
Canals and Castles of Montargis from Orléans
Orléans → Montargis
Trip Overview
A full-day trip from Orléans to Montargis covering 9 attractions in approximately 12h 54min. The plan includes public transit from Orléans, step-by-step routes between stops, and entrance fees from €15 per person. Compare public transit & car with costs for each leg.
You can adjust traveller details and see a full cost breakdown below.
Montargis, often called the Venice of the Gâtinais for its web of canals threading between half-timbered houses, makes a rewarding day trip just over an hour east of Orléans. The day begins at the Girodet Museum, housed in the elegant Hôtel Durzy, where Neoclassical and Romantic canvases fill airy renovated galleries, before a stroll through the adjacent Durzy Park with its giant sequoias. A walk along the Briare Canal — one of Europe's oldest summit-level waterways — leads past the Victor Hugo Footbridge, an 1891 iron structure built by the Eiffel firm, and into the Franco-Chinese Friendship Museum, which tells the little-known story of young Chinese revolutionaries, including Deng Xiaoping, who lived here in the 1920s. The Fishery Quarter's narrow waterways and leaning facades set the scene for a stop at Maison Mazet, the confectionery that gave the world the word praline in 1636, while the 12th-century Church of Sainte-Marie-Madeleine and the hilltop ruins of the Royal Castle round out the day with Lobin stained glass and panoramic views. The Girodet and Franco-Chinese museums are closed on Tuesdays; the castle is open for guided tours only from April to November.
Your Day Timeline — Canals and Castles of Montargis from Orléans
Your Day Timeline — Walk in Montargis
--:--

Girodet Museum
The Girodet Museum occupies the Hôtel Durzy, a 19th-century mansion in central Montargis, and houses one of France's most complete collections dedicated to painter Anne-Louis Girodet-Trioson (1767-182…
Click to expand & select ticket
--:--

Durzy Park
Parc Durzy is a historic public park in the center of Montargis, established in 1862 on grounds bequeathed to the city by a local citizen named Durzy. The park surrounds the former Hôtel Durzy mansion…
--:--

Briare Canal
The Briare Canal is one of the oldest summit-level canals in Europe, stretching 57 km from Montargis to the Loire River at Briare. Commissioned by King Henry IV in 1604 and completed in 1648, it was t…
--:--
Lunch Break
--:--

Victor Hugo Footbridge
A graceful metal pedestrian footbridge spanning the Canal de Briare in Montargis, built in 1891 by the Entreprise Eiffel — the same engineering firm behind the Eiffel Tower. The bridge features a dist…
--:--

Franco-Chinese Friendship Historical Museum
This small museum in a 300-year-old townhouse documents a chapter of 20th-century history that few outside China know about. Between 1919 and 1921, around 100 young Chinese intellectuals settled in Mo…
Click to expand & select ticket
--:--

Fishery Quarter
The Fishery Quarter is the oldest and most photogenic district in Montargis, a small city in the Loiret department known as the "Venice of the Gâtinais" for its network of canals and 131 footbridges.…
--:--
Prasline House - Mazet
Maison de la Prasline is a historic confectionery boutique in the center of Montargis, operated by Mazet Confiseur since 1903. The shop sells the Prasline de Montargis, a caramelized almond confection…
--:--

Montargis Church of Saint Mary Magdalene
This 12th-century parish church, first documented in 1142, stands within the former feudal castle grounds of Montargis. A fire in 1525 destroyed much of the building, and the choir was rebuilt in a ha…
--:--

Royal Castle of Montargis
The Royal Castle of Montargis sits on a promontory above the Loing river, once ranked among the three principal residences of the Kings of France. Built from the 12th century onward, the fortress was…
Click to expand & select ticket

