Loire Valley travel guide

There are so many places to visit in the Centre - Val de Loire region that once you have sampled the experience you'll want to return time and time again. It's the perfect place for your holiday in France...and it's more than just Loire Valley chateaux.

Here the rich landscape offers great rivers, vibrant cities like Orleans and Tours, historical medieval towns such as Chinon and Loches, beautiful villages like Montresor, natural parks in La Brenne and Anjou, some of the best wines of France and a host of local delicacy's. There is a plethora of festivals throughout the year to give you a taste of the region's unique culture and heritage.

The area also has been touched by many historical figures from Richard the Lionheart to Joan of Arc and Leonardo de Vinci. It has also inspired poets and novelists for centuries, with some of its native sons, such as Rabelais and Balzac, using the area as a setting their works.

The Loire River (the longest in France) is the thread that binds this area together but its tributaries of the Cher, the Vienne, the Indre and other rivers in the region such as the Creuse and the Claise give an added dimension to the region by providing attractive valleys and landscapes to stimulate interest. You are in an area where you can be on a plateau with what seems like endless horizons, surrounded by sunflowers, in a deep valley, in dense forest, by a mighty river and always where your eye will be drawn to something of interest. You can be happy just driving the wonderful roads (where a lot of French taxpayers money must go!) stopping at any one of hundreds of pretty towns and villages that the region has to offer.

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By sharing our knowledge of the Loire valley we will help you get the most out of your visit to what is popularly referred to as 'the garden of France'. We do of course include a list of the major chateau of the region, how could we not, including the gems that are Chenonceau, Chambord, Azay-le-Rideau, Blois and Villandry, plus the cities towns and villages of greatest interest - the region has 8 of the 'Les Beaux Villages de France' - the most beautiful villages in France within its boundaries.

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Where exactly is the Val de Loire?

What region of France is the Loire Valley in?

The term 'loire valley' if used correctly could refer to an area of over 1000km, as this is the length of the Loire river from its source in the springs on the side of Mont Gerbier de Jonc in the southern Cevennes hills within the department of the Ardeche to its destination on the Atlantic coast at Nantes. This site concentrates on the stretch of the river as shown on the map below plus the additional departments (think counties or states) of Eure-et-Loir, Cher and Indre within the Centre/Val de Loire region. The department ofDepartment of Inre-et-Loire,France Indre et Loire was the former province of Touraine and the area is still referred to, using this historical name, for marketing purposes through the local tourist boards. We have also included the department of Maine-et -Loire (Anjou) in Pays de Loire as it forms part of the UNESCO world heritage site.