Yes, travel insurance is worth carrying for a trip to Tours, even though the Loire Valley is among the gentler, lower-risk regions covered in this guide. France has excellent hospital care, and EU or UK visitors carry some baseline protection through reciprocal schemes, but the honest case for a standalone policy here is cost, trip disruption, and the cycling activity many visitors build their trip around rather than any unusual danger.
Whether your own health cover applies in France depends on your country of residence and specific plan; EU and UK travelers should check their EHIC or GHIC entitlement, and everyone else should check whether an existing plan extends abroad and to France before assuming it does. A standalone travel policy remains the simpler, more complete option for most visitors, regardless of what a reciprocal scheme technically covers.
Tours sits at the heart of chateaux country, and the Loire a Velo cycling route, which runs along the river past the region's famous castles, is a genuine and popular way to see the valley. Cycling injuries and equipment loss on a multi-day route are the practical risk here, and confirm your policy covers cycling as an activity and includes bike or equipment cover if you are renting or bringing your own.
The region sees heavier tourist traffic in the warmer months, roughly May through September, when chateaux and cycling routes are busiest and accommodation books up early; trip-delay and cancellation cover is worth checking if your itinerary depends on tightly scheduled chateaux visits or bike-route logistics. Keep any clinic paperwork and receipts if you need treatment, since French providers generally issue standard invoices on request, and check whether non-emergency treatment needs pre-approval under your policy before relying on a reciprocal health scheme that was never designed for a cycling holiday through chateaux country.