For gourmets
Several farms offer to taste their local products (pommeau, apple juice and ciders, rillettes and rillauds, their cheeses and poultry). Association of Terre d’Anjou local producers.
We recommend the guided visit of the famous Distillerie Cointreau in Angers.
Enjoy a succulent meal of ‘fouaces’ in one of the troglodytic restaurants on your way to Saumur.
For horse lovers
Visit the National Stud Farm in le Lion d’Angers (visits year round, www.lelion-hn.com to get information).
Visit the Cadre Noir riding school in Saumur and discover the secrets of dressage in prestigious shows. International competitions of trick-riding. www.cadrenoir.fr
For nature lovers
The Loire Valley is a garden in itself with a climate allowing species from all over the world to flourish. The attraction park Terra Botanica is worth a visit for families and garden lovers www.terrabotanica.fr
Make a trip to the Far-East at the Parc Oriental in Maulévrier, near Cholet. It is the largest Japanese garden in Europe and invites visitors to peaceful meditation . www.parc-oriental.com
Unusual and pleasant, the 19th century kitchen garden and its collection of cucurbitaceous plants at the Montriou Castle, near Écuillé.
For romantic souls
Take a stroll in May around Doué-la Fontaine and its unending fields of roses.
Cartesian minds, head for le château du Pin, remarkable for its 18 levels and its 48 pruned yew-trees.
And to take your first step toward our natural medicines, pay a visit to Camifolia, the Medicinal Plant Garden in Chemillé. Regular meetings for experts in horticulture around Angers, Saumur and Cholet, from March to October.
For history and traditional crafts lovers
- La Mine Bleue : a visit unique in Europe. Go for a journey 126 metres underground to experience life as a miner at the turn of the 20th century.
- Watermills and windmills, museums and farms display some aspects of local crafts in the Segré area. Two 19th-century windmills and a watermill are open to the public .
- Are worth a visit : “La Maison de la Rivière” in Châteauneuf-sur-Sarthe, retracing the years of water transport and crafts as well as the “Musée du Granit ” in Bécon-les-Granits and a museum dedicated to hemp production in Montjean-sur-Loire.
- Not to be missed: the village of Les Rairies, famous for its six hundred-year production of floor tiles for stately houses and Châteaux de la Loire, still in operation.
For families
- “Le Domaine de la Petite Couère” in Nyoiseau is an open-air museum allowing visitors to experience life at the beginning of the 20th century, with its old merry-go-rounds and its collections of old tractors and cars.
- “Les Machines de l’île” in Nantes are a blend of Jules Verne’s imaginary universe, of Leonardo Da Vinci’s mechanical creations and of industrial history’s inventions.
- In Le Fuilet, “La Maison du Potier” welcomes visitors wishing to discover the secrets of clay pottery.
- The “Refuge de l’Arche” in Château-Gontier provides shelter to sick, wounded or abandoned animals, either tropical or local. Children and parents alike will love it. Open all year round.
www.refuge-arche.org
For sports lovers
A 12-mile cross-country ride in Noyant-la Gravoyère (red in the classification).
Safely try your first scuba-diving lesson with a qualified instuctor in Bécon-les Granits, in the waters of the former stone-quarry.
Also discover the activities on the spot, in Candé and nearby !