Domaine de la Brèche

Once you’ve wrenched yourself from the site’s clutches, start your local wanderings with a trip to Saumur – it’ll take you 10 minutes in the car or half an hour by bike (which you can hire on site should you wish). The château, tank museum and Cadre Noir riding school are all worth a visit, as are the many excellent wine cellars. Get a taste of life underground by making the half-hour drive to the troglodyte village at Rochemenier, one of the country’s best preserved cave communities, with farm buildings, houses and a rock chapel to wander around. Peeps with a penchant for a castle or two have come to the right place – the Loire Valley is packed with them. The châteaux of Montreuil-Bellay, Brézé, Montsoreau and Ussé are all within a half-hour drive; if the kids are a bit meh on the idea of visiting, many can be seen from the water on a Loire canoe trip.