Centre - Val de Loire
Centre-Val de Loire: Châteaux splendor, picturesque vineyards, and the regal Loire River converge in a region steeped in French elegance.
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Centre – Val de Loire
The hilly region Centre – Val de Loire is located south of Paris. The landscapes are composed of huge grain fields, large meadows, forests and vineyards with lakes and rivers. The Loire River crosses the departments of Loiret, Loir-et-Cher and Indre-et-Loire from east to west. The central part of the Loire Valley between Sully-sur-Loire and Chalonnes-sur-Loire, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This is a particularly interesting area to explore with many historical sites and castles of the Renaissance like Chambord, Blois, Amboise, Cheverny and Chenonceau, of which you can also admire the beautiful gardens. Here you can enjoy world-class wines like Touraine, Vouvray, Montlouis, Bourgueil and Chinon. The dry white wines of the Loire Valley like the Pouilly-Fumé go particularly well with the goat cheese which is produced in the region: Crottin de Chavignol, the Valençay and the Chabichou du Poitou. Other culinary specialties are nettle soup, carp, Pithivier (an almond cake), quince jelly, tarte tatin Lamotte-Beuvron and Montargis pralines with almonds, honey and saffron.
These treats will give you enough energy to discover the beautiful landscapes of the region during your walks or your horse riding tours. Be sure to browse the Perche Regional Park or go to Brenne to discover the largest forest in France, the Fôret d’Orléans, the sources close to Aulnay and former hunting area the Sologne with its golf courses. If you like golf, you can also visit the Château de Maintenon. If you are a keen cyclist, take the Loire route which leads through small country roads and vineyards of Sancerre and Pouilly-sur-Loire. The regional section of the route to Santiago de Compostela leads past the cathedral in Chartres and the abbey in Vendome.
During your stay you can also spend a day in the picturesque towns of Lavardin, Candes-Saint-Martin, Crissay-sur-Manse or Montresor. Worth seeing are also the historical places Vierzon, Issoudun, Argenton-sur-Creuse, Châteaudun and Châteauroux with the Franciscan monastery. In addition, the region has several cathedrals like the ones in Tours, Bourges and Orleans, the city that was once freed from the hands of the English by Joan of Arc.