Ken loves exploring castle. He finds that each invdidual castle has its own unique features, mystery and stories behind it. Other than Carcassonne Castle, we also find Chenonceau castle very beautiful, though not as big as Carcassonne. Chenonceau has a very big awesome garden and labyrinth which was said to be built by the king's mistress. This castle is one of the
most well-known castle of the Loire valley.
When we visit a castle, we gauge how well they maintain the place, the languages they put up inside the castle and even whether the toilets are clean. Haha. Many castles we visited has only French language and even the multi-media presentation was in French, although some provided headphone audios for visitors.
Chenonceau castle is very strict, the securities will check visitors' bags at the entrance to ensure nobody brings in any food into the premises. However, they are café and picnic areas provided outside the castle. There are even brochures, maps, posters, informations given in many different languages! Japanese, English, Mandarin, you name it! I think the toilet areas are situated outside the castle so do your business before going in.
We spend about 2-3hrs exploring but we did not really walk through the gardens except to take photos of it from the top view. Strollers and wheelchairs friendly mostly outside the castle and first floor as there are some staircases in the castle which people on wheelchairs may not be able to maneuver. And the castle doorways and corridors could be a little narrow when there are a lot of visitors. Example, a bedroom or kitchen has only one entrance so if there are too many people, you may need to 'queue up' to get out/into the room.
Overall. Enjoyable and relaxing for the children and even dogs to in the gardens.
