Sights in La Loire

With its majestic keep and protective drawbridge, the Château du Rivau seems to come straight out of a fairytale. Its square layout is that of a 13th century fortified château. The square shaped keep was the heart of the château's fortification. Yet the Rivau was one of the first ornamental châteaux to be built: its cheminées, wide windows and frescos endow it with a harmonious style. In the dining hall, a biblical episode of the Feast of Belshazzar is depicted over the mantelpiece by a Flemish master of the 16th century. The château's gardens were directly inspired by medieval tales and folklore. The château also has a permanent art exhibition in its gardens.

Built on the river Cher, the Château de Chenonceau is the epitome of beauty. Château des Dames, as it is recorded in the French history books, owes a large part of its charm to women.

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.

Dating back to the 14th century, this Renaissance château was home to many royal mistresses. Nowadays it is visited more for its beautiful grounds which include a vegetable garden with a massive 650 varieties of tomato, the contemporary and colourful Dalhia garden and a medicinal garden. It is possible to stay in the château and take cookery classes there.

Founded in the 11th century, this priory has long been a place where pilgrims took shelter en route to Santiago de Compostela. In the 16th century Pierre de Ronsard, the French Renaissance poet, became the prior - the priory still features the prior's house with de Ronsard's workroom. The rose gardens pay an appropriate homage to the poet who is buried in the church apse.

This 15th century Gothic cathedral was built on the site of an earlier Romanesque cathedral. Taking nearly 500 years to complete, it was immaculately restored following a fire in the 1970s. Its crypt contains the tombs of François II, Duke of Brittany and his wife Marguerite de Foix.

Home to Leonardo da Vinci during his final years, this house was built in the 15th century and was a gift to da Vinci from King François I. The death of Leonardo da Vinci, on 2nd May 1519, marked the end of an era in the history of the Château du Clos Lucé. Today the château is a listed monument and has been restored in an authentic style, displaying an impressive collection of da Vinci's inventions and machines.

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 impressive château looks down onto the small village of Talcy, and dates back to the 16th century. It has a medieval feel and original 18th century interior covered with tapestries and paintings. Its grounds house an orchard of apples and pears.

This emblematic monument and its landscaped gardens offer one of the most remarkable panoramas of the Loire Valley. A regal heritage, the Château d'Amboise has been home to Charles VII, Louis XI and Charles VIII. The château is registered as a World Heritage site by UNESCO. Still incredibly impressive, the current buildings are just one fifth of the original palace which was destroyed and neglected over the years. Leonardo da Vinci is buried in the Chapel of Saint-Hubert in the château's grounds.

This war fortress was built in the late 11th century and became one of the most impressive residential châteaux in the Loire Valley during the Renaissance. Dismantled during the French Revolution, the château turned into a village district and, in the 1950s, the gallery became a museum to the history of Grand-Pressigny. The museum charts history from the 6th to the 21st century, noting key archaeological features including the use of the regional flint stone.

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.

With one of the largest collections of tanks in Europe, this museum charts the history of the development of this armoured fighting vehicle. It's a must for military history enthusiasts as it contains good international examples and demonstrates technological advances through the years. Although you may only view around a couple of hundred tanks, the museum actually holds over 800!

On the Ile de Nantes, which has been transformed in recent years, this gallery in the old shipbuilding area features the mechanical designs of François Delarozière and Pierre Orefice whose imaginations were inspired by the works of Jules Verne. The huge moving urban sculptures, such as the Great Elephant and the Branch of the Heron Tree, are open for the public to experience, though bookings are required as they are extremely popular.

Overlooking the crossroads of the three provinces of Anjou, Poitou and Touraine, the rocky spur upon which the royal fortress of Chinon stands is a strategic and much coveted location that has been occupied since Roman times. There has been a castle on the site since at least the 10th century when Theobald the Trickster, Count of Blois, built a tower there. But it was not until 1154 that Henry II, Count of Anjou and King of England, set the fortress on the road to its present grandeur. The fortress began its fall into decay in the 17th century, under the ownership of Cardinal Richelieu. Now, after four years of restoration work on a scale unprecedented elsewhere in Europe, the fortress has the military splendour and cohesiveness that it enjoyed in bygone days.

The lovely Château du Moulin was built in the late 15th century for Phillipe du Moulin, a friend of Charles VIII. It is an architectural gem in a mix of Renaissance and Gothic styles and is surrounded by a classical moat. This romantic dark stone château, hidden in the forest, is still inhabited.

This town is almost as crazy about horses as it is about wine. This museum describes the history of the French cavalry - though you might notice that not all French achievements, or otherwise, are alluded to in the museum!