Vistiting Chambord Castle with Kids
Chambord Castle was built to be a representation of the power and wealth of the King. Named like the famous raspberry liquor, Château de Chambord is the most prestigious, majestic, and extravagant in the Loire Valley.
I highly recommend Chambord castle with kids, because there’s a lot to do inside and outside of castle grounds for the entire family. I recently revisited it with my kids, now 4 and 6 years old, and they both had a blast!
The largest chateau of the Loire Valley actually inspired the Beauty & the Beast castle, but similar to the Disney’s story the castle was never a royal residence and no one ever lived there.
Ironically, the only ‘long-term’ (80 days) resident was actually the King of Poland, not France – Stanislaw Leszczynski. He moved though, as it was too cold for him in the winter.
For a place with 426 rooms, 282 fireplaces, 800 columns and 77 staircases it’s really a shame but due to its size and high ceiling, the place was impossible to keep warm. This is why most of the castle remains unfurnished and might surprise any visitors.
Chambord Castle with Kids
Chambord is massive. One of the most remarkable features of Chambord is the double spiral staircase – possibly designed by Leonardo da Vinci might. It consists of two parallel stairways wrapped around one another, where two people can walk up and down without ever meeting each other.
Kids loved climbing up and down the stairs and I could even let them go by themselves as it’s simply impossible to get lost. It was actually meant to look like the skyline of Constantinople. From here you were able to get a great view over the rest of the region like the Royals were observing hunts.
I was told that Chambord is also haunted by the ghosts of fallen soldiers from the Franco-Prussian War. The castle was a temporary hospital where most of them died. We did not see any ghosts. Boo!
What to Do at Chambord Castle with Kids
One of the two mistakes we made at Chambord was not spending more time on the grounds and buying the wrong tickets on the castle’s website. There are trails through the forest on the property, open fields for picnics, and even chances to spot deer or wild boar in the nature reserve. My younger son, however, was happily picking up rocks for a while and enjoying running around the courtyard.
The castle offers a show — usually once a day, or twice during high season. From my understanding the show alternates between horses and falconry.
We wanted to catch it, and since tickets tend to sell out, I made sure to book in advance (at least the evening before). The show isn’t included with general castle admission, so it has to be reserved separately.
While booking, the system prompted me to upgrade the kids’ tickets to a day pass that included an audioguide and discounts on activities like bike rentals. It sounded like a good deal… until I realized kids actually get free entry to the château and just need a discount ticket for the show. So essentially, I ended up paying for something they didn’t need.
The show at Chambord is pretty good. It’s not the same level of the show as those we saw at Puy du Fou, but according to my kids, “it was awesome!” either way. The show tells you a story of the castle in a funny way and includes real horses and dogs, and actors performing some tricks.
Chambord Castle also has a dedicated kids area with a small library, play corner, and pretend play area where kids can dress up like the king. Keep in mind that this area closes at 5:30pm, while the castle closes at 6 pm, so we got kicked out of there, which was disappointing.
That said, strollers are allowed on the ground floor of the castle, but not inside the castle. I’d say it’s still difficult to push a stroller on the grounds due to gravel and little stones so if you’re coming with a baby definitely bring a carrier.
The same goes for the gardens – to enter the gardens, you need to enter them before 5:30pm and you cannot access them after. Our show finished at 4:45pm so we were slightly short on time.
We kept discovering other rooms where they had taxidermy and a hunting gallery (since the castle stands on huge hunting grounds), which kept the kids engaged. There were also temporary exhibits.
We ended up eating in front of Chambord as there were plenty of restaurants, and there are also smaller, less touristy spots in the village 10 minutes away. I honestly wish we could spend the night nearby, because Blois Castle, less than 10 minutes away, offers an amazing display of lights after dark.
I highly recommend visiting Chambord Castle with kids. My kids keep talking about their visit and how much time they had at both Chambord and Chenonceau in Loire Valley that they would be keep on coming back and exploring more.
