Tours is a city on the Loire River in the Centre region of France. While many tourists use the city as a base to explore the nearby Loire Valley chateaux, Tours deserves at least a day to appreciate its many charms. There are plenty of things to do in the city, such as sightseeing and sampling its culinary specialties and wines.
Tours Cathedral, dedicated to St. Gatien, was built between 1170 and 1547. You can see the evolution in architectural styles, from Romanesque to Renaissance, in various parts of the building. The bottom level of the Cathedral belongs to the Romanesque style of the 12th century, while the western facade is decorated in the very ornate, flamboyant Gothic style. The Renaissance is most evident in the belfries. Inside, there are fine examples of 13th-century stained glass.
Tours has a wonderfully preserved medieval quarter, "Vieux Tours" ("Old Tours"), with narrow pedestrian streets and centuries-old half-timber houses. Have a drink in an outdoor cafe in the Place Plumereau, a bustling square at the heart of the old town.
Housed in the former 18th-century Bishop's Palace, the Museum of Fine Arts boasts an excellent collection of European paintings and is particularly well-known for its 18th-century French art, one of the biggest collections in the country. Paintings by Mantegna, Rembrandt and Rubens stand out among the jewels of the museum's collections.
Musée des Beaux-Arts
18 Place François Sicard
37000 Tours
France
+33 02 47 05 68 73
Tours and its region are known all over the world for light red wines and goat cheese. But Tours has even more in store for adventurous foodies. Be sure to try these culinary specialties, too: rillettes (goose or pork pate); rillons (chunks of pork belly slow-cooked in lard); andouillettes (tripe sausage); géline de Touraine chicken; coq-au-vin with Chinon wine; pork, poultry, and veal dishes cooked with prunes; "fouace" bread; and barley sugar candy.
