Anjou
The highlight of this 12th-century abbey complex is the vast but movingly simple church, notable for its soaring pillars, Romanesque domes and polychrome…
Must-see attractions in Anjou
Anjou
One of the world's premier equestrian academies, the prestigious French National Riding School is home to the Cadre Noir, an elite group of riding…
Angers
Looming above the river, this forbidding medieval castle – seat of power of the once-mighty counts of Anjou – is ringed by moats, 2.5m-thick walls and 17…
Anjou
Owned by the Brissac family for 18 generations (since 1502), this seven-storey castle, the tallest in France, has 204 rooms, many of them sumptuously…
Musée Jean Lurçat et de la Tapisserie Contemporaine
Angers
Inspired by the Apocalypse Tapestry in the château, Jean Lurçat (1892–1966) began his epic tapestry masterpiece, Le Chant du Monde (Song of the World;…
Anjou
Brézé sits on top of a network of subterranean rooms and passages, 1.5km of them open to the public, that include a boulangerie, wine cellars, defensive…
Angers
One of the earliest examples of Angevin (Plantagenet) architecture in France, Gothic Cathédrale St-Maurice is distinguished by its striking Norman portal…
Anjou
Owned and lived in by the same Irish family and its descendants since 1749, this elegant Renaissance-style castle, built on medieval foundations, is…
Angers
Angers' austere, mainly 12th- to 13th-century cathedral has a striking Norman porch and nave (mid-1100s); the latter's three convex vaults, forming a…
Anjou
Housed in a one-time cigarette factory, this non-profit museum displays more than 200 blindés (tanks) and other military vehicles – some in working order …
Angers
Has a superior 14th- to 20th-century collection (mainly paintings) that ranges from French masters Ingres, Fragonard and Watteau to the Florentine Lorenzo…
Angers
The Angers-born sculptor Pierre-Jean David (1788–1856), aka David d’Angers, is renowned for his lifelike sculptures, which adorn public monuments such as…
Anjou
Soaring above the town’s rooftops, Saumur’s fairy-tale castle was largely built in the 13th century by Louis XI, and has served variously as a fortress…
Château de Montsoreau-Musée d’Art Contemporain
Anjou
Converted into a museum of conceptual art in 2016 – the focus is on the Art & Language movement – the Renaissance-style Château de Montsoreau, beautifully…
Anjou
Get acquainted with some fabulous fungi at this mushroom museum, where you can see about a dozen varieties growing in glowing shades of orange, yellow,…
Anjou
This is one of the last places in France producing the traditionally made dried apples known as pommes tapées. You can see displays on how it’s done,…
Anjou
This soaring, crenellated village church, built in the Gothic style from 1175 to 1240, venerates the spot where St Martin died in 397 and was buried for a…
Angers
The square in front of Cathédrale St-Maurice is linked to a new riverside esplanade (under construction in 2018) and a gourmet covered market (set to open…
Angers
Right behind Cathédrale St-Maurice stands the Maison d’Adam, one of the city’s best-preserved medieval houses (c 1500), which is decorated with a riot of…
Anjou
Founded in 1885, this winery specialises in Crémant de Loire (sparkling wine made using the Champagne-style méthode traditionelle) as well as non-bubbly…
Anjou
Domaine Filliatreau offers wine tasting inside the cliff face. Bottles of organic Saumur Chamipgny wines, some grown atop the nearby cliff, cost €8.60 to …
Anjou
Action-packed oil paintings, colourful but impractical uniforms, plumed helmets and old photos trace the history of France's cavalerie (cavalry) from 1445…
Anjou
Tufa-stone sculptures of 20 of the Loire Valley's most famous monuments, from Tours' cathedral to the château at Amboise, are displayed in a former tufa…
Anjou
Restored, cleaned and stabilised in 2016, this mostly 12th- and 13th-century church brings together Aquitaine-style Romanesque and Plantagenet (Anjou…
