Camping Le Parc de Vaux

Start stays in Ambrières-les-Vallées with a visit to the museum of the weavers (Musée des Tisserands) and a stop at Fieudière discovery farm to feed calves and meet the rabbits, chicken and goats. For animal encounters of a different sort, claim a spot on the Varenne riverbank and cast out a line, or pile the kids into the car for a jaunt to the Refuge de l’Arche zoo and visits to its lions, tigers and bears (woohoo), a little over an hour away. There are plenty of classic French châteaux nearby if seeing how royalty lived is your crowning joy: get slightly palindromic at Château de Lassay in Lassay-les-Châteaux and poke around the museum in Château de Mayenne, both within 15 minutes, then wander further afield for the sprawling Château de Fougères and the fab 13th-century Chateau de Bourgon. More history can be had at the archaeological museum and old Roman city of Jublains or the Royer Josselin museum of cider – very different experiences, but both worthwhile. Otherwise, opt for climbs and explores at Vallée Grottes de Saulges, just under an hour away, or make the crossing to the spectacular island town of Mont St Michel, an hour and a half from base.