Castles to visit in France

The 12 most searched for

Ranked by real demand: how often their name is searched on Google each month, and how many reviews visitors have left.

1. 

   No. 1

   Louvre Castle

   Paris, Île-de-France

   Beneath the present-day galleries of the Louvre museum lie the remains of the fortress built by King Philip Augustus at the end of the twelfth century to defend Paris against the English threat.

   Adult ticket: €22all yearOpening hours and accessTickets

2. 

   No. 2

   Palace of Versailles

   Versailles, Île-de-France

   Home to the kings of France for more than a century, the Palace of Versailles was built at the wish of Louis XIV to display the power of the monarchy.

   all yearOpening hours and access

3. 

   No. 3

   Château de Chenonceau (Chenonceau Castle)

   Civray-de-Touraine, Centre-Val de Loire

   Chenonceau spans the Cher river with a two storey gallery built on a bridge, an architectural feature that sets it apart among the Loire châteaux.

   Adult ticket: €19see the pageOpening hours and access

4. 

   No. 4

   Château de Vincennes (Vincennes Castle)

   Vincennes, Île-de-France

   On the eastern edge of Paris, Vincennes castle features one of Europe's tallest surviving medieval keeps, raised in a single decade under King Charles V in the 14th century.

   Adult ticket: €13see the pageOpening hours and accessTickets

5. 

   No. 5

   Palais des Papes

   Avignon, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur

   The Palace of the Popes rises above the Rocher des Doms in Avignon and forms the largest Gothic complex built during the Middle Ages.

   Adult ticket: €16all yearOpening hours and access

6. 

   No. 6

   Château du Puy-du-Fou

   Les Epesses, Pays de la Loire

   The Château du Puy-du-Fou, in Les Epesses, Vendée, combines the remains of a medieval fortress with an unfinished Renaissance wing.

   see the pageOpening hours and access

7. 

   No. 7

   Vaux-le-Vicomte

   Moisenay, Île-de-France

   Located near Melun, in the village of Maincy, the château of Vaux le Vicomte was the first project to unite Le Vau, Le Brun and Le Nôtre, a trio later called upon for Versailles.

   in seasonOpening hours and access

8. 

   No. 8

   Château du Haut-Koenigsbourg (Haut-Koenigsbourg Castle)

   Sélestat, Grand Est

   Perched on a spur of the Vosges mountains above the Alsace plain, the Haut-Koenigsbourg castle presents the silhouette of a medieval fortress, rebuilt in the early twentieth century on foundations going back to the twelfth century.

   Adult ticket: €12in seasonOpening hours and access

9. 

   No. 9

   Château de Chambord (Chambord Castle)

   Chambord, Centre-Val de Loire

   Chambord is the largest of the Loire châteaux, begun in 1519 for François I within a forested estate enclosed by a 32 kilometre wall.

   Adult ticket: €21all yearOpening hours and accessTickets

10. 

    No. 10

    Château de Cheverny (Cheverny Castle)

    Cheverny, Centre-Val de Loire

    Built between 1625 and 1629 by the architect Boyer, the château de Cheverny has belonged to the same family, the Hurault de Vibraye, for more than six centuries, and they still live there today.

    all yearOpening hours and accessTickets

11. 

    No. 11

    Palace of Fontainebleau

    Fontainebleau, Île-de-France

    A royal residence since the Middle Ages, Fontainebleau castle bears the marks of eight centuries of occupation, from François I to Napoleon III.

    Adult ticket: €17all yearOpening hours and accessTickets

12. 

    No. 12

    Château de Chantilly (Chantilly Castle)

    Chantilly, Hauts-de-France

    Chantilly castle actually combines two separate buildings: the small château built around 1560 by Jean Bullant for Constable Anne de Montmorency, and the large château rebuilt at the end of the 19th century by Honoré Daumet after the original was destroyed…

    in seasonOpening hours and access

Open this weekend

The weekend of Saturday, October 24, based on the opening hours and seasons published by the castles themselves. Check the castle’s page before you go.

• Louvre Castle · ParisSaturday 09:00 to 18:00 · Sunday 09:00 to 18:00
• Palace of Versailles · VersaillesSaturday 09:00 to 18:30 · Sunday 09:00 to 18:30
• Château de Chenonceau · Civray-de-TouraineSaturday 09:00 to 17:30 · Sunday 09:00 to 17:30
• Palais des Papes · AvignonSaturday 09:00 to 19:00 · Sunday 09:00 to 19:00
• Château du Puy-du-Fou · Les EpessesSaturday 09:00 to 22:30 · Sunday 09:00 to 22:30
• Palace of Fontainebleau · FontainebleauSaturday 09:30 to 17:00 · Sunday 09:30 to 17:00
• Guédelon Castle · Treigny-Perreuse-Sainte-ColombeSaturday 09:30 to 18:30 · Sunday 09:30 to 18:30
• Château d'Annecy · AnnecySaturday 10:30 to 18:00 · Sunday 10:30 to 18:00
• Palais du Pharo · Marseille 7e ArrondissementSaturday 07:00 to 21:00 · Sunday 07:00 to 21:00
• Château de Biron · BironSaturday 09:30 to 19:00 · Sunday 09:30 to 19:00
• Palace of the Kings of Majorca · PerpignanSaturday 09:30 to 18:30 · Sunday 09:30 to 18:30
• Château des Baux · Les Baux-de-ProvenceSaturday 09:00 to 19:30 · Sunday 09:00 to 19:30

Map of castles to visit in France

The 298 castles on this page. Tap a point to open its page.

The full list, by region

Within each region, from the most searched for to the least known. Prices are for one adult.

Admission prices

Of the 135 castles on this page whose price we know, an adult ticket costs from €5 to €36, with a median of €10.

8 are free:

• Château de la Madeleine
• Château du Guildo
• Domaine de Villarceaux
• Château de Grimaud
• Fort du Socoa
• Château de Campagne
• Château du Landsberg
• Château d'Épinal

Prices, area by area:

• Indre-et-Loire
• Dordogne
• Gironde
• Yvelines
• Maine-et-Loire
• Côte-d'Or
• Calvados
• Loir-et-Cher
• Haute-Savoie
• Rhône
• Vendée
• Bouches-du-Rhône
• Aude
• Eure
• Seine-Maritime
• Loire-Atlantique
• Oise
• Bas-Rhin
• Aveyron
• Pyrénées-Orientales
• Morbihan
• Seine-et-Marne
• Saône-et-Loire
• Val-d'Oise
• Loiret
• Finistère
• Gard
• Lot
• Côtes-d'Armor
• Ille-et-Vilaine

Our study of castle admission prices