Camping La Grande Tortue

Hire a bike and get out on your wheels in the site's woodland and Loire valley: the area around the site has 300 kilometres of trails around the region's châteaux and the peaceful and traditional villages. The local village Candé sur Beuvron is on the famed long-distance cycle path La Loire à Vélo, crossing France from east to west. From the site, take the signposted cycle track to Chaumont, Blois and Chambord, in the region between the Loire and Cher rivers where the kings of France came to hunt and where they built their world-famed castles. There are also hiking trails and horse tracks in the area, or you could get out onto the waters of the Loire as a boat passenger or as an adventurer in a hired canoe. If you seek châteaux, motor along to the fab Château de Chenonceaux spanning the waters of the Cher river just over 30 kilometres away: this famed French Renaissance palace is renowned for its traditional – and spectacular – gardens, which you can wander any day of the year. There's a wine cellar to investigate too, as well as a maze to potter around (while make believing you're competing in the Triwizard Tournament or about to battle a minotaur, natch). Another spectacular Loire Vallrey château, and also 30 kilometres away, is Château de Chambord, famed worldwide for its Renaissance style and its round towers. Or have another traditional time with a bumble around the town of Blois, 15 minutes' away, a riverside town with narrow streets lined with half-timbered houses.