château de montpoupon

We came upon this hidden gem on our way back to our rented cottage in the town of Loches, when we stumbled pass this impressive chateau. Totally passed it but upon looking at our rear view mirror, BOOM! It was right there impressively sitting on the crest of the road, without tall walls to hide from the road. We had to back up to check it out and unfortunately it was late in the afternoon after our visit from either Chambord or Amboise. We came back the following day to explore. It turned out to be the chateau had a museum dedicated for hunting. The King of France was once there to hunt. The upper floors were still occupied by the owners, who coincidentally knew the owners of the cottage with stayed in (Les Minieres). What is refreshing about this chateau is that it is not hidden behind tall walls and is quite the opposite. Right next to the Chateau is a restaurant that serves excellent food of the region. Overall a surprisingly unpretentious hidden gem that we were glad to have stumbled upon way back in May of 2009!

This lovely little chateau feels like a family - you or me - could live in it. The scale is lovely. The rooms have been carefully furnished. We especially liked the kitchen, with all of its copper pots. The equestrian-related exhibits were fun.All in all, one of the nicer Loire chateaux.

The castle is a little less known, and a little younger than some of the other castles in the loire valley. Despite that, it has a beautifully preserved rooms. We were especially charmed by the study. You are free to walk inside and around the premise and there is even a forest walk with a quiz for the children. The only downside I could find was the audio played in every room. It's in french and, for us, unnecessary since we received a description of every room in our language at the entrance.

Small, lovely Chateau! Surrounded by wonderful landscape, not overcrowded, a lot to see as the castle is fully equipped!

There has been a chateau on this site since the time of Charlemagne. The current chateau's exterior is typical of the 17th century. The inside of the chateau is strictly 19th century, reflecting the tastes of the time and the owner, Jean Baptiste de la Motta of St. Pierre. Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, the chateau was an active hunting center. The outbuildings house many displays of equestrian skill and hunting prowess.

When I drove through this area, suddenly I noticed this chateau appeared in the end of the road curves.It does looks stunning from the road and it is enough to make me stop and decided to come inside after taking a lot of pictures from outside.Inside there is really nothing special, it is even flat to be honest comparable to other chateaus in Loire.I can see that for sure the owner of this chateau really likes to hunt a lot, because in one of the building there are many pictures of his hunting dogs.The free parking is available if needed for personal car.

Our family were renting a gite about 15 miles away, I visited this on my own as husband and kids were suffering from Chateau Overload (how can you see too many chateaux I cried?!) It was terrific, I loved how it is just suddenly there, at the side of the road as someone else mentioned. The interior is lovely, mostly written up in French with French recorded descriptions but enough info in English to explain each room. Classical music playing gently through loudspeakers in the grounds was a lovely touch, very atmospheric I thought!There is a woodland walk which looked lovely but it was a very hot day so I didn't use itOutside there is a very thorough and detailed museum set out amongst the stables and outbuildings, about hunting and the ancestral family`s interest in it - not something I am interested in but I can understand that to the aristocracy in years gone by this was an all consuming activity and the amount of personal memorabilia is impressive - they must have kept every pair of boots and riding jacket that was ever worn over the years. Lots of antlers and trophy heads of animals, again not my cup of tea but it shows how integral It was to the lifestyle of these peopleMost definitely worth a visit if you are in the general area

We came across this charming chateau after visiting Chenonceau. What a wonderful surprise. The hunting themes and memorabilia of their life style is amazing. The interior of the main building is equally intriguing. I note the tapestries newly hung on the walls are beyond doubt the best preserved I've seen, and mainly because the ancestral owners had stored them away for a very, very long time, thus the colours were so much richer than many in chateaus that have been sun bleached and smoke dulled. This was by far the most interesting chateau...not crowded, very educational. It ranks in my top ten sites among the scores we've visited.

This is an imposing chateau that sits on the very edge of a public road. The reason for its placement,is that it stands guard over the royal route to Spain. The oldest element here is the tall, circular donjon at the western end complete with a walk-walk and machicolations. But what is particularly striking is the height of the four generous stories of accommodation including the dormers in the roof. I think its richly picturesque with a range of large and small conically-capped towers and handsome chimney stacks. To the left of the entrance survives one of the original circular towers that sits in the battlemented wall. Exquisite pleasure to not have crowds to distil the quiet reflection and wonderful images.

A little treat just sitting on the side of the highway. All of a sudden the chateau appeared as if from nowhere. Very pretty. Not a great castle but very nice.

If you are interested in field sports visit here. The museum is full of the most interesting exhibits and I was blown away by the sheer mass of very varied exhibits all well displayed and described in English too.

We drove from Montrichard and came upon this magical chateau in the middle of nowhere. It was too soon for lunch so we passed by until another day, determined to try the Auberge. We were not disappointed with a magnificent lunch with excellent wines served by the chef and his wife. Close to Michelin standards I felt that E100 for the meal plus drinks was very good value. The position is exquisite!

It was lovely but absolutely dominated by hunting! I would have liked to see some horses and hounds. Really stunning chateau and surroundings

Had a three course lunch at the "Auberge" restaurant in sight of Chateau Montpoupon Extremely good value and very, very, delicious. I would thoroughly recommend this eatery to all

We chanced upon this lovely chateau while ona drive back to the hotel--really worth the detour as they say.