Domaine Régional de Chaumont-sur-Loire

Less than 200 km south of Paris, nestling between the cities of Tours and Blois, is a haven of poetry. A natural oasis, a headland stretching out 40 metres above the wild Loire, Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire, owned by the Centre Region, welcomes the public all year round to its château and park and, from April to the end of October, to the unmissable International Garden Festival. Whatever the season, the château – once the home of Catherine de Medici, Diane de Poitiers and Princess de Broglie – beckons you indoors to admire its cosy and lavishly furnished interiors.

Your artistic senses are called on throughout the Domaine – installations by an array of contemporary artists in the château and along the footpaths of the park will catch you by surprise, captivate and inspire you all year round: Sarkis with the poetry of his brand new stained-glass windows, Jannis Kounellis with his amazing forest of wooden beams and bells, Giuseppe Penone with his tree pathway, Armin Schubert with his spherical objects, Patrick Dougherty with his immense willow sculptures, Tadashi Kawamata with his promontory overlooking the Loire and tree huts ... and lots more besides. Other artists are due to arrive come April, whose names will be unveiled to you shortly: check in again on 6th April! The International Garden Festival is set to open on 25th April and, after all its preparations behind the winter scenes, will have lots of surprises in store for you!

Come to Chaumont-sur-Loire then, and you are in for a stroll quite unlike any other, around 32 hectares of grounds and a château ideally located on the Loire banks – in all seasons. You'll spend a day unbounded by time...