The Gothic Palais du Bailliage was once the residence of Chinon’s bailiwick. Now houses a seasonal hotel.
Palais du Bailliage
Touraine
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
17.79 MILES
Villandry's six glorious landscaped gardens à la française are some of France's finest, with more than 6 hectares of kitchen gardens, cascading flowers,…
26.45 MILES
This extraordinary museum – an absolute gem! – spotlights France's renowned compagnonnages, guild organisations of skilled craftspeople who have created…
12.56 MILES
Romantic, moat-ringed Azay-le-Rideau is celebrated for its elegant turrets, perfectly proportioned windows, delicate stonework and steep slate roofs…
13.53 MILES
The most medieval of the Loire châteaux, Langeais – built in the 1460s – looks much as it did at the tail end of the Middle Ages, with crenellated…
0.14 MILES
Surrounded by massive walls, this hilltop castle – offering fabulous views across town, river and countryside – is split into three sections separated by…
8.76 MILES
The highlight of this 12th-century abbey complex is the vast but movingly simple church, notable for its soaring pillars, Romanesque domes and polychrome…
18.58 MILES
One of the world's premier equestrian academies, the prestigious French National Riding School is home to the Cadre Noir, an elite group of riding…
26.69 MILES
This superb fine-arts museum, in a gorgeous 18th-century archbishop’s palace, features paintings, sculpture, furniture and objets d'art from the 14th to…
Nearby Touraine attractions
0.06 MILES
Refurbished in 2018, this museum features exhibits on the art and archaeology of Chinon and its environs as well as contemporary art, displayed in the…
0.06 MILES
François Rabelais (c 1494–1553), whose works include the Gargantua and Pantagruel series, spent part of his childhood in Chinon; you’ll see Rabelais…
0.11 MILES
This impressive, 17th-century town house has a double-horseshoe staircase you can see from the street through a carved gateway.
4. Forteresse Royale de Chinon
0.14 MILES
Surrounded by massive walls, this hilltop castle – offering fabulous views across town, river and countryside – is split into three sections separated by…
0.85 MILES
Built into a cave above and 500m east of town, this half-ruined Romanesque chapel – constructed around the tomb of a 6th-century hermit – is noteworthy…
3.27 MILES
La Devinière, the prosperous farm where François Rabelais (1483 or 1494–1553) – doctor, Franciscan friar, theoretician, author and all-around Renaissance…
6.3 MILES
The creamy white towers and slate roofs of the Château d’Ussé offer sweeping views across the flat Loire countryside, the flood-prone Indre River and…
8.22 MILES
This soaring, crenellated village church, built in the Gothic style from 1175 to 1240, venerates the spot where St Martin died in 397 and was buried for a…