Indre-et-loire : 5 Good Reasons To Visit The Château De La Bourdaisière
Located in Indre-et-Loire, not far from Tours, the Château de la Bourdaisière is a place dedicated to nature and ecology. It is known for housing the National Tomato Conservatory and an exceptional park. But it has many other surprises in store for visitors. We have listed for you 5 good reasons to visit this castle.
1- It is a castle full of history
The Château de la Bourdaisière, located in Montlouis-sur-Loire in Indre-et-Loire, is a classified historical monument. Due to its geographical location between Tours and Amboise, it is one of the famous castles of the Loire!
If the interior of the building has been renovated and decorated to accommodate a hotel, the exterior has retained its typical Renaissance architecture. This castle was indeed built between the 14th and 16th centuries.
Over the course of its history, the castle has seen a succession of owners. It belonged to a rich American woman and was occupied by the Germans during the war. It was sold to the commune of Montlouis and housed a retirement home before being acquired by the princes of Broglie.
2- It has extraordinary gardens
This castle steeped in history is today known for its 55 ha park, where several extraordinary gardens have been laid out.
The two most famous gardens of the Château de la Bourdaisière are undoubtedly the National Tomato Conservatory and the Dahlia Color which is a dahlia conservatory.
This contemporary garden consists of wonderful beds of dahlias where the different varieties form patches of color. There are more than 5000 tubers of 400 different varieties, which allows visitors to discover an unsuspected biodiversity...
The castle gardens are open to the public from April 1 to October 31. The opening hours are:
- from 10am to 7pm in high season from May 1st to September 30th
- from 11am to 6pm in low season, i.e. in the months of April and October.
3- There are plenty of tomatoes
The Château de la Bourdaisière is home to the Conservatoire National de la Tomate, a garden where this vegetable fruit is king. No less than 700 varieties of tomatoes are grown there, including ancient varieties with amazing names. You can find them in all colors and shapes.
This unique collection in the world was created by the owner of the place Louis Albert De Broglie in 1998. The castle also hosts a Tomato festival in September, with exhibitors, conferences and culinary events.
The castle also offers from mid-April to the end of September a Tomato Bar, an open-air dining area where you can enjoy dishes prepared with the products of the vegetable garden.
After your visit and your gourmet break, don't hesitate to visit the store! You will find all sorts of products related to this vegetable. You can not only leave with books on the subject, tomato seeds for your garden, tomato juice or ketchup but also tomato-based Cosmetics and even tomato beer!
4- Gardeners are welcome
As you can see, the Château de la Bourdaisière is a paradise for gardening enthusiasts... Whether you like to grow tomatoes in your vegetable garden or flowers in a pleasure garden, you will be dazzled by this château where ecology is a daily practice.
The owner of the place, the Prince Louis Albert de Broglie is actually nicknamed the Gardener Prince. He gladly welcomes gardeners to his estate, especially during the Plant and Spring Festival in April.
During this festival, exhibitors offer plants, plant collections but also accessories, tools and garden furniture. This event usually takes place during the Easter period and includes egg hunts for children and families.
5- The forest is celebrated every fall
In October, the Château de la Bourdaisière hosts the Forest and Wood Festival, the next edition of which will be held on October 15 and 16, 2022. Visitors can then enjoy many animations for young and old on the theme of the forest ...
For two days, the castle joins the National Forestry Office to offer storytelling walks, guided walks, conferences, a presentation of the wood industry, games and even Land Art workshops
To prepare your visit and to know the prices of the different events, you can consult the official website below or call 02 47 45 16 31.
