Chateau de Blois

Blois works as a lesson in French architecture because four wings around a single courtyard were built in four different periods: medieval Gothic, flamboyant Gothic under Louis XII in brick and stone, Renaissance under Francis I, and classical under Gaston d'Orleans. The Francis I wing carries the famous staircase, an octagonal spiral set into the facade and left open, so the stair is a carved stone cage you can watch people climb. Seven kings and ten queens lived here. The duke of Guise was assassinated in the royal apartments in 1588 on the orders of Henry III, and the rooms are shown with that story attached.

What you actually see

• The four wings - Gothic, flamboyant, Renaissance and classical on one courtyard.
• The Francis I staircase - an open carved spiral on the facade.
• The royal apartments - restored painted rooms with the Guise story.
• The classical wing - Mansart's unfinished work for Gaston d'Orleans.

When to go

April to October; a sound and light show runs on summer evenings in the courtyard. Winter hours are shorter and the interiors are cold.

Honest expectations

Interior decoration is heavily nineteenth-century restoration in strong colours, which some find garish. The town around is ordinary. The sound and light show is a separate ticket.

Nearby

Chambord lies east; Cheverny is south.