Trekking along the “Royal River’s” Historic Villages and Chateaux: Beginning France’s GR3 Trail

May 9, 2026

France’s longest river is the Loire, running 625 miles from the mountains to the Atlantic coast. Known as the “Royal River,” its hunting grounds and ornate palaces dotting the landscape were historically a favorite with French nobility. The GR3 Sentier de la Loire is a 775-mile path that follows the length of the river. Created in 1947, it is the oldest of the GR trails in France.

We chose to trek 88 miles of the GR3 through the heart of the Loire Valley, home to famous wineries and historic castles (chateaux). With hundreds of chateaux to visit in the area, it is no wonder that the valley and the river were registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000.

Our seven stages of trekking the GR3 would take us by numerous chateaux. We couldn’t visit them all, so we balanced our days of hiking with intentional castle (and abbey) stops along the way.

A Long First Stage in the Rain to an Abbey

For our first GR3 stage, we left the town of Saumur. Walking east next to the Loire River in the drizzling rain, we had a 16.8-mile stage ahead of us.

The trail immediately climbed up to the 10th century Chateau de Saumur. It was destroyed in 1067 and rebuilt in the 12th century.

We had beautiful views of the town and the river.

Similar to our experience on our recent GR65 trek, the GR3 path was well-marked. There were signs alerting hikers of the next turn, as well as other markers indicating that the trail did not continue in a given direction.

Next turn marker; Do not continue this way sign (the X)

However, we soon had several issues with the trail markings not matching the course on our watch and phone. After a quick discussion, we decided we should follow the current trail as marked over our course. Fortunately, the trail marking consistency with our devices improved later in the day.

As the rain intensified, we made our way into some fields and saw our first vineyards.

Hiking in the rain; Viewing the first vineyards

After hiking for about 2 ½ hours in the rain, we searched for a dry spot to take a break. Eventually we came across an 11th century church that had some covered outdoor seating and ate an early lunch as the rain finally let up.

In the afternoon the path ran through several villages, including Montsoreau with its Gothic Chateau.

Flowering wall in a village; Chateau de Montsoreau

Late in the day we headed past wheat fields and headed into a forest.

We marveled at the sounds of the myriad of birds around us. Listen below to the chorus of birds and the cuckoo that we heard while we hiked:

Chorus of birds

Cuckoo bird

Our accommodations at night were in the Royal Abbey of Our Lady of Fontevraud.

It was founded in 1101 and became one of the largest abbeys in Europe. After almost 700 years it was seized during the French Revolution. The complex then functioned as a prison from 1804 to 1963.

Today there is a hotel on the grounds, as well as a Michelin star restaurant. The hotel provides an option to order a “Hermit’s Box” containing a three-course meal. It comes in a basket that can be eaten in one of the common areas of the hotel. Our menu included an egg and vegetable soup, brisket with mashed potatoes, and a tart with ice cream. We also ordered a local red wine to accompany the delicious meal.

Waiting for our meal in the hotel; Three course meal and wine

There was also an opportunity to explore the entire abbey complex after hours. So when we finished dinner, we visited several buildings on our own as the sun was setting. We saw the abbey church, courtyard, and cloister, as well as some historical exhibits.

Views of the Royal Abbey of Our Lady of Fontevraud during our after dinner exploration

Staying at the abbey was a unique experience and a wonderful start to our trek.

Finding Our Way Out of the Abbey and to Chinon before a Storm

When we left to begin our 13.5-mile stage, we could not figure out how to exit the abbey complex where we had stayed the night before. Stock it up to some language confusion between us and the hotel front desk, but eventually we found the small door where we needed to push a side button to open it. Then we were finally on our way through the adjacent village.

We hiked quickly through forests and fields for the first ten miles to the town of Chinon. During the 15th and 16th centuries it was a favorite area of French kings.

Making our way to Chinon in the morning

The weather began taking a turn for the worse as we approached town. After crossing the Vienne River (a Loire tributary), we arrived at a cafe for lunch just as it began to rain.

We ordered a duck dish and a warm goat cheese salad as the skies opened up and it poured rain. Happy to be out of the elements, we took our time eating.

Our lunch at the Chinon cafe

After enjoying our lunch, we set off for the final 3.5 miles of our stage. The rain had not totally let up, but it was tolerable as we walked. We climbed up a hill to a nice viewpoint of the 11th century Forteresse Royale de Chinon and the town buildings below us. The castle consists of three different sections, each separated by a dry moat.

After another 90 minutes of hiking we arrived at our hotel and settled in for the night.

A Day of Muddy Trails, Flooded Paths, and Swollen Rivers

The next day was a longer 15-mile stage to the town of Azay-le-Rideau and its famous Chateau d’Azay-le-Rideau. Unfortunately, it rained almost the entire day, with just a few breaks.

Most of the stage was in the forest, which shielded us from the heaviest downpours. But we had to traverse through a series of almost continual muddy trails and flooding paths, which kept us on our toes.

Hiking through the rainy weather in the forest; maneuvering around the puddles and mud on the path

There was no place to take a break in the steady rain, so we resorted to leaning up against hunting platforms in the forest.

At one point we came to a closed section of trail in the middle of the forest with no alternate route posted. Whipping out my phone, we were able to identify a slightly longer adjacent path to go around and meet up with our original trail.

After contending with some more mud, we had to navigate across two swollen streams. We had no choice but to ford across one of them, reminding us of our PCT trekking days.

Joining a paved road for the final two miles of our day, we arrived at our Azay-le-Rideau hotel totally soaked. After changing into dry clothes, we explored the town and took a peek at the 16th century Chateau d’Azay-le-Rideau in the steady rain.

Visiting Our First Chateau After a Short Stage

Tired after the previous day, we were happy to have a short stage of just eight miles to complete. The hike went very quickly, as we walked mainly through farmland to the village of Villandry.

Making our way through the farmland early in the stage

We had just a little rain during the early part of the stage, but more precipitation was expected later in the day. Pushing the pace, we completed our entire distance just before noon.

We were motivated to finish early because of our afternoon plans. After completing our hike we headed straight to the Chateau de Villandry. There, we stored our backpacks before beginning our visit.

Originally built as a 12th century fortress, a chateau was constructed in its place 400 years later. The only structure that remains from the original fortress is the keep (tower). The chateau passed through several owners until a Spanish scientist and his American scientist wife bought the property in 1906. They made many of the renovations seen today. Their great-grandson currently runs the estate.

Because of the threat of rain we began our time in the chateau’s gardens. Villandry is regarded to have one of the best chateau gardens in France, and we wanted to prioritize our time there first, in case it rained.

The gardens span 17 acres and represent the Renaissance style of the 16th century. They are divided into several different areas: including ornamental gardens, a water garden, sun garden, herb garden, and kitchen garden.

Some of the different types of gardens at the chateau

There were terraces with viewpoints above the gardens to see each unique section. We took our time to venture along these paths. From above, the level of detail in each garden was amazing to see.

We then walked around each garden on the ground level as well.

Our favorite was the kitchen garden, which consisted of beds planted with vegetables in alternate colors to resemble a multicolored checkerboard.

Signs denoting the plants in each of the kitchen garden beds

We then toured the inside rooms of the chateau, including the ground floor dining room and upstairs bedrooms.

Dining room and bedroom

The oriental drawing room, featuring a ceiling built in Spain during the 15th century, was especially impressive. Composed of 3,600 pieces of polychrome wood, it was entirely dismantled to be transported to France and took a year to reassemble.

After leaving the inside of the chateau we couldn’t resist venturing out to the terrace one last time for a garden view, as the rain had held off.

We loved our time at the Chateau de Villandry and were grateful that the rain didn’t impact our garden visit.

Heading to a Rest Day in the City of Tours

We began our fifth stage of hiking with no rain in the forecast for the first time on this trek. After leaving Villandry we walked about two miles before descending a steep series of stairs to the Cher River (another tributary of the Loire) and the village of Savonnieres.

For the next nine miles we walked along the Cher River, enjoying the sunshine while sharing the path with bikers.

In addition to viewing the scenic river, we came across a beautiful field filled with blooming red poppies.

As we got closer to Tours, we walked through a series of parks and found a nice picnic bench for a lunch break.

With about two miles left in the stage, we crossed the Cher and entered the city of Tours. Settled since the Roman Empire, Tours has a beautiful historical center nicknamed “Le Petit Paris.”

The historic center of Tours

We walked north through the entire city before arriving at our hotel, which overlooked the Loire River. It was the first time we had seen the river up close since our first stage.

Our first five days of hiking the GR3 took us along the Loire River and its tributaries, through vineyards and farmland, and into forests full of birds. Even though it rained much of the time, we still enjoyed our glimpses into the historic villages and chateaux that the trail passed. And we spent a delightful afternoon exploring Chateau de Villandry in detail.

In Tours a rest day awaited us before we trekked a couple more days east. Now in the heart of the Loire Valley chateaux, we also looked forward to more in depth castle visits in the coming days.