Seventeen towers over the Maine — and the longest surviving medieval tapestry on earth

Priority entry past the ticket-office queue on your chosen date, plus the full visitor route: the Apocalypse Tapestry gallery, the rampart wall-walk and the seventeen drum towers, the royal residence (logis royal), the chapel and the gardens in the dry moat. We secure your date and send your e-ticket once you confirm.

It is dated, but not timed. You choose your visit date and the ticket is valid all that day — there is no arrival hour to pick, so you simply enter whenever suits you and explore at your own pace (you can even leave and come back the same day). Just tell us your preferred date when you book and we reserve it for you, so you walk straight in past the ticket-office queue.

It is the oldest and largest surviving narrative tapestry in the world, woven between 1373 and 1382 for Louis I, Duke of Anjou. Originally well over 100 metres long — around 840 square metres of woven wool — it depicts some sixty-seven scenes from the Book of Revelation, and is displayed in a long purpose-built gallery within the fortress. It was inscribed on UNESCO's Memory of the World register in 2023.

No. The fortress itself is not on the UNESCO World Heritage List. What carries a UNESCO distinction is the Apocalypse Tapestry housed inside it, which was inscribed on UNESCO's Memory of the World register in 2023 — a programme that recognises outstanding documentary and cultural heritage, distinct from the World Heritage List of monuments and sites.

Seventeen. The fortress is ringed by seventeen immense round drum towers set along a curtain wall roughly 500 metres in circumference, raised in the 13th century under Louis IX. Their dark schist and pale limestone banding gives the château its distinctive striped silhouette above the river Maine.

The great fortress was built in the 13th century under King Louis IX of France — Saint Louis — on a rocky promontory above the Maine that had been fortified far earlier. Later it became a residence of the Dukes of Anjou, for one of whom, Louis I, the Apocalypse Tapestry was woven in the 1370s and 1380s.

Allow about 2 hours. The Apocalypse Tapestry gallery alone deserves around an hour to an hour and a quarter, and beyond it you'll want time for the rampart wall-walk and towers, the royal residence, the chapel and the gardens laid out in the dry moat.

From 2 May to 4 September the château is open daily 10:00–18:30; from 5 September to 30 April it is open daily 10:00–17:30. It is closed on 1 January, 1 May and 25 December. Last admission is shortly before closing, so arrive with time to enjoy the tapestry and the ramparts.

By direct TGV from Paris-Montparnasse to Angers-Saint-Laud station takes about 1 hour 30 minutes. From the station the fortress is roughly a 15-minute walk, or a short tram or taxi ride, putting Angers comfortably within reach for a day trip from Paris.

Yes. A wall-walk runs along the top of the curtain wall and towers, giving panoramic views over the river Maine, the rooftops of Angers and the country beyond. It is one of the highlights of the visit and is included in your ticket, though it does involve stairs and uneven historic surfaces.

Yes. We issue an e-ticket that you present on your phone at the entrance — there's no need to print it. Have it ready to show on your chosen date, and our concierge team is on call if anything needs sorting on the day.

Partly. The inner courtyard, the gardens and the tapestry gallery can largely be reached on the level, but the rampart wall-walk and some towers involve stairs and uneven medieval surfaces. Contact us before booking if mobility is a concern and we will confirm the current accessible route and any assistance the site offers.

Photography is permitted in most parts of the château without flash or a tripod. The Apocalypse Tapestry gallery is kept deliberately dim to protect the fragile textiles, so photography there may be limited or discouraged. Outside, the great drum towers from the moat and the view over the Maine from the wall-walk are the signature shots.

Within the deep dry moat that rings the fortress, gardens have been laid out below the towering walls — formal beds and greenery sheltered by the ramparts — and deer are sometimes kept there. It's an unexpected, peaceful contrast to the military bulk of the walls above, and a pleasant part of the visit included in your ticket.

Yes. Admission to the Apocalypse Tapestry gallery is included in the standard château ticket — there is no separate charge for it. The single ticket covers the whole visitor route: the tapestry, the ramparts and towers, the royal residence, the chapel and the moat gardens.

If you need to move to a different visit date, reply to your confirmation email as early as you can and our concierge team will do its best to adjust the booking with the operator wherever its calendar allows. The earlier you tell us, the more options there usually are.

The Château d'Angers is a vast medieval fortress in the city of Angers, at the western edge of the Loire valley, built in the 13th century under Louis IX of France. Ringed by seventeen immense round drum towers along a curtain wall some 500 metres around, it rises above the river Maine in dramatic bands of dark schist and pale stone. Behind its military walls lie a royal residence, a chapel and gardens set in the deep dry moat — and, above all, the Apocalypse Tapestry: the oldest and largest surviving narrative tapestry in the world, woven in the 1370s and 1380s for Louis I, Duke of Anjou, and inscribed on UNESCO's Memory of the World register in 2023. A visit combines the medieval architecture and rampart views with one of the supreme masterpieces of medieval art.

Very much so. Angers is about 1 hour 30 minutes from Paris-Montparnasse by direct TGV, and the fortress is a short walk from the station, which makes it a comfortable day trip. The château combines a colossal medieval fortress — seventeen towers and a wall-walk with sweeping views over the Maine — with the Apocalypse Tapestry, a six-century-old masterpiece you can see nowhere else. Allow about two hours for the château itself, and the historic city centre, cathedral and riverside add easily to a full day. Reserve your visit date in advance so you can plan your train and walk straight in past the queue — the ticket is valid all that day, so there's no fixed arrival time to hit.