Let yourself be guided by our “City of Art and History” speaker guides! Essential visits not to be missed to discover the best of the city.
Under the guidance of a guide, the Tours Loire Valley Tourist Office and the city of Tours offer you a general tour of Tours. From the founding of Tours in the 1st century to the flourishing of the Renaissance, discover the city through the key dates in its history, led by a tour guide. The city of Tours was founded in the 1st century on the left bank of the Loire. In the Middle Ages, two distinct sectors developed: one built around the Cathedral, the other around a huge collegiate church dedicated to Saint Martin, the Châteauneuf sector, also known as Vieux Tours. Tours was the royal capital from 1440 to 1520, and in the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance, almost all the city's residences were rebuilt. From this flourishing era, the city inherited a homogeneous ensemble of ancient residences and religious buildings, which you'll discover on this tour. This tour has been awarded the Ville d'Art et d'Histoire label.
The Tours Loire Valley Tourist Office and the city of Tours are offering a guided tour of Louis XI. At the end of the Hundred Years' War, Louis XI became king and made Tours his capital. This tireless and cunning traveller king left nothing to chance: he extended the royal domain and administered it with an iron fist. On the occasion of the sixth centenary of his birth (1423-2023), rediscover Louis XI in his "good city" of Tours.
La Salle Cemetery, Tours A guided tour of memory and funerary art, led by a tour guide through the vast La Salle cemetery. La Salle Cemetery: Opened in 1858 on the Saint-Symphorien hillside, La Salle Cemetery is home to a wide variety of monuments that illustrate the evolution of funerary art in contemporary times, and evokes the memory of departed Touraine personalities: Victor Laloux, Henri Varenne, Gustave Guérin, Arthur Duthoo... This tour has been awarded the Ville d'Art et d'Histoire label.
The Tours Loire Valley Tourist Office and the city of Tours offer a thematic tour of the Old Town of Tours, led by a guide. A guided tour of the emblematic Vieux Tours district around Place Plumereau, led by an expert guide. Medieval half-timbered and stone houses stand side by side with exceptional townhouses. These mansions bear witness to the prosperity of this part of town, which grew up around a huge collegiate church dedicated to Saint Martin. Once home to the saint's body, it was the center of one of the oldest pilgrimages in Christendom. This tour has been awarded the Ville d'Art et d'Histoire label.