Transportation to Château de Chambord

Getting to Château de Chambord is easiest by car but buses and especially day-trip excursions to various chateaux in the Loire valley are also available.

Bicycles can be rented at Chateau de Chambord

Château de Chambord is the largest castle in the Loire region of France. As a hunting lodge, Chambord was in a forest and as this forest mostly survived as a nature reserve, Chambord remains somewhat isolated from major transportation links. The chateau can easily be reached on well-maintained country roads but public transportation is very limited and during the colder months not available at all. However, Château de Chambord is a standard on many day-trip bus tours from Paris or castle excursions from other Loire towns. Buy skip-the-line tickets online from Tiqets.

Getting to Chateau de Chambord by Car

Driving to Château de Chambord is easy from most parts of the Loire Valley. The chateau is off minor country roads not far from Blois. Visits to Chambord thus combine easily with seeing the chateaux at Blois, Cheverny, and Chaumont.

The closest highway exit is Blois on Autoroute A10 from Paris via Orléans to Tours.

Parking at Chambord is €4 per day – it is possible to pay upon arrival to avoid queues at machines later in the day. Parking P0 is the closest to the chateau but P1 and P2 are not much further away on paved level walkways.

Parking for motorhomes are €7 per day or €10 if parking overnight.

Distances to Château de Chambord from other cities are around:

  • 20 km / 0:30 from Blois
  • 60 km / 1:00 from Orléans
  • 80 km / 1:00 from Tours
  • 110 km / 1:40 from Bourges
  • 160 km / 2:00 from Le Mans
  • 180 km / 2:20 from Paris

Driving times from Château de Chambord to some other chateaux in the Loire region are:

Public Transportation to Château de Chambord

Château de Chambord

Public transportation to Château de Chambord is very limited. The nearest train stations are Blois or Mer from where limited bus services during the summer season are available. TGV trains to Blois leave from Paris-Gare d’Austerlitz.

Route41 offers a Circuit des Châteaux bus usually from April to early September. These “Navette Châteaux” buses depart from Blois station (Gare SNCF) daily at 9:30 and 11:30 am for the 40-minute ride to Chambord. The return buses from Chambord depart at 14:10 and 16:10 and stop en route at Cheverny and Beauregard. The single fare is €6 and gives a discount of around €2 on admission to the chateaux in Blois, Cheverny, Chambord, and Beauregard.

Day-trip excursions are frequently available from Paris or other major Loire towns to Château de Chambord. Get Your Guide can give some ideas on the prices and type of tours available but many other options exists. Reservations are seldom required far in advance and double-check what is included in the excursion fare should the price vary widely from the average.

See also Visiting Château de Chambord for more information on this marvelous castle / palace / hunting lodge.

More on Château de Chambord:

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Henk Bekker

Henk Bekker is a freelance travel writer with over 20 years of experience writing online. He is particularly interested in history, art, and culture. He has lived most of his adult life in Germany, Switzerland, and Denmark. In addition to European-Traveler.com, he also owns a travel website on the Lake Geneva region of Switzerland and maintains statistical websites on car sales and classic car auction prices. Henk holds an MBA from Edinburgh Business School and an MSc in Development Finance from the University of London.