Les Trois Chênes

In Gorron, 10 minutes by car, the Parc de Loisirs de la Colmont is a favourite stop for families. Zipwire your way through the tree-tops of this activity park, go paintballing or take a dinghy trip down the Colmont river. The park also has tennis courts and more varieties of golf than you ever thought possible... In larger but no less relaxed Mayenne, 20 minutes away by car, you can cycle beside the river, or hire yourself a boat. Fougères, meanwhile, (45 minutes' drive) has an impressive waterpark with flumes, chutes and rapids. There are fairytale chateaux to visit in Fougères and Mayenne, and the 14th-century stronghold at Lassay (25 minutes' drive) gets extra kid-kudos for its working drawbridge. In, and in some cases under, the village of Jublains, half an hour away by car, visitors can wander the extensive remains of a Roman settlement. Going back further in time (but a mere hour on the road...), Saulges has a network of prehistoric caves. In this part of France, day trips to Brittany's Atlantic coast are also very doable. The legendary island town and abbey of Mont St-Michel is an hour and a quarter away and historic Bayeux a little under two hours (though you might find the tapestry's gone on holiday to Britain...).