Les Toiles de La Tortillère

The bucket-list castles of the Loire Valley are at your disposal when you stay at Les Toiles de La Tortillère, and if you’re happy to use pedal power for your cultural jaunts, bikes are readily available on site. UNESCO-listed Chinon may be your first stop for the ornate château and fortress high above the Vienne River, with Château du Rivau (both 15 minutes’ drive or 40 minutes by bike) and its spectacular French-Renaissance architecture a close second. Venture further afield to see the fairytale turrets at Rigny-Ussé (half an hour), while moated Azay-le-Rideau (35 minutes) is open for guided tours of sumptuous apartments, or you can also head for Villandry (45 minutes) to wander around its famed formal gardens. Bon viveurs can sample the exceptional cuisine of the Touraine area in the gourmet restaurants of Chinon and historic Saumur (40 minutes), or the pretty, Loire-side villages of Candes-Saint-Martin and Montsoreau (both 25 minutes). Develop a taste for regional Cabernet Franc red and white Chenin wines too, with tours of vineyards that inevitably end in sampling the wares. There are several options within 20 minutes’ drive of the glampsite.