Puy Rond Camping

A drive of about 45 minutes from Camping Puy Rond will land you at the Marais-Poitevin, the vast green marshy wetland crisscrossed by canals and rivers and designated as a Regional Natural Park. The Marais-Poitevin is the biggest marsh on the Atlantic coast and the second biggest in all of France (after the Camargue), so plenty of options are around for trips on its water on a guided boat tour, or taking a punt yourself by hiring a boat from one of the several canalside piers. Fishing and cycling are also popular marshy picks. Loire castle land is also reachable in about 45 minutes: have a look at Château de Brézé, an 11th-century small castle with 30 hectares of vineyards (clanking souvenirs required, please) and the Château de Saumur nearby, a famed castle dating back to the tenth century and now with gardens, exhibits, the Museum of Decorative Arts and the Museum of the Horse. Also recommended by the Puy Rond team are ambles around Loire Valley villages such as Arcais; canoe trips on the Loire; the ruins of Benedictine Maillezais Abbey; the museums of Angers, the Japanese gardens of Maulevrier, and the vineyards of Anjou and Muscadet, to pick up topping wine as well as suitably smelly cheese.