Tours Travel Guide, France

Tours, located on the River Loire, county-seat of the region Centre, is said to be the capital of the castles of Loire. It is indeed the starting point for a visiting voyage of the castles on Loire, like Amboise, Chambord or Chenonceau.

Tours is a multi-face city. A city of international meetings - with its Da Vinci International Congress Center, an airport and a TGV Railway Station and a city of commerce - not only can you find luxury items but also traditional artisan pieces in Galerie Nationale, Galerie du Metropole or Galerie du Palais.

Those who love culture will not be disappointed: just book a ticket to Le Grand Theatre for a lyrical show or a symphonic evening - Offenbach is played in December 2008. There is also The Plessis Theater, le Nouvel Olympia with its many shows, workshops and reading evenings and La Cinematheque for those who want to see the big classics of the French cinema - Jean Gabin, Francois Truffaut, Catherine Deneuve, Jean-Paul Belmondo, etc.

Tours is also known as a capital of “bien vivre”, i.e. good food - foie gras, rillette, small chitterling sausage, goat cheese and good wines -white: Vouvray, Montlouis or red: Chinon, Saint-Nicolas de Bourgueil. There is even a gourmand night market organized every month.

If you are staying in Tours for several days, you should go to Bergeonnerie Lake for morning jogging or for sailing. For sportmen there is also Gloriette Park for beachvolley, walks or kite-flying, the riverbanks of Loire for those who want to go for a bicycle race and the many pools of the city for those who enjoy swimming.

It is a city that has a taste of the future, increasing its researches in the pharmaceutical and robot industry. It is also home for about 25,000 students that surely animate the cultural and sportive life of Tours.

Al these are good reasons for a visit to the core of France.