Visitor with a disability

Visitors with disabilities benefit from a reduced price as do their accompanying persons.

Two free reserved parking spaces are available near the reception building of the Fortress.

The Royal Fortress of Chinon is classified as a Historical Monument. Visiting conditions can be difficult:

  • Presence of paving stones and gravel in the park's pathways;
  • Many irregular steps in the towers;
  • Rooms in the towers with little light;
  • Some doors are low.

People with visual and motor disabilities must be accompanied.

Ask for the information booklet at the reception desk

The equipment at your disposal

  • Adaptation to improve the route of the visit.
  • After the reception building, the access ramp to the park is very steep. People in wheelchairs must be assisted. 
  • On request at the reception of the Fortress, it is possible to access the park by car to be dropped off near the Royal Dwellings. The accompanying driver of the vehicle can then return to park in the reserved spaces.
  • The sanitary facilities in the reception building are accessible to people with reduced mobility.
  • Portable folding seats are available along the tour route.
  • There are several benches in the park.
  • Two wheelchairs can be borrowed free of charge at the monument's reception desk.

The visits

  • Guided tours are offered every day. They take place in the park at ground level.
  • HistoPads (touch tablets) are distributed to all visitors. The Reduced Mobility mode allows people with motor disabilities to access all HistoPad content.
  • In the Fortress, several facilities to aid your visit are accessible to people in wheelchairs: models, actions and videos.

An easy to read and understand document with a map is given to you before the visit.

  • For the visit, your companion has a HistoPad. It is a touch tablet to see the Fortress as it was in the Middle Ages.
  • Several facilities to aid your visit, such as models and actions, are in the Fortress. You can touch them.
  • For groups with reservations, the Fortress's guides are at your disposal. They can offer you an adapted sensorial visit of 1 hour.

Guide dogs and assistance dogs are allowed to accompany you throughout the Fortress, including the interiors. 

The visits

  • HistoPad (tablets) are distributed to all visitors. The visually impaired mode allows visually impaired people to have access to audio commentary to replace written content. A magnifying glass can also be activated. 
  • In the Fortress, several facilities to aid your visit are available: map, models, reproductions of works and graffiti.
  • For groups with reservations, the Fortress's guides are at your disposal. They can offer you adapted tactile visits of 1 hour.

For the hearing impaired, an audio induction loop is installed at the monument's reception. People with hearing aids can switch to the "T" position. An amplifying headset can be lent to you.

The visits

  •  HistoPads (touch tablets) are distributed to all visitors. All the contents of the Histopad are to be read. There is no information to listen to.  
  • In the Fortress, several facilities to aid your visit are available: models, actions and videos. The videos are subtitled.
  • The Indre-et-Loire Departmental Council offers tours of its monuments and museums interpreted in French Sign Language. An interpreter is called in, accompanied by a guide from the Fortress. Visit subject to reservation, ask for information at the site.

Need more information? 

Contact Sébastien Rautureau,
"accessibility" specialist at the Royal Fortress of Chinon, +33 (0)2 47 31 47 32 or srautureau@departement-touraine.fr