Loches is one of the finest medieval towns in the Loire Valley — and one of the least crowded. Perched on a ridge above the Indre river, its old quarter is dominated by a royal citadel that makes most other Loire chateaux look like country houses. This is a fortress in the proper sense: thick walls, towers, an 11th-century keep that has stood for a thousand years, and dungeons where enemies of the French crown were quietly forgotten.
The town below the citadel is charming and very much lived-in. The market square, the tangle of old streets, the Tour Saint-Antoine Renaissance belfry, and the Romanesque church of Saint-Ours with its unusual hollow pyramidal spires — Loches rewards an afternoon of wandering. It makes an excellent base for the southern Loire, with Chenonceau, Amboise, and Azay-le-Rideau all within easy reach.