Le secteur sauvegardé de Tours
Discovering the protected town centre of Tours
Tours, city of Art and History, belongs to the National Network of Cities of Art and History. This label guarantees the competence of its tour guides and facilitators, its architecture and heritage, and the quality of visits offered.
The tour guides know all facets of the city and keys to understanding the development of the city throughout its history and different quarters.
Visits in 7 languages: English - French - German - Italian - Spanish - Russian - Polish
1 - Sightseeing tour (by coach and on foot)Meet your guide at the Tourist Office. You will then go for a walk to discover the «Old City of Tours », that has become the liveliest area in the city, with its narrow and pedestrian streets showing several half-timbered houses, most of them dating back to the 15th and 16th centuries. |
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2 - Walking tourMeet your guide at the Tourist Office. Discover the Archbishop's Palace (17th and 18th C), stroll in the French gardens, enjoy the magnificent view onto the palace façade and Saint-Gatien’s Cathedral. Built from the 12th to the 16th C, it demonstrates the evolution of the gothic style (introductory visit in the 2-hour tour or detailed in the 3-hour tour). |
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3 - Tours by nightThanks to an illumination of the city starting at 9:00 pm, your guide will meet you at the Tourist Office or at your restaurant in the city centre, and take you for an enchanting visit in the soft and mysterious atmosphere of the night. |
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4 - The old city of ToursMeet your guide near the Charlemagne Tower. Walking guided tour of the “Old City of Tours” that stretches around the Place Plumereau. You will discover a dense and ancient environment, a homogenous collection of medieval half-timbered and stone houses next to outstanding mansions. |
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5 - The former abbey of Marmoutier - ToursSurrounded by a cliff in a meander of the Loire River, Marmoutier stands out with its tranquility and its picturesque nature. |
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6 - Saint Martin of ToursMartin, bishop of Tours in the 4th century has been honored like a saint since his death. Tours became an important place of pilgrimage even before Santiago de Compostela. Meet your guide at the tourist office for the walking guided tour of the town related to St Martin. |
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7 - Traditional boat trip on the Loire riverYou’ll embark on toues, traditional wooden boats of 12 or 30 seats adapted to the water environment of the Loire River. Take a stroll in the upstream part of the bridge towards the Marmoutier Abbey to discover where saint Martin lived, or downstream, towards St-Cyr-sur-Loire and the Priory of Saint-Cosme, house of Pierre de Ronsard. |
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8 - The Loire river by bike (from Tours to Villandry or Rochecorbon)Meet your guide at the Tourist Office in Tours. Departure by bike for a route of around 21 kilometres to Villandry or of around 10 km to Rochecorbon, following the itinerary « The Loire River by bike » from Tours. |
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Prices for guide services in the LOIRE VALLEY (for groups of around 45 persons)
| 2 HOUR TOUR | 3 HOUR TOUR | TOURS BY NIGHT VISIT |
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| 175 € all taxes included (around 1h30) |
