Loire Valley Llama Farm Stay

Petrolheads will be pleased to find themselves around 40 minutes from Le Mans, home of the famed 24 Hours race, regular car and truck meets and a substantial museum. Those tempted by the roar of engines and the smell of burning rubber can have a go on the go-karting track next door. For a quieter and carbon-neutral kind of travelling, it’s also a 40-minute trip into Tours, where you can hire bikes and link up with the 900-kilometre La Loire à Vélo cycling route, taking bikers past vineyards, châteaux, troglodyte villages and finally down to the Atlantic Ocean. On wheels or on foot, Tours makes a top spot for a day trip with its fine art museum, 11th-century château and lively food market; head to the latter then down to the Parc de St Radegonde for a riverside picnic. The equally elegant river towns and châteaux of Blois, Amboise and Saumur are all around an hour away. If you enjoyed your time with the llamas, zip over to Zoo de la Flèche (40 minutes) to meet more wildlife, including bears, hippos and dolphins, or get in touch with your own inner dolphin on Papéa Park’s slides, chutes and log flumes, also 40 minutes away. For more watery antics, including swimming, fishing and messing about in boats, make for the lake and the leisure base at Mansigné, half an hour away.