dates may change. It once rose above the northern transept of the medieval collegiate church dedicated to Saint Martin. If you’re planning to climb it, check the tour dates in advance.
Natural sciences and botanical topics
The Muséum d’Histoire naturelle in Tours offers permanent and temporary science exhibitions; the exhibition programme may change. The museum displays live snakes, lizards, turtles, fish and insects to the public. It also presents rocks, fossils and stratigraphy from Touraine. Live animal groups and geological topics from the region thus come together in the same museum.
The Jardin Botanique de la Ville et de l’Université de Tours has existed since 1843 and covers 5.9 hectares. It is an important place for walks and botanical education. Its features include greenhouses and plant collections; animal areas with wallabies, emus, parrots and parakeets add to its character. The botanical collections and named animal areas therefore represent two distinct aspects of the garden.
Cycling and regional tastings
Cycling is also one of the themes of a trip to Tours: the cycling programme includes the La Loire Ă VĂ©lo route. This route adds to the options beyond museums and gardens and may interest travellers who would also like to include a bike ride in their stay.
Le Gourmet Food Tours offers a walking tour of Les Halles and Tours. The offer includes meeting dedicated artisans and Meilleurs Ouvriers de France, as well as discovering and tasting regional products. Availability from the provider may change. If the tour is important to your plans, check the current offer in advance.
Tours in the Loire Valley
Tours is one of the historic cities in the UNESCO-listed cultural landscape of the Loire Valley. This regional context adds the broader cultural landscape to the picture alongside the individual museums, buildings and activities. When planning your trip, you can weigh up different interests: the collection’s span across art history, Gothic architecture, science exhibitions, botanical topics or a regional tasting. The city thus offers several concrete starting points for a culturally focused stay.
Discover more destinations: Saint-Nicolas-De-Bourgueil, Souvigné, Reugny, Veigné, L'île-Bouchard, Chanceaux-Près-Loches, Saint-Quentin-Sur-Indrois, Saint-Paterne-Racan
For the broader travel overview: Indre-Et-Loire.
