Château de Chenonceau: a new enriched audio guide to explore the gardens and the estate in a whole new way

Already a pioneer in cultural interpretation, the Château de Chenonceau, known as the "château of the ladies", takes a new step forward in 2024 with the launch of a new version of its downloadable audio guide, enriched with a brand-new tour dedicated to the estate's historic gardens, produced in partnership with Sycomore.

New for 2024: the gardens narrated in audio

For the first time, visitors can discover Chenonceau's emblematic gardens through an entirely new audio-guided tour, accessible directly from their smartphone. This major update reflects a desire to showcase the 140-hectare park that stretches along both banks of the Cher. The audio tour includes:

• The Garden of Diane de Poitiers, a 16th-century masterpiece of symmetrical harmony, raised to withstand floods and adorned with a central pool and geometric parterres;
• The Garden of Catherine de' Medici, more intimate, composed of five lawned panels punctuated by boxwood spheres around a refined pool;
• The garden in tribute to Russell Page, with a botanical selection conceived in homage to the famous landscape designer, enriched with sculptures by François-Xavier Lalanne;
• The flower kitchen garden, dedicated to supplying the château's restaurant and the floral workshop;
• The physic garden (medicinal and aromatic plants) and the green garden, planted with remarkable trees since the 19th century;
• The hedge maze, especially popular with families.

Each space is presented with contextualized audio commentary, accompanied by current and archival photographs, maps of the estate and seasonal illustrations.

An audio guide to download before or during the visit

The new version complements the existing interpretation offer: until now, visitors could enjoy a tour of the château available in 12 languages for adults and in French and English for younger audiences. All content is now available as a free download on the iOS and Android stores.

Visitors can choose between two tour formats: downloading the château's official app onto their own smartphone, or using an M-Guide multimedia guide provided on site for immediate use. The digital format makes it possible to prepare the visit in advance, enjoy a self-guided tour without the constraints of collecting or returning equipment, and choose from several tailored contents: the adult tour, the children's tour and now the garden tour. Offline mode guarantees uninterrupted listening without network coverage during the visit.

Interpretation designed for the entire estate

Extending the audio-guided tour to the outdoor spaces reflects a clear ambition: to make the estate as a whole a space for cultural interpretation. The gardens become fully fledged interpretive spaces, where history, landscape, botany and architecture converse through the seasons. Visitors also discover the 16th-century farm, its historic buildings, the kitchen garden and the floral workshop where the arrangements that adorn the château are created.

A lasting collaboration with Sycomore

For several years, the Château de Chenonceau has trusted Sycomore to support it in designing its visitor tools. This new version illustrates its tailor-made approach: an intuitive app compatible with contemporary mobile habits, content written, scripted and produced for different visitor profiles, and an agile, scalable and multilingual solution (available in French and English, soon to be extended to other languages).

With this new version of its audio guide, Chenonceau offers far more than a simple visit: an immersive audio and visual journey into the living history of the place, from the château to the gardens.