28 Interesting Things to Do in Orléans, France

Before we moved there, I had no idea what to do in Orléans, France. In fact, I didn’t even know Orléans existed until a few weeks before arriving!

But after spending six weeks living in Orléans, I can confidently say that this little city has a lot going on! Not only is it full of historic charm, but it’s got markets, museums, churches, parks and festivals to keep you entertained.

Just 90 minutes on the train from Paris, Orléans should absolutely be on your France bucket list. It was an incredible place to call home this autumn and would make a great weekend add-on if you’re visiting Paris.

So after spending six weeks in Orléans, I created my list of 28 things to do in and around the city. This is the most comprehensive list of things to do in Orléans, France on the internet – trust me, I read all of the other posts when researching where we wanted to live!

Not only is my list comprehensive, with enough activities for you to fill many days and weeks in Orléans, it’s also tested. Because I lived in Orléans for six weeks, I was able to try out almost all of these activities first-hand!

From fine art museums and botanical gardens to boat rides, castles and farmer’s markets, let me introduce you to all of the wonderful things to do in my temporary French home of Orléans!

And don’t miss my answers to some FAQs about visiting Orléans at the end of the post!

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning if you click through and make a purchase, I will earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thanks for your support!

My top 5 favourite things to do in Orléans, France

It was very hard to narrow down my full list below to just five, but I managed to do it. Here are the top five things I recommend you do when visiting Orléans:

1. Take the self guided audio tour: Pick up your audio guide from the Tourist Office and learn all about the cathedral, city hall, town square and historic streets as you walk around Orléans.
2. Look out for street art: I loved making a game of searching for Orléans’ iconic tile, mosaic street art. It was so fun to find new ones all over the city!
3. Visit the Cercil Museum: This museum was a moving tribute to Holocaust victims of WWII, sharing the dark history of the Loiret region (the region around Orléans).
4. Get lost at Parc Floral de la Source: Orléans has a few cool parks but Parc Floral de la Source – with its butterfly conservatory, flower gardens, playgrounds, mini farm and flock of flamingoes – is probably the coolest.
5. Attend a local festival: I loved being in town for the Loire Festival, so I’d highly recommend planning your own trip to Orléans to coincide with one of the city’s many festivals.

Read on for even more things to do in Orléans!

1.Visit Sainte Croix Cathedral

Sainte Croix Cathedral is the main cathedral in Orléans and one of the city’s claims to fame as it’s the fourth tallest cathedral in France.

The church itself is 130 metres long with indoor domes stretching 32 metres tall and the spire on the top of the cathedral reaching 114 metres. The first stone was laid in 1601 and a piece of the cross is said to be housed inside.

Inside you’ll see stained glass telling the story of Joan of Arc. Joan is a bit of a legend in Orléans as she famously reversed the almost year-long siege by the English on the city in 1429.

There’s also a Joan of Arc chapel inside the cathedral where Joan is seen crushing two leopards, meant to represent England, as the leopard is on their coat of arms. I thought it was ironic that right outside that chapel is a sign thanking the British troops for their help during WWII!

The outside of Sainte Croix Cathedral is pretty impressive too and I’d definitely recommend doing a full lap around to take it all in. There’s a symbol of King Louis XIV in gold on the south side and you can see where WWII bombs hit the tall tower at the front of the church.

We visited the cathedral a few times while living in Orléans and it was impressive each time. It’s free to enter and you can also watch light shows on the cathedral’s facade in the summer and over the Christmas holidays.

2. Watch a movie at Maison de Jeanne d’Arc

Maison de Jeanne d’Arc, or the House of Joan of Arc, is a building at the location where Joan stayed when she liberated Orléans in 1429. It’s not the exact building, as that one was destroyed by WWII bombs.

Unfortunately, there’s not a whole lot to do at the house. I was expecting there to be a full museum dedicated to Joan’s life and time in Orléans, but that’s not the case.

All there is to do is watch a movie. I’m not kidding: the whole experience is just one room and one 15 minute video. But still, I recommend you stop by and watch for a few reasons.

First, Joan of Arc is a big deal in Orléans and it’s worth taking 15 minutes to learn more about her. The video is informative and easy to follow. They can air it in different languages, including English for non-French speakers like us.

Second, visiting Maison de Jeanne d’Arc is included in your entry ticket to other city museums.

For €8 ($9 USD), you can visit four museums in Orléans on the same day: MOBE Biodiversity Museum, Museum of Fine Art, Historical & Archeological Museum, and Maison de Jeanne d’Arc.

So if you’re already visiting one or more of those other museums, you might as well pop by Joan’s house and watch her movie. It will only take 15 minutes!

3. Check out the historic rooms at Hotel Groslot

Hotel Groslot isn’t a hotel but is actually the City Hall of Orléans. Many French city halls are called hotels, so you’ll see this term pop up in many cities.

Besides being a beautiful building from the outside, you can actually go into Hotel Groslot and visit some of their historic rooms for free! The building dates back over 500 years.

We visited Hotel Groslot while my mom was with us in Orléans and had a nice time wandering through the rooms. Besides two other people, we had the whole space to ourselves.

There’s not a ton to see (only about five rooms), but it is worth a stop. All of the rooms are beautifully decorated with important pieces of art and furniture. Inside, you’ll see tributes to Joan of Arc and learn more about the city’s history.

PS: If you do the city’s audio tour (more on that below), it will lead you through the rooms of Hotel Groslot. Otherwise, there are English pamphlets in each room you can read.

4. Wander around Place Martroi

Place du Martroi is the main square in the old town of Orléans and the central hub of the city. There’s so much going on in this square and you’ll likely pass through it a few times while visiting Orléans.

As soon as you enter the square, you’ll be greeted by a giant statue of Joan of Arc on horseback. One of my favourite photos I took in Orléans was of this statue with the beautiful buildings behind it on a sunny day.

Fun fact: Joan’s statue was built in 1855 using bronze from British canons.

There’s also the Orléans city sign in Place Martroi – another must-take photo. You’ll see a similar sign on a square down by the Loire River.

And a carousel sits in one corner of Place du Martroi. Unlike the boring carousels I’m used to in Canada, this one had all kinds of cool animals and vehicles (like a submarine and hot air balloon!) that kids could ride.

Speaking of riding, there’s a little tourist train that leaves from Place Martroi. Just head into the Tourist Office, also located on the square, to grab your tickets.

5. Shop at the Friday markets

On Fridays, Place du Martroi and the adjoining street Rue Royale host two markets, a vintage book market during the day and a food and farmer’s market at night.

The booksellers line Rue Royale with boxes and tables of vintage books and other paper-based antiques. We walked along the stalls but, to be honest, weren’t really in the market for old books.

I was definitely a bigger fan of the evening food market, which starts up around 4:00pm on Fridays. It was really fun to be in a bustling market with lots of local vendors and so many Orléans citizens out doing their shopping.

The food market had a bit of everything – meat, cheese, fish, bread, vegetables, fruit, jams and honey, etc. for your grocery haul. Lots of people had their shopping carts with them to load up for the week.

There were also ready-made food stalls so you could pick up an afternoon snack or dinner. There were baked goods, fresh oysters, spring rolls, paella, quiche and lots of other foods on offer.

6. Take a self-guided audio tour of Orléans

One of my favourite things that we did in Orléans was take the self-directed walking tour of the city with an audioguide. You pick up your audioguide from the Tourist Office (€9) at Place du Martroi and then head out on your walk.

Orléans is an incredibly walkable city and this audioguide will allow you to see the highlights of the city and learn more about them.

The walking tour is a loop around Orléans. It leads you through the old town streets, into the Cathedral and City Hall, down to the Loire River, and back up ending in Place du Martroi.

I loved that it was self-directed, meaning we could do the tour at our own pace. About halfway through, we paused the tour and sat down for lunch. We were also able to fast forward through parts we had already seen.

We didn’t do the tour until a few weeks into our stay, but I’d recommend doing it as soon as you arrive. It’s a good way to get your bearings and learn the history of the cool city you’re visiting.

7. Explore what’s underneath the city

A lot of history lurks beneath the streets of Orléans. Before we arrived, I had read about all sorts of ancient walls, towers and crypts we could see under the city.

That didn’t exactly end up being the case. After trying to visit one of the crypts but not being able to find the entrance, we went to the Tourist Office to get more information.

An employee at the Tourist Office told us that the crypts are only accessible by tour and the tours are only in French. They may also only be offered at certain times of year, as I asked about booking one and was told we couldn’t (this was mid-October).

I had seen a lot of people write about these crypts online so I don’t know if access to them has changed, people went on the French tours, or people just wrote about them because everyone else did…

But try as we might, we could not gain access to the famed Saint-Avit and Saint Aignan crypts. If you manage to see them, let me know how you did it!

We did, however, get a glimpse at another piece of underground history. If you take the elevator down to the Place du Martroi parking lot and walk towards a door with a window, you’ll be able to see the remains of Porte Bannier, a 15th Century city wall.

From peering into the window, it’s clear that access to Porte Bannier must be possible by some sort of tour (there are info signs and posts sectioning off the wall). But again, whatever tour that is wasn’t bookable for us at the time.

8. Hunt for street art around Orléans

Before arriving in Orléans, I learned that the city is famous for these small, mosaic, tile art pieces above the city street names. For the entire time we lived there, it became a game to try and find new ones!

Sometimes the pieces related to the name of the street – like a Joan of Arc mosaic above Rue Jeanne d’Arc, a crown above Rue Royale and a lion above Rue de la Lionne.

But other times, they seemed quite random. We lived on Rue des Grands Champs (which translates to “great fields”) and there was a Homer Simpson mosaic on our street – with Marge Simpson on another corner.

My husband, Colin, thinks it’s because the Simpsons live in Springfield, which is close enough to “great fields” but I thought that was a stretch. What do you think?

Most of the pieces were created by MifaMosa, a famous street artist, while others are credited to Tag Lady, who’s an artist from Orléans. We were such big fans that we bought a MifaMosa pencil case!

Another important piece of street art in Orléans, France is Mur d’Orléans, a mural on the side of a movie theatre. Every season, an artist is commissioned to paint a new mural on this wall, so it’s always something different!

You can learn more about street art in Orléans here.

9. Take a boat trip on the Loire River

One of Orléans’ greatest claims to fame is its position on the Loire River. Back in the day, all of the goods headed to Paris would have to pass through Orléans by boat.

The two most important imports that flowed through Orléans were sugar and wine. Sugar was refined in Orléans before continuing onto Paris and other French cities.

Unfortunately, most of the wine that came through Orléans would spoil by the time it got there thanks to leaky boats and barrels. But the Orléanais were clever: they used the spoiled wine to make vinegar, which the city is still famous for today!

All to say, the Loire River is a celebrated part of the city. You can stroll along it, drink at one of the pop up bars on its shores, or take a boat ride down the Loire! All of the boats you’ll see here have flat bottoms, because the river is so shallow.

Unfortunately, we didn’t get to do this as the weather started to get chilly. But if you’re visiting Orléans in the summer, I’d definitely add this to your itinerary.

There are a few companies that offer boat rides; pop into the Tourist Office to book.

10. Learn about Orléans’ WWII history at the Cercil Museum

The most impactful museum that we visited in Orléans was the Cercil Museum – Memorial Children Du Vel D’hiv.

This museum is dedicated to the Jewish communities in France during WWII and serves as a memorial to the children who were killed during the Holocaust.

The museum is small and entirely in French, but still very worth visiting. We were given an English pamphlet that let us follow along with the exhibits, and we could still appreciate most of the artifacts, videos, images, etc.

The museums charts the history of three internment camps that were positioned around Orléans: Pithiviers, Beaune-la-Rolande and Jargeau. The camps were filled in waves, starting with 3,700 Jewish men from Paris in May 1941, then women and children in July 1942.

We learned about the terrible living conditions in the camps and how the rules gradually got more and more strict. We also learned about the underground resistance movements.

As the internment camps got overcrowded, the French Vichy government began deporting people to concentration camps, like Auschwitz. They started with the men and then the women, leaving the children behind alone. Eventually, the children too were sent to Auschwitz.

The final room in the museum was the most moving. It was a memorial to the 70,000 Jewish children who lived in France on the eve of WWII. Of those 70,000 children, 11,400 were deported with 4,700 interned at the camps near Orléans.

Tragically, 4,400 of the 4,700 children at the camps in Orléans were sent to and murdered at Auschwitz. The memorial shares names, photos and ages of as many of those children as they have information for. Needless to say, it was incredibly emotional to witness.

The museum continues with a small outdoor section that hosts a temporary exhibit (the one on while we were there was about the discovery of the camps), an example of barracks used in the Loiret camps, and a large photo of the little girl who inspired the founding of the museum.

All to say, it was an extremely worthwhile visit and I highly recommend you add the Cercil Museum to your Orléans itinerary. If you speak French, you’ll get even more out of this powerful museum visit.

11. Try Orléans’ specialties: vinegar and mustard!

As I shared above, because the wine destined for Paris was spoilt by the time it reached Orléans, the local Orléanais got clever and used that spoiled wine to create vinegar. There’s even an exhibit about vinegar making at the archeological museum!

So while you’re in Orléans, you have to sample some of the local specialty. Martin Pouret is the most famous vinegar brand in the city. They have a standalone shop on Rue Jeanne d’Arc where you can do vinegar tastings.

You’ll also find their products in most grocery stores and at the Tourist Office. In addition to vinegars, they’re well known for their mustards as well. Martin Pouret’s mustards use Orléans vinegar and a recipe that dates back to 1580!

Other local products you should try include:

• Fresh fish from the Loire River
• Cotignac (a sweet made from quince jelly)
• Fruit macarons
• Olivet pear brandy
• Jargeau sausage
• Tea and coffee from Cafes Jeanne d’Arc
• And anything from a local chocolatier!

12. Eat at some of the city’s best restaurants, bakeries and pastry shops

Speaking of eating in Orléans, you should also enjoy some of the city’s best restaurants, boulangeries and patisseries while you’re in town.

I put together my list of the best places to eat in Orléans (and the ones I would avoid), based on our six weeks living in the city. We had some incredible meals out, plus fell in love with our local boulangerie’s baguettes and croissants.

Here are a few places I definitely recommend:

• Les Fils a Maman for a 90’s themed brunch
• Well in Town for incredible salads and pizzas
• La Fabrique for sweet or savoury crepes
• Sebastian Papion for chocolates, macarons and ice cream

13. Attend a local festival

One of my favourite memories from living in Orléans was attending the Loire Festival.

Festival de Loire is held in Orléans every two years to celebrate the Loire River. It’s a huge multi-day street festival with food stands, craft sellers, performers, music, boat rides, displays and lots more!

We had the best time eating fresh mussels and oysters, looking at ancient boats on the Loire, listening to choirs and bands, trying local beers, and just enjoying the lively atmosphere with everyone else.

It was really fun to be in town for a local celebration and take part in a big event in Orléans. We had no idea the Loire Festival was even a thing before arriving, so just got lucky that we were in town for it.

If you can’t make it to the Loire Festival (late September every other year), here are some other festivals in Orléans that you can plan your trip around:

• Joan of Arc Festival (this is the biggest celebration in Orléans!)
• Roads Orleans Festival
• Jazz Festival
• Loire Art Show
• Orléans Christmas Market (+ light show at the Cathedral)

14. Wander & shop around the old town of Orléans

One of the best parts about living in Orléans was just walking around the streets in the old town each day and admiring all of the history and architecture.

Some of my favourite streets for admiring the buildings were Rue Sainte-Catherine and Rue de Bourgogne.

On the city audioguide tour, we got to learn more about some of the buildings on these streets, such as the old law school and covent on Rue Pothier and the oldest half timbered house in Orléans on Rue de la Charpenterie.

For shopping in the old town, you’ll want to visit Place du Chatelet and the adjoining mall, Halles Chatelet. This square used to hold a royal residence and market with street vendors, so it’s cool that its still used for shopping today.

Inside Halles Chatelet, we found the coolest store called Eureka. They had board games, stationary, homeware, accessories and gifts. I wanted to buy everything!

Nearby was another fun store, LA FACTORY, where you’ll find more funky homeware and some great souvenirs from your time in Orléans. I bought my favourite Orléans postcards from here.

You’ll find lots of other clothing and accessory stores on the streets surrounding Place du Chatelet, such as Rue Royale and Rue Thiers. Many of the sidewalks are covered by arcades, so you can shop in any weather!

15. Be amazed at the Orléans Fine Art Museum

If you like art, you’ll want to visit the Musée des Beaux-Arts d’Orléans, aka the Fine Arts Museum of Orléans. Even though Colin and I are not huge art enthusiasts, we spent a few hours at the museum and really enjoyed ourselves.

The Fine Art Museum spans four floors with art from the 16th to 21st Century (with more historical art than contemporary pieces). All of the plaques are in French, but we didn’t need to read much to appreciate the art.

Most of the art on display are paintings, with some sculptures and other media as well. My favourite were two huge rooms that had paintings and sculptures stacked from floor to ceiling. The scale of it all was very impressive!

Of course, this being Orléans, there was one room dedicated to art depictions of Joan of Arc. To be honest, I thought there’d be a bigger collection of Joan art!

The basement is where you’ll find the more contemporary pieces, as well as Joan’s small gallery. There’s also a gift shop on the ground floor.

16. Get back to nature at Parc Floral de la Source

A short tram ride from the centre of Orléans will bring you to Parc Floral de la Source, a giant park and garden with something for everyone.

Entry to the park is paid; it was €6.50 per adult when we visited in October 2025. But I think it’s well worth it for everything you get to experience.

We planned our visit for when the park was hosting Fete de l’Automne, so there were extra food trucks, artisan stalls and crafts set up for kids. There were also lots of cute autumnal and harvest-themed photo opps throughout the park!

But even if a festival isn’t on, there’s lots to do at Parc Floral de la Source. There are beautiful flower gardens – check the pamphlet you’re given when you enter to see which ones are in peak bloom; ponds and fountains; and multiple playgrounds for kids.

There’s lots of wildlife to discover too. The butterfly conservatory was my favourite with tons of butterflies overhead and on the trees. Baby C was absolutely amazed by them!

There are also bird houses; a mini-farm with donkeys, sheep and chicken; and a resident flock of flamingoes you can visit!

The entire park is built around the “source” which is the underground source of water that feeds the Loiret River. You can visit the source in the middle of the park – it’s also where you’ll find the flamingoes!

17. Learn about wildlife at MOBE Biodiversity Museum

Speaking of wildlife, you can get up close and personal with (stuffed) animals at the MOBE Biodiversity Museum in Orléans. If you’re really into natural history or visiting the city with kids, this would be a good one to visit.

We visited on European Heritage Day, so entry to the museum was free. Otherwise, it’s €8 ($9 USD), but that also gives you entry to three other museums on the same day.

The museum is a good size; you could easily spend an hour or two there. All of the plaques are in French, so if you’re not a fluent French reader, you’ll just have to appreciate the visual displays like we did.

A lot of the museum is interactive, like the first floor which is entirely designed for kids. It follows a little girl and her grandma who go on a submarine adventure around the world. Baby C was too young for it, but I think it’d be a lot of fun for grade school kids.

In addition to all of the exhibits on animals, there’s also a terrace and cafe on the fourth floor, and a big library on the second floor. The library has a kids’ section with books, pillows and rugs, which was perfect for letting Baby C crawl around.

18. Stop to smell the roses at the Orléans Botanical Garden

For a scenic, secluded and free thing to do in Orléans, pay a visit to Jardin des Plantes, aka the Botanical Gardens. We explored these gardens while my mom was visiting us and had a great time!

The gardens aren’t huge, but they are free to enter and offer quite a bit to see. You’ll pass a huge greenhouse where gardeners test and experiment with plants in order to improve the environment.

My favourite part was the series of gardens that they had set up in different styles, such as a Mediterranean garden, a desert garden and an alpine garden. There were also some cool trees, statues and hanging gardens as well.

Don’t miss the roses, as Orléans used to be the rose capital of France. They weren’t in bloom during our autumn visit, but it was still cool to see where they were planted.

19. See contemporary art for free at the FRAC

The FRAC Centre is worth a visit just to check out the funky exterior design, even if you don’t head inside. But you might as well go in, since entry to this contemporary architecture museum is free!

Inside you’ll find three floors of contemporary art all centred around the theme of architecture. The futuristic structure you see from out front isn’t even part of the main galleries, but you can walk through and see it from the inside.

When we visited, the exhibiting artist had a series of sketches and cartoons on the ground floor, as well as some hula hoop pieces displayed on the third floor. I’m sure I’m oversimplifying his work, but it was in French and I’m no contemporary architecture art expert!

I believe his overall message was about how architecture can be more open, less structured and more accessible to people, which I agree with!

The middle floor houses the FRAC’s permanent collection. There were lots of cool 3D art pieces and models, as well as some paintings and sculptures. Outside there was also a small garden you could visit.

We didn’t spend too long inside the FRAC (<1 hour), but I do think it was worth the visit. Even though this isn’t the type of art I’m usually drawn to, it was interesting to read about (there were English translations on all of the plaques) and entry was free.

20. Relax in Parc Pasteur

For another green space to explore in Orléans, check out Parc Pasteur. We visited on a sunny autumn afternoon with Baby C and it seemed to be a popular park for local school kids and office workers on their lunch break.

I loved that there were lots of points of interest throughout the park. There were modern sculptures, a huge fountain, a historic archway, flower gardens, multiple playgrounds, a gazebo and a carousel.

There’s even a mini steam train that goes through the park! Though it didn’t seem to be running when we visited.

Parc Pasteur is next to the MOBE Biodiversity Museum. So this would be a great place to have a picnic lunch or let your kids run around before or after a museum visit.

21. Pop into more beautiful churches in Orléans

Besides the main Sainte-Croix Cathedral of Orléans, there are many other beautiful churches you can visit in the city. I’m not religious, but I love stepping into old churches in Europe. The artistry and architecture always blow me away!

Close to our apartment was Église Saint-Paterne. When we visited, we had the church completely to ourselves. We got to check out the stained glass and very impressive carvings.

On another day, we visited Notre Dame des Miracles. It had a different look to the other churches in town, with more contemporary ceramic tile work across the walls. Like many churches in Orléans, there was also a prominent Joan of Arc statue.

We also walked past Église Saint-Pierre du Martroi, Église Saint Donatien, and Collégiale Saint-Aignan d’Orléans but weren’t able to go in either because we were short on time or the doors were locked. But they were all pretty from the outside!

22. Go back in time at the Historical & Archeological Museum of Orléans

One of the last museums we visited in Orléans was the Musée Historique et Archéologique de l’Orléanais. It’s located inside a beautiful Renaissance building and shares the history of the city.

When we visited, there was a temporary Japanese exhibit on the ground floor. It was a pretty small exhibit (only two rooms with sparse displays) but there was information in English and we learned some interesting things about Japanese history.

From there, we had to park our stroller and head to the upper floors with Baby C in her carrier. The first floor had lots of statues and carvings across three rooms. It was cool to see the sculptures up close.

The top floor had a small arts and crafts station for kids, as well as a VR headset that my husband Colin tried out. He got to fly over the Loire River and see how Orléans looked in years past.

Also on that floor was a room with metal carvings and a room that talked about Orléans’ history with the Loire River and vinegar making.

Overall, the Historical and Archeological Museum was pretty small and there weren’t a ton of artifacts. But it was also set in a beautiful building – I loved seeing the inner courtyard and stained glass windows – and we mostly had the place to ourselves.

Plus, since it’s one admission ticket that grants you entry to four Orléans museums, you might as well pop in for a quick visit!

23. Take a break at Jardin Jacques Boucher

Next door to the Joan of Arc House is Jacques Boucher Garden, named for the man who hosted Joan during the siege in the spot where the garden and house are now.

The garden goes back to the medieval period, though it was renovated in 2001. Inside you’ll find a trellis, an arbour, and the Colas Pavilion, which dates back to the 16th Century.

There’s also a little playground where we played with Baby C. It was pretty surreal to be holding my daughter on a little ladybug ride with the ruins of an ancient wall right in front of me.

At the back of the park is Tour Saint-Paul Orléans, a huge tower that is the only remaining part of a church that once stood there but was destroyed in the WWII bombings.

The park is also next to the Notre-Dame des Miracles church, which is the one with cool tile work and ceramics that I recommended above!

24. See Hôtel des Créneaux & Square Abbé Desnoyers

Right outside the archeological museum is Square Abbé Desnoyers, its gardens and a beautiful 16th Century building, Hôtel des Créneaux.

Hôtel des Créneaux was Orléans’ first city hall. It then became a court of law and held the fine arts museum until 1981.

The building itself isn’t open to the public, but apparently there’s a passageway you can go through to see the inner courtyard and belfry up close. We couldn’t find it, but enjoyed admiring the outside of the building.

Hôtel des Créneaux faces Abbé Desnoyers Square and Garden, where you’ll see a few statues and manicured hedges.

There are two other historic facades that face the square – one with stone carvings that commemorate a French king who once stayed there and the other in red brick that’s name after the apple sculpture above its windows.

25. Cheer for the home team!

Did you know you can attend a sports game in Orléans? While maybe not the most well known teams, it’s always fun to watch sports abroad. We watched a basketball game in Madrid back in 2020 and had a blast!

We had hoped to make it to an Orléans Loiret Basket basketball game, but the schedule didn’t work out well with Baby C’s early bedtime.

For soccer (aka football) fans, there’s US Orléans, which has both women’s and men’s professional teams. There’s also a rugby team you can cheer on, RC Orléans.

All of the sports teams play at arenas near Parc Floral de la Source, so you could make a full day of it. Hang out at the park, enjoy a picnic lunch and then see a basketball, rugby or soccer game in the evening.

26. Take a medieval day trip from Orléans

One of the things I loved most about living in Orléans was being close to so many little medieval towns – perfect for day trips! We’d hop on the train and spend the day wandering cobblestone streets and admiring historic churches and towers.

Two of my favourite places we visited were Beaugency and Meung-sur-Loire, both less than 30 minutes from Orléans by train.

In Beaugency we took in contemporary art at the castle, ate delicious food in the old town square, walked through churches and spotted a Joan of Arc statue.

In Meung-sur-Loire we caught the end of the weekly market, enjoyed coffee in the town square, searched for dragons at Meung-sur-Loire Castle, and meandered along the canals and waterways.

We also visited Blois, a bigger town that still had a historic flair. We loved touring the royal castle, taking in scenic views from the hilltops, discovering shopping streets and old churches, and popping into museums and magic houses.

27. See some of the most famous Loire Valley castles

Orléans is perfectly situated to go on day trips to some of the most famous chateaux of the Loire Valley. We rented a car in Orleans for a few days to do our own mini castle road trip.

Some of the big name castles that we got to visit include:

• Chateau de Chambord: A huge castle that looks straight out of a fairytale with its epic architecture and staircases
• Chateau de Chenonceau: Probably my favourite castle with beautiful interiors and exteriors, plus a history of being run by women
• Chateau de Cheverny: Known as the dog castle, thanks to the huge pack of hunting dogs who live on site (that we got to meet!)
• Chateau de Villandry: Most popular for its stunning terraced gardens

28. You can even visit Paris from Orléans

While most people would say you can take a day trip to Orléans from Paris, what’s stopping you from doing it the other way around?

Instead of staying in busy and expensive Paris, you could stay in cheaper and quieter Orléans, and head to Paris on a day trip.

Paris is just 90 minutes from Orléans on a direct train; many people commute from Orleans. Follow my Paris guide for suggestions on how to spend your day in Paris.

If you’re only going on a day trip, I’d suggest picking one or two major things to do, like the Louvre or Eiffel Tower. Don’t forget to leave time for people watching from a cafe or strolling along the Seine.

FAQs about Orléans

Wrapping up: Is Orléans, France worth visiting?

Absolutely! Orléans is definitely worth visiting. The city is so charming with such a cool history, there’s lots to see and do, and there are some great places to eat.

From museums, markets and festivals to strolling over cobblestone, picnics in the park and boating down the Loire, you’ll have no problem filling your days in Orléans!

You could visit Orléans as an easy day trip from Paris or you could stay longer, exploring the city slowly and using it as a base to visit the Loire Valley.

I’m so happy we chose Orléans, France as the first stop on our family travels through Europe. It was the perfect city for us – walking around each day felt like stepping into a fairytale.

For more insight into Orléans, read about our experience living in Orléans for six weeks and review my top recommended restaurants in Orléans.