©Château de Menetou-Salon｜Route Jacques Cœur

Château & Estate
de Menetou-Salon Residence of the Princes and Dukes of Arenberg

This magnificent château, the former residence of Jacques Coeur, King Charles VII’s great treasurer, is the private property of LL.AA.SS. the Prince and Princess of Arenberg. During your guided tour, you’ll discover the richly furnished interiors, the saddlery and the automobile collection. Your visit will conclude with an exclusive tasting of the Prince and Duc d’Arenberg cuvée.

Postal address: 2 rue du Prince Auguste d’Arenberg 18510 Menetou-Salon
Phone number: 02 48 64 80 54
E-mail: visites@chateau-menetou-salon.com

Getting there

What you'll love

A fascinating guided tour of the furnished Château

The Musée de l'Automobile with its prestigious car collections

©Château de Menetou-Salon｜Pixabay, Monica Volpin

Exclusive tasting of the Prince and Duc d'Arenberg cuvée

See all activities

PASS Privilège

Take advantage of over €95 in cumulative savings on all PASS member and partner sites, so you can visit at a smart price!

Château de Menetou-Salon Privilege Pass price: €8 instead of €10 for the visit

Activities

Guided tour only

Adults (17 and over): €10
Reduced admission: €8
Free admission (on presentation of proof): disabled persons, children under 7, Menetou-Salon residents.

Tour:

the château with its chapel,
the salon rouge,
library and dining room,
the saddlery,
the automobile museum + tasting of Domaine du Prince d’Arenberg wines (while stocks last).

Guided tour schedule

April: 19th to 21st, 26th to 27th

May: 1st to 4th, 8th to 11th, 17th to 18th, 24th to 25th, 29th to 31st

June, July and August: open every day except Tuesdays

September: every weekend

April to September: 10:30 am, 2 pm, 3:30 pm and 5 pm

Group tours

For groups of 20 or more:
Adults: €9/person
Schoolchildren: 7€/person

Less than 20 people:
Adult group package: €180
Children’s group package: €140

Tours suitable for groups, bookable all year round!

Duration: 1h30 (2h on site)

Information: by telephone on 02 48 64 80 54 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm) or by e-mail at visites@chateau-menetou-salon.com

Practical info

Annual opening hours
From April 19 to September 30 inclusive for individual visits:
APRIL
From 19th to 21st, from 26th to 27th
MAY
1st to 4th, 8th to 11th, 17th to 18th, 24th to 25th, 29th to 31st
JUNE – JULY – AUGUST
Open every day except Tuesdays
SEPTEMBER
Open every weekend
Opening hours: guided tours during public opening hours for individuals (10:30 am, 2 pm, 3:30 pm and 5 pm).
Tours suitable for groups, bookable all year round by telephone on 02 48 64 80 54 (Monday-Friday, 9am to 5pm) or by e-mail at visites@chateau-menetou-salon.com
Access and transport
15 km north of Bourges, on the D11.
By freeway (Autoroute A71: Paris/Clermont-Ferrand): Exit Bourges, D941 towards Montargis/Paris, at the Route de Paris traffic circle, turn right onto Route de Menetou-Salon and continue for 12km.
By train: Bourges SNCF station.
30 minutes from Bourges and Sancerre – GPS 47.23 – 2.48
Wine and wood sales
- Wine sales (winery)
- Firewood sales
Information by telephone on 02 48 64 80 54 or by e-mail at visites@chateau-menetou-salon.com
Means of payment
Cheque, credit card, cash, ANCV
Host languages
Visitors welcome in French and English.
Reduced rates (on presentation of proof of entitlement)
- Young people aged 7 to 16
- Students
- Jobseekers
- Large family card
- Route Jacques Cœur privilege pass
(click here to buy your Pass and benefit from reduced rates)
PMR accessibility
Motor disability: possibility of opening the gate by phoning in advance.
Ramp access to château by calling ahead.
Horse museum and tack room on the same level.
Contact us

Photo gallery

Find out more about the location

Menetou-Salon,
a time in the house of Sancerre

The land and seigneury of Menetou have belonged to the House of Sancerre since the 13th century.
Vines have been planted on this land since the 15th century.

Menetou-Salon,
property of Jacques Cœur

From around 1448 until their confiscation in 1456, the seigneury was owned by Jacques Coeur, treasurer to King Charles VII. The original building may date back to the 14th century, with an extension in the early 17th century (part of the basement kitchens and the west pavilion) then owned by the Pot de Rhodes family. The château was sold as a national asset in Year III (1791) and inherited by the d’Arenberg family in the early 19th century. In Histoire et statistique monumentale du département du Cher, Buhot de Kersers gives a description and image of the château before its total reconstruction at the end of the 19th century.

Château de Menetou-Salon, owned by the d'Arenberg family since the 19th century

Auguste d’Arenberg, a businessman and head of an immense fortune, enlarged the old château by adding a gallery to the first floor of the south façade. In 1877, he also had new stables and garages built below the château to the west, in the former farmyard, of which an early 17th-century dovecote has survived. Surveys and photographs taken by the architect Paul-Ernest Sanson, and preserved in the Archives Nationales, provide an image of the château before he intervened to rebuild it. The northeast corner tower now corresponds to the chevet of the chapel.

The square tower on the south facade has retained its original layout, as has the west pavilion, albeit completely reinterpreted in the neo-Louis XII style. These modest improvements in comfort did not satisfy the owner, who decided to have the château completely rebuilt as a comfortable family residence.

Please note

Completely rebuilt between 1884 and 1890, the château is in the neo-Gothic style typical of the late 19th century: the care taken with the sculptural details of the architecture(by sculptor Antoine Margotin), inspired by 15th-century Berru buildings, and in particular the Hôtel Jacques Cœur, enhances the prestigious character of this architecture. It’s also a reminder that for only5 years in the middle of the 15th century, this illustrious character owned the seigneury of Menetou-Salon.