Chenonceau Castle with Kids: Our Tips & What to Expect
Spanning gracefully across the River Cher, this elegant château de Chenonceau is not only stunning for adults but surprisingly engaging for kids too. I was slightly worried about bringing the kids to the Loire Valley, but the kids (ages barely 4 & 6 years old at the time) both loved it!
What’s this Castle All About?
Our first stop on a day trip to Loire Valley with kids was the castle of Chenonceau – arguably one of the Loire Valley’s most recognizable and romantic châteaux. It was also the most crowded castle (the second most visited castle in France after Versailles). One way or another, you shouldn’t skip this castle on your visit to the Loire Valley!
Chenonceau’s most interesting story isn’t about who constructed it and why, but the fact that for many years this castle was the abode of King Henry II’s mistress Diane de Poitiers – who also happened to be his nanny growing up.
If you ever read the Lives of Fair and Gallant Ladies – stories collected by the French chronicler, you know that stories like these weren’t rare at French courts.
While many historians say that it was the only royal residence that also served a mistress, it also happened in England. Hampton Court Palace was used and owned by almost every mistress of Henry VIII before he made them Queens.
Queen Catherine de’Medici adored Chenonceau and often bullied Diane into exchanging it for the Château Chaumont. Therefore, it’s not surprising that upon the death of King Henri II, Catherine showed her power by kicking the mistress out to a more humble castle and taking up residence in Chenonceau herself – adding the famous wing spanning the river.
Both Diana and Catherine created the most beautiful gardens, which you get the best view of from the 2nd floor of the castle. I was lucky I visited the place during the summer as the flowers were blooming.
The first firework display in France was held here in 1560 to commemorate the coronation of Francis II – crowned aged 15. Shortly after the castle was forgotten and left unused almost until the 19th century until women took over it again. No wonder Chenonceau’s nickname is ‘the castle of six ladies’.
Visiting Chenonceau Castle with Kids
Chenonceau is wonderful to visit with kids because the gardens are enormous. As the castle is always busy, you might need to wait to enter the castle – in our case, we waited an hour, which gave me time to explore the gardens.
If you don’t have time to wait, you can prebook the tickets on the official website. I just wasn’t sure how long it would take us to get there. Remember that the tickets only indicate the time you can enter the castle, but you can be at the property in the gardens before and after.
Both of the kids were very happy, admiring the fountain, taking photos of flowers that were beginning to bloom, and strolling through the tree pathway where a bunch of ducks were swimming among flower petals.
We walked through an incredible restored French farm (with donkey stables – but the donkeys were hiding from the sun) and rooms transformed into a temporary hospital during World War I. There were multiple horse carriages on display and we even found a maze we could get lost into.
We decided not to eat at Chenonceau castle with kids, because the wait time was about 45 minutes. There’s a food truck with drinks and muffins, so we quickly grabbed it before heading inside.
Inside Chenonceau Castle is quite small and crowded. We visited the kitchen and hunting gallery. Audioguides didn’t come included for the kids, same as at other locations in France, so I was telling the stories about the castle to them (I’m a historian after all).
To get to the other side of the river, you need to pass through the castle. Don’t forget to get a stamp leaving the castle to return to the other side. Interestingly, during World War II this river served as the demarcation line between Vichy-free Paris and occupied Paris. Many resistance members used Chenonceau to smuggle people to safety.
I kept reading on some other blogs that there’s a playground at Chenonceau, but we did not find it. The map also said there are chickens and bunnies at the property, but when I asked the staff about it, they seemed very confused. Maybe there was more, but it’s not the case now.
Overall we spent about two and a half hours at the property, and we could have easily spent more, by even renting a kayak or wandering more into the woods. Parking was free and there were plenty of spots around 11:30am, so don’t worry about that. From Chenonceau, we drove to Chambord, which took us about an hour.
After leaving the castle, you can also stop by Mini Castle Place with a lot of small replicas of Loire Valley castles (kind of like Madurodam in the Netherlands), but it was closed during our visit. It did look cool from the outside, so I thought I’d mention.
It’s right next to Château du Clos Lucé, which is more like a small museum of Leonardo DaVinci as it’s his former home.
