Leonardo Da Vinci, the Italian Renaissance genius, stayed in France from 1516 to his death, in 1519. This year, therefore marks the 500 years of his arrival and there is no better time to celebrate his creativity and ingenuity!
To do so, I wanted to offer you a quick road trip itinerary guide to help you explore his life in France, in the Loire Valley region.
What does this Leonardo Da Vinci road trip mini guide includes?
On one side of the guide, you will find a map locating the recommended visits. It starts at number 1, the Clos Lucé, where Leonardo lived during his stay in France. The itinerary will then take you to Romorantin where you will explore the city searching for traces of the forgotten project which was going to transform this little town into the new grandiose French Capital. You will then get to visit the Royal Chateau of Chambord, probably the most famous castle of the Loire Valley before going back to Amboise to visit its Castle where François 1er resided.
Just follow the numbers along the red dotted lines to see the full itinerary.
On the other side of the mini guide, you will first find on the left, some quick info on Leonardo Da Vinci. You will also find the list of the places you get to visit during this road trip, with a quick note explaining why the corresponding place is included and most importantly the official website address of the place for reference during your trip.
And of course, this mini guide also includes the drawings I made of each of the places! Hope you like them!
Planning your Road Trip
To help you plan this trip, use the below links to check opening times, and any other important info.
- The Clos Lucé: www.vinci-closluce.com
- Romorantin: www.romorantin-leprojetoubliedeleonarddevinci.fr (in French only)
- Chambord: www.chambord.org
- Amboise Castle: www.chateau-amboise.com
Bonus:
The Blois Castle, the other main residence of François 1er: chateaudeblois.fr
The Loire Valley is one giant UNESCO World heritage site which “illustrate to an exceptional degree the ideals of the Renaissance and the Age of the Enlightenment on western European thought and design“.
Chambord used to be listed separately but is now part of the broad Loire Valley listing. Amboise and the Clos Lucé are part of it as well.
This short road trip (circa 100 miles or 160 km) can easily be done over a week-end. If you’re staying in Paris, it takes about 2 hours to reach Amboise. Visit the Clos Lucé and Romorantin on the first day, Chambord and Amboise on the 2nd day. In Romorantin, you should stay at the Lion d’Or. I totally love it, it is so peaceful & so charming and you’ll have the best breakfast ever!!
How to get your Road trip guide?
As usual, you need to chose the correct file depending on the paper format you will be printing on (Letter US or A4) by selecting the appropriate below link.
Mini guide – Leonardo Da Vinci road trip – letter US format
Mini guide – Leonardo Da Vinci road trip – A4 format
Once you click on the one you need, a new page will open with the pdf document. You then just need to print, fold alongs the lines and most importantly, plan your trip! You can always save this mini guide to your computer if you want to.
Unlike my other mini guides, this one is double sided. If you can’t print double side, I recommend to glue the 2 pages together before folding.
When printing, make sure that you set your printer on 100%. If you add margins to the document, when folding, some of the info might end up on the wrong side.
Printing in color would be best of course.
Did you like it? Then like it, pin it and share with your friends!
And let me know which places you liked best!
