Camping La Roche-Posay

Visitors flow to the la belle medieval town of La Roche-Posay, 1.5km from the park, for a lot more than the springs: the l'Hippodrome de la Gâtinière racecourse has meets over the summer and if you’d like to do a bit more betting, a town casino and an 18-hole golf course are in the town too (doesn’t everyone bet on golf?). A riding school and fitness centre are also nearby. As well as the Creuse, canoeists can launch their crafts from several places in the Loire Valley: the river Anglin, flowing south to the Brenne Regional Park; the Gertempe and the leisure centre at Saint Cyr, which has canoe and kayak hire. The Loire Valley as a whole is well-known for watersports of all kinds; sailing, water-skiing, windsurfing and more are available at many of the valley’s lakes and rivers. Les châteaux of the Loire Valley are rightly world famous and Camping Les Roche-Posay has easy access to several. The Royal Fortress of Chinon, where Joan of Arc met the future Charles VII, has interactive exhibits for visitors to immerse themselves in the life of fifteenth century France; Château d'Ussé or Sleeping Beauty’s Castle is verily fairytale; and the Château of Azay-le-Rideau on the River Indre is one of the most-visited châteaux in the region. The Amboise Royal Château is also nearby and part of the Loire Valley UNESCO World Heritage Site. On a different theme, tech-based amusement park Futuroscope is 30 minutes’ drive away and is a bien day out for kids of all sizes with its IMAX cinemas, rides and buildings looking like they’re from the next century (bring a picnic; there are plenty of green spaces to lounge around too). Around an hour away, the conservation-friendly ZooParc de Bauval has species from Africa, Australia and around the globe, a daily show and a prideful amount of big cats.