Image by cucumber! via FlickrBy Marcus Smith
The Loire Valley is one of the most popular regions with visitors to France. Easily accessible from the UK and much of Europe, it also features great scenery, lots of historical towns and villages, and - the main attraction - an exceptional number of impressive castles.
Although castles had existed along the Loire River between Orleans and the western coast of France for some centuries beforehand, it was between about 1500 and 1700 that the rich and powerful from Paris took to building their castles along the river. Frequently older medieval castles were demolished to make space, or parts of the original structure were incorporated in the new chateaux.
