Where the data comes from
The skeleton comes from public databases: the French Ministry of Culture’s Mérimée register, Wikidata and OpenStreetMap. They give us a château’s existence, its location and its official references, never its opening hours.
Hours, prices and practical details come from the château’s own website. It is the only source we treat as authoritative.
What we check
Twelve practical fields: opening periods, hours by season, closing days, prices, visit duration, wheelchair access, dogs, parking, toilets, food, shop, and whether it suits children.
Until a field has been checked, the entry shows “not verified” in its place. A blank could read as an absent service; an admission cannot.
Why publish before everything is checked
Because an entry giving the name, the town, the location and a link to the official website is already useful, and because it is the best way to get corrected. Every report moves an entry up our verification queue, and owners find us by searching for their own château.
How often
Every entry is rechecked at least every 90 days. The last verification date sits on the entry: if it looks old to you, it is old, and we say so rather than hide it.
When we don’t know
If something stays uncertain after checking, we neither invent it nor publish it. The entry then reads “Hours and prices: see the official website”, with the link. An incomplete but honest entry beats a complete and wrong one.
Do you run this château?
You can claim your entry and update the details yourself: Add my château.
You can also ask us to remove your entry, with no justification required: rgpd@chateaupedia.com.
Photo: Château de Villandry — Carsten Steger, CC BY-SA 4.0