Montoire-Sur-Le-Loir: Music, museums and walking trails

When looking for a hotel in Montoire-Sur-Le-Loir, the themes of your planned stay can provide useful guidance. Music and collections, historic buildings, a walking route and a festival held every year in August each offer a different focus. This can help you decide whether you would prefer to spend your time mainly visiting exhibitions, exploring architectural history or going for a hike.

Museums with different focuses

Musikenfête is housed in a renovated 15th-century building and presents more than 600 items from its collection. The number of items on display may change in the future. The visit also includes the so-called music ship, where visitors can play six enormous instrumental compositions. Musikenfête also hosts concerts, workshops for adults and children, and courses for students throughout the year. The program may change.

The Cabinet de curiosités presents a very different collection. Its scientific and popular objects include preserved animal specimens. Upstairs, visitors can see a collection of old terracotta tiles. Their features include animal imprints, inscriptions, testimonies, poems and apotropaic drawings. Apotropaic refers to images intended to ward off misfortune. The collection thus ranges from natural history objects to signs and texts on historic tiles.

The Musée des costumes et parures du monde displays costumes and jewelry from various peoples on two floors of the Couvent des Augustins. Films also show traditional customs from some countries. Those more interested in a historic event will find a different focus at the Musée de la gare historique: since 2003, it has explained the causes and consequences of the meeting between Philippe Pétain and Hitler on October 24, 1940. Reading cards supplement the visit. It ends in a room with models from that period depicting the railway station, carriages, vehicles and people.

Architectural history and hiking

The Chapelle Saint-Gilles is a Romanesque building constructed in the late 11th century. Its frescoes date from the early 12th century and depict Christ in Majesty. The keys to the chapel can be collected at the Musikenfête museum; check before your visit whether this option is currently available. Another building from a later period is the Maison Renaissance, built by the Frédureau family in the early 16th century. The property includes a 6,000-square-meter park with centuries-old trees and a formal French garden. Comparing the dates of the two buildings takes you from the late 11th to the early 16th century.

The Chemin des Châteaux is a 16-kilometer hiking route that begins in the center of Montoire-Sur-Le-Loir. Starting at the Chapelle Saint-Gilles, the trail crosses a plateau and passes through a forest. You can take its length into account when planning your day. Check the route details before setting out, as they may change.

Festival in August

The Festival international folklorique de Montoire-sur-le-Loir takes place every year in August. If you would like to plan your trip around it, check the exact dates and program in advance. Along with the museums, buildings and hiking route, the festival offers another reason to plan your trip around your interests.

Discover more destinations: Salbris, Saint-Gourgon, Maves, Bracieux, La Marolle-En-Sologne, Monthou-sur-Bièvre, Blois, Lunay.

For the broader travel overview: Loir-Et-Cher.