The gardens of the Château d'Amboise

What was here before

The royal town on the rock: the great wings of Charles VIII and François I, courtyards, service buildings, and the collegiate church of Saint-Florentin where Leonardo was buried. Almost all of it came down in the years after 1806. The gardens were laid out afterwards, in the landscape style of the period, over the levelled ground. The demolition is set out on the history page, and where Leonardo ended up is on this one.

What is there now

Broad lawns, mature cedars and Judas trees, gravel walks, and the parapet views over the town and the Loire. In one corner is the Oriental garden, a memorial to the emir Abd el-Kader and his household, who were held at Amboise between 1848 and 1852 — a piece of nineteenth-century French history that most visitors walk past without noticing, and which is marked with a small monument to those who died here.

There is also a bust of Leonardo on a plinth with a view behind it, which is the most photographed non-building on the site.

How to use them

As the decompression at the end. The interiors are dense and quite short; the gardens are where the visit relaxes. Do the Logis, the chapel and the terrace, then take the gravel circuit round the gardens and come back along the parapet. That is twenty minutes and it makes an hour-long visit feel like a proper one. The order is on what to see.

What there is to book

Not the entrance ticket — that is bought at the château’s own desk when you arrive. What is bookable is the guiding, and the day trips that include entry to Amboise along with the other Loire châteaux.

Frequently asked questions