Brissac Chateau, Brissac-Quince

Windsurfing, Stand-Up paddleboarding, Catamaran sailing and Kayak tours ranging from half day to several days can be taken with this canoe and kayak company based on the Ile Millocheau in Saumur.

This train dating from 1950s travels from Thoré to Trôo taking in troglodyte dwellings, Saint-Rimay tunnel, the town of Montoire and Varennes and more.

This relatively new course, set in beautiful Saumur, is a pleasant 9-hole round if you're searching for a change from historical monuments and châteaux.

Take in the magnificent scenery of the Loire by air in a hot air balloon. Offering a number of different tours and launch sites along the Loire river, what better way to take in the châteaux from up above where their size and splendour can really be seen.

Bateaux Nantais offers cruises along the river Erdre or the river Loire on their modern and sleek boats. Particularly popular are their lunch or dinner cruises and their themed evenings.

Balloon Revolution offer flights over the Touraine region of the Loire Valley allowing you to discover its beautiful châteaux from the sky. Usually launching from the grounds of one of the châteaux, it's an unforgettable experience.

This excellent restaurant in Tours was named after the original chef and serves gastronomic delights from a contemporary ambitious menu. The talented Hervé Lussault now heads up the kitchen and was awarded a Michelin star in 1998. Lussault is also famed for his excellent bread. The restaurant is light and spacious, feeling luxurious and warm, and has a lovely garden for when the weather permits.

This fondue house and chocolatier has been running since 1913 serving pastries, macaroons and wonderful hand-made chocolates in its tea house. You can attend a chocolate-making demonstration and workshop.

Sample their gourmet burgers, inventive salads, sweet & savoury pancakes and delicious sundaes.

This modern restaurant is located at the top of an art gallery and its floor-to-ceiling glass windows and terrace offer great views of the quays. Simple white chic tables and chairs with dark walls and a splash of colour give this place a fun trendy feel. The cuisine is modern European, with lots of excellent fish dishes.

This restaurant located at the south gate in the grounds of the Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire offers a refined and inventive cuisine which is created around the theme of the annual garden festival. Only open from April.

This cute traditional French restaurant in Blois serves good quality food on, as the name suggests, red benches! The dishes are innovative and work well, and the is atmosphere charming.

One of the most incredible fortress-style châteaux in the Loire Valley, the Château d'Angers overlooks the Maine river. Though earlier buildings on the site were inhabited by the Romans, today's château was built in the 14th century for Louis IX. In the 14th century, its owner commissioned the Apocalypse Tapestry depicting stories from the medieval Book of Revelation; at 140 metres it was the longest tapestry in the world. Approximately 100 metres of it remain and are on display in the château which houses a museum containing of the oldest medieval tapestries in the world.

The cathedral in Angers dates back to the middle of the 12th century and is built in a Romanesque style with some Gothic elements. It has three spires, the highest reaching some 75 metres up towards the sky. Its windows have some excellent stained glass originals dating from the 13th and 14th centuries, notably that of Saint Julian in the transept.

Named in honour of Saint Martin of Tours, this site contains an archaeological crypt which was excavated at the turn of the 20th century. The collegiate church and adjacent chapel date to the second half of the 12th century and are mainly Gothic in style. Left to decay for many years, the Collégiale Saint-Martin was subject to an extensive work in the late 20th century and has now been restored to its former glory.

This incredible Gothic hospital was constructed in the 12th century for Etienne de Marsay, a chief officer of King Henry II. It is the oldest hospital in existence in France and is an outstanding piece of Angevin history. The former orphanage on the same site is now home to the Jean Lurçat museum which houses further tapestries depicting the Apocalypse.

The Terra Botanica opened in 2010 and is a theme park offering interaction with the plant world. With gardens, aquatic areas, greenhouses as well as its interactive attractions, this is a fun and educational day out. It has 4D cinema shows, tree-top trips in pedal-powered shuttles, themed trails and river cruise trips. Covering domestic, rare and mysterious plants alike, this park makes you the paleo-botanist for the day.

These incredible underground caves were excavated as quarries in the 18th century and were once homes as well as storage locations for the mushrooms which were also grown in the caves. The cathedral-shaped rooms give these caves an impressive resplendent feel. Covering over four acres, some rooms reach up to 50 metres in height.