4 Best Sights in The Loire Valley, France

Just across the square from the cathedral is the Hôtel Groslot, a Renaissance-era extravaganza bristling with caryatids, strap work, and Flemish columns. Inside are regal salons redolent of the city's history (this used to be the Town Hall); they're done up in the most sumptuous 19th-century Gothic Troubadour style and perhaps haunted by King François II, who died here in 1560 by the side of his bride, Mary, Queen of Scots.

If you want to see where "the 20th century was born"—as the curators here like to proclaim—head to the Clos Lucé, about 600 yards up Rue Victor-Hugo from the château. Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) spent the last four years of his life in this handsome Renaissance manor, tinkering away at inventions, amusing his patron, King François I, and gazing out over a garden that was planted in the most fashionable Italian manner. The garden was completely restored in 2008 to contain plants and trees found in his sketches, as well as a dozen full-size renderings of machines he designed. The Halle Interactive contains working models of some of Leonardo's extraordinary inventions, all built by IBM engineers using the artist's detailed notebooks (by this time Leonardo had put away his paint box because of arthritis). Mechanisms on display include three-speed gearboxes, a military tank, a clockwork car, and a flying machine complete with designs for parachutes. Originally called Cloux, the property was given to Anne of Brittany by Charles VIII, who built a chapel for her that is still here. Some of the house's furnishings are authentically 16th century—indeed, thanks to the artist's presence, Clos Lucé was one of the first places where the Italian Renaissance made inroads in France: Leonardo's Mona Lisa and Virgin of the Rocks, both of which once graced the walls here, were bought by the king, who then moved them to the Louvre. You can now see these and 15 other da Vinci masterpieces projected in full living color in the on-site immersive museum; it also features 3D re-creations of the master's unrealized plans for palaces and other constructions, video games, and a host of fun educational games for kids.

During the 10-day Siege of Orléans in 1429, 17-year-old Joan of Arc stayed on the site of the Maison de Jeanne d'Arc. This faithful reconstruction of the house she knew contains exhibits about her life and costumes and weapons of her time. Several dioramas modeled by Lucien Harmey recount the main episodes in Joan's saintly saga, from the audience at Chinon to the coronation at Reims, her capture at Compiègne, and her burning at the stake at Rouen.

Just 3 km (2 miles) south of Amboise on the road to Chenonceaux, the Pagode de Chanteloup is a remarkable sight—a 140-foot, seven-story, Chinese-style lakeside pagoda built for the duke of Choiseul in 1775. Children will enjoy puffing their way to the top for the vertigo-inducing views, but some adults will find the climb—and the 400-yard walk from the parking lot—a little arduous. You can take a 3D virtual tour of the former chateau that once stood on the grounds, in its only remaining pavilion, for an idea of its pre-destruction magnificence (it was demolished in 1823 for unknown reasons), then rent a little rowboat (€6 per hour) to float across the adjoining lake. It's worth a quick stop if you're in the area, especially for architecture buffs, and the views from the top are lovely.