Loire Valley (France)

I have visited France with my family several times in the last 8 years but we have always stayed by the coast. This year we thought we would like a change so we decided to venture into the Loire Valley. I must admit I didn't do a lot of research before I made the booking so I opted for an area that looked easy to get too and then opted for a caravan site that looked promising. The Loire Valley is in fact separated into several departments and we were actually staying in the Anjou region, very close to Touraine, the closest large town was Saumur. We sailed overnight to St Malo and then found we had an easy drive down to our destination of about 5 hours. Due ...  Read the complete review

When I think of the Loire Valley, I think of one of the most enjoyable Family "touristy" days i've ever had. Sometimes, when we go on holiday with our families, we can have a good time together, but there is always something missing isn't there? How often have you been vacationing somewhere gorgeous where you waste hours and hours everyday arguing amoungst your family about "where to go", and "what to do"? Or, how many times have you gotten into a little skirmish with someone your travelling with? What about when you were sick that one time and had to stay at your hotel/villa, and your family went sightseeing without you. Then it ...  Read the complete review

The reason that I have not written a review for a while is that I have quite happily been on holiday! My destination was France, in the Loire Valley which I have been to a couple of times before but after a stressful year at work, I really needed this break! The Loire Valley is known as the Garden of France and take my word for it; there is no better phrase for this beautiful region which I would gladly go to again and again. The Loire Valley region is in the north west of France and has some of the prettiest villages and attractions in all of France. The first point to make is that this place is not for those who like action packed holidays, it is a very relaxed ...  Read the complete review

Where is the best place in France to get away from it all, to slip off for a few days (or a few weeks, or months), perhaps to your second (or third, or fourth) home? With a country so rich in attractive regions, this could be regarded as a tough question, but the kings of the Valois dynasty in the late 15th and early 16th Centuries were in no doubt about their answer. They picked on the lower valley of the Loire, and in particular the stretch between Orleans and Tours, to site their out-of-town chateaux and hunting-lodges. Where they led the court naturally followed, and soon any ambitious aristocrat felt the need to have a prestigious pied-a-terre nearby ...  Read the complete review