Tours - Do & See
- Nearby guides:
- Poitiers
- Limoges
- Deauville
- Paris
- La Rochelle
- Nantes
- Bergerac
- Bordeaux
- Clermont - Ferrand
- Dinard
- Other guides in France:
- Grenoble
- Grenoble Ski Region
- La Rochelle
- Les Deux Alpes
- Marseille
- Montpellier
- Nice
- Nîmes
- Paris
- Pau
- More
Vieux Tours (Old Town)
Half-timbered medieval houses line lanes dating from Roman times. At its heart, relaxed Place Plumereau, centre of Tours’ nightlife, is filled to the brim with café tables.
Cathedral St Gatien
Beautiful stained glass windows illuminate this majestic building which includes Romanesque, Gothic, and Renaissance architecture.
La Psalette
In these lovely Gothic-Renaissance cloisters, an elaborate open-sided staircase spirals up to elegant galleries. The round tower alongside was part of the city’s Roman wall.
Hôtel Goüin / Musée Archéologique
This home of a 15th-century silk merchant is a masterpiece of ornate, lavish Renaissance decoration inside and out. It’s Tours’ main historical museum.
Musée des Beaux Arts
Works by Rubens, Rembrandt, Degas and Delacroix are gathered here in the old Archbishops’ Palace. In the courtyard is a 200-year-old tree, and a 100-year-old stuffed circus elephant.
Musée du Compagnonnage
This unique museum deals with the history of craft guilds that represented ropemakers, woodturners, clogmakers and similar occupations. Alongside is a museum about wine.
Riverside walks
Walkways alongside the Loire make for some pleasant, quiet walks beside the water.
