File:Blois_Loire_Panorama_-_July_2011.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

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Blois

Also known as Ville de Blois, Blesum

Blois ( ; ) is a commune and the capital city of Loir-et-Cher department, in Centre-Val de Loire, France, on the banks of the lower Loire river between Orléans and Tours.

OverviewAI-generated

Blois is a city and commune in France, situated in the Loir-et-Cher department within the Centre-Val de Loire region. It serves as the capital of the arrondissement of Blois, the canton of Blois-5, and the Loir-et-Cher department. The town is located next to the Loire river and shares borders with Fossé, Chailles, La Chaussée-Saint-Victor, and Saint-Gervais-la-Forêt.

With an area of 37.46 square kilometers, Blois has a population of 49,778. The elevation above sea level is recorded as 135 meters. The city is twinned with Weimar, Urbino, Waldshut-Tiengen, and Lewes. Its official postal code is 41000, and it operates in the Europe/Paris timezone.

Synthesized by Vinony from 50 facts across 7 sources: Wikidata, Open Meteo, Openweathermap, OpenStreetMap, GeoNames, Vinony graph, Geo. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Weather now

cached 12h ago

14°scattered clouds

71% 3.3 m/s OpenWeatherMap

7-day forecast

via Open-Meteo

Place details

Locality: Blois
Region: Centre-Val de Loire
Country: France
Population: 53,660
Timezone: Europe/Paris

via OpenStreetMap · GeoNames

Air quality

48US AQIGood

PM2.5: 4.7 µg/m³
PM10: 8.4 µg/m³

As of 2026-08-11 02:00 · Open-Meteo

Key facts

French commune.name: Blois
French commune.native name: Ville de Blois
French commune.commune status: Prefecture and commune
French commune.image: Blois Loire Panorama - July 2011.jpg
French commune.caption: Panoramic view of Blois on the Loire river, from Vienne, on the left bank
French commune.arrondissement: Blois
French commune.canton: Blois-1, 2 and 3 and Vineuil
French commune.image coat of arms: Blason de Blois.png
French commune.INSEE: 41018
French commune.postal code: 41000
French commune.mayor: Marc Gricourt
French commune.party: PS
French commune.term: 2020–2026
French commune.intercommunality: CA Blois Agglopolys
French commune.elevation m: 73
French commune.elevation min m: 63
French commune.elevation max m: 135
French commune.area km2: 37.46

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of: city
Official name: Blois
Demonym: blésoise
Country: France
Located in: Loir-et-Cher
Population: 46813
Area: 37.46
Elevation: 101
Time zone: UTC+02:00
Body of water: Loire
Official website: www.blois.fr
Image: 00 2407 Cathédrale Saint-Louis de Blois.jpg

Show 17 more facts

postal code: 41000
topic's main category: Category:Blois
twinned administrative body: Q794128
Commons category: Blois
category for people born here: Category:Births in Blois
category for people who died here: Category:Deaths in Blois
category of associated people: Category:People from Blois
Commons gallery: Blois
described by source: Encyclopædia Britannica 11th edition
native label: Blois
male population: 21820
female population: 24266
social media followers: 5521
contact page URL: www.blois.fr/contact
phone number: +33-2-54-44-50-50
P12749: Tanauan
Mastodon instance URL: actu.blois.fr

Sources (9)

via Wikidata · CC0

Travel guide

Get in

Blois is easily reached from Tours or Orléans by train. Tours and Orléans are both easy to reach from Paris with the TGV.

Get around

Local bus operator Azalys connects various points around Blois. Buses accept payment by cash, or by the Azalys rechargeable card or app. A one-hour ticket with cash costs €1.25 (Sep 2022).

See

thumb|300px|Royal Château de Blois

Do

thumb|Château de Blois - Façade des Loges The view of the Loire from the place de chateau is just spectacular. From there you can see the two largest churches and a sea of houses in the color scheme of the region (bluish gray, brick and cream). As spectacular is the chateau itself.

Sleep

Hotel du Bellay has inexpensive, basic rooms and is close to the chateau.

TourHotel has budget accommodation with free Wi-Fi.

Go next

Amboise Chambord Cheverny Orleans Tours

Travel guide from Wikivoyage (CC BY-SA 4.0)

~31 min read

Encyclopedic overview

32 sections

Contents

History
Pre-history
Ancient times
Middle Ages
Renaissance era
Early modern era
Contemporary era
Population
Landmarks and tourism
Château of Blois
House of Magic
Louis-XII Place and Fountains
Comics Museum
Former Hôtel-Dieu
Former Poulain Chocolate Factory
Denis-Papin Staircase
Town Hall and Bishopric Gardens
Hôtels Particuliers and Timber Framing Houses
Blois-Vienne and the Loire river
Religious buildings
Climate
Transport
Personalities linked to Blois
Historical and political figures
Artists
Artisans
Intellectuals
Sportspersons
International relations
Fictional references
References
External links

Blois ( ; ) is a commune and the capital city of Loir-et-Cher department, in Centre-Val de Loire, France, on the banks of the lower Loire river between Orléans and Tours.

With 47,219 inhabitants in 2023, Blois is the most populated city of the department, and the 4th of the region.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Blois” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.