Amboise Clos Luce Castle and Park Entry Ticket

Château du Clos Lucé, Leonardo da Vinci's last residence

The Clos Lucé is a graceful manor of pink brick and white tufa stone built in 1471 on the hill above Amboise. It became a royal residence, and in 1516 the French king invited Leonardo da Vinci, then in his sixties, to live and work here. Leonardo crossed the Alps with three of his paintings, and he spent his final years in this house, designing festivals, gardens and an ideal royal city until his death in May 1519.

Walking through the manor gives a rare sense of closeness to the artist. The building has kept its Renaissance proportions, its beams and fireplaces, and a small chapel decorated with frescoes. Is the Clos Lucé worth visiting if you already plan to see the castles of the Loire? Yes: it is the only place where you see where and how Leonardo lived, rather than only his works.

The rooms, the studio and the workshops

The visit leads through Leonardo's bedroom, where he died, the reception hall, the kitchen with its large fireplace and his studio, furnished with period pieces, drawings and copies of his notebooks. Each room is arranged to show daily life in a Renaissance house, with tapestries, chests and painted ceilings, and panels in several languages explain his projects at Amboise.

Downstairs, the workshops display models built from his drawings: flying machines, bridges, weapons and mechanical devices, reconstructed by engineers to show how his ideas worked. The immersive galleries, with projections and interactive installations, bring his paintings and studies to life and are especially popular with teenagers. Allow about an hour for the manor and the galleries.

The Leonardo da Vinci Park and its machines

Behind the manor stretches the Leonardo da Vinci Park, a large wooded garden along a stream. Here full-size working models of his inventions are placed in the open air: a revolving bridge, a double-deck bridge, a paddle boat, an armoured tank and the famous aerial screw, the ancestor of the helicopter. You can turn handles, push wheels and walk across the bridges, which makes the park a real playground for curious minds of every age.

Along the paths, giant translucent canvases hang between the trees, reproducing his drawings of plants, faces and water. There is also a botanical garden with species he studied and sketched, and a small water mill. Plan at least an hour in the park; on sunny days it is the most enjoyable part of the visit.

Planning your visit and the town of Amboise

Clos Lucé opening hours are usually 09:00 to 19:00 in summer and 10:00 to 18:00 in winter, every day except 1 January and 25 December. Arrive at opening time for a quiet park and the best chance to try every machine without waiting. The site is wheelchair-accessible on the ground floor and in most of the park.

How to get to Amboise: regional trains from Tours take about 20 minutes, and the station is a 20-minute walk across the Loire to the manor. By car, Amboise is about 25 kilometres east of Tours. The Royal Château of Amboise, where Leonardo is buried in the Saint-Hubert chapel, is 500 metres away, so the two make an ideal pair. Things to do in Amboise also include the old streets below the castle and the Loire riverbanks; Chenonceau is only 12 kilometres south.