Leonardo da Vinci's last home — Loire châteaux and a royal court in miniature
Amboise is where the French Renaissance truly landed — François I invited Leonardo da Vinci to live here in 1516, and the master spent the last three years of his life at the Château du Clos Lucé, a short walk from the royal castle that towers above the Loire. Da Vinci is buried in the château's Chapelle Saint-Hubert. The Château Royal d'Amboise has one of the finest river views in France, and the town below is a perfect Loire Valley base between Blois and Tours.
Amboise's hilltop fortress was among the preferred residences of the French royal court in the late 15th and early 16th centuries — Charles VIII was born and died here. The château was the scene of a horrific reprisal in 1560 when 1,200 Protestant conspirators (the Amboise Conspiracy) were hanged from the château balconies and parapets. After this, the court shifted permanently to Fontainebleau and Paris, and the château fell into partial ruin before restoration in the 19th century.