Orléans: Holiday apartments and holiday homes

Nature

The Loire, France’s longest river, crosses Orléans from east to west and offers tourists as well as the residents of Orléans an impressive landscape experience. The Loire quays on the left bank have been redesigned for pleasant walks.

Anyone considering Orléans as a travel destination may want to rent a holiday apartment.

The Parc floral de La Source is a 35-hectare garden in Orléans designated as a Jardin Remarquable. It contains the source of the Loiret, which is considered a resurgence of the Loire. The park offers playgrounds and leisure activities such as pedal cars, mini-golf and go-karts; it also houses an exotic aviary, a butterfly area and an educational mini-farm.

Museums

The Muséum d’Orléans pour la Biodiversité et l’Environnement, or MOBE for short, is a museum of natural heritage and scientific culture. It extends across five floors and displays 1,200 exhibits and samples from a total collection of 455,000 items. It also includes immersive areas that explain the origins and functioning of habitats in the past and present.

The Musée des Beaux-Arts displays more than 13,000 works in a chronological tour covering art from the 15th to the 20th century. Temporary exhibitions are held regularly, along with numerous talks, guided tours, artistic workshops, events and meetings for all age groups and target audiences.

History

Since 2009, Orléans has been part of the French network of Ville et Pays d’art et d’histoire. Since 2018, the Fêtes de Jeanne d’Arc have been listed as France’s intangible cultural heritage. With ten days of festivities, they keep the memory alive and bring together civil, military and religious traditions.

The Hôtel Groslot is a Renaissance building with a red-brick façade, constructed from 1549 to 1558 for the town bailiff Jacques Groslot. It was initially a private residence; after the French Revolution, it was converted into Orléans town hall.

Construction of the Cathédrale Sainte-Croix began in 1287, and it was officially consecrated on 8 May 1829. A fun treasure hunt allows visitors to discover the cathedral, its history and its works over the course of time; it is available in two versions.

The Maison de Jeanne d’Arc is a half-timbered house reconstruction from the 1960s, based on the residence of Jacques Boucher, the duke of Orléans’s chief treasurer. He housed Joan of Arc during the siege of Orléans from 29 April to 9 May 1429. The Maison features a multimedia room with a panoramic film about the Hundred Years’ War, Joan of Arc’s life and her legacy in Orléans, as well as interactive stations, an illustrated timeline and a map of her historic route.

More local pages: La Bussière, Courtenay, La Selle-en-Hermoy, Lailly-En-Val, Ligny-Le Ribault, Châtenoy, Châtillon-Coligny, Gien

To the higher-level travel overview: Loiret.