Domaine du Bois Davy

The elegant Château de Brissac (20 minutes’ drive) is the tallest castle in France, with seven floors housing more than 200 richly decorated rooms, plus an extensive landscaped park with ancient vineyards, promenades and waterways. At Château de Montgeoffroy (also 20 minutes) you can explore aristocratic life as it was in the 18th century. You’re in the middle of the Loire-Anjou-Touraine Regional Natural Park here, which means you’ve hit the jackpot in terms of riverside walks and woodland hikes. There are also (mostly flat) cycling paths skirting the Loire or going inland, to vineyards, historic towns and prehistoric sites like the Troglodytes houses Forges (25 minutes). Stretching along the Loire, Saumur (half an hour) is dominated by a medieval castle with four distinctive limestone turrets. From here you can also join a river cruise, though you might prefer to spend the day sampling the locally produced Cabernet Francs and Chenin Blancs in the lively wine bars lining the cobbled streets in the old town.