Camping Parc de Montsabert

Tipplers are well served around here: within 35 minutes' drive of the site, you can be sampling wine, Brut, liqueurs and spirits at a handful of vineyards and distilleries. If you only have the time for one or two, make them the Cointreau distillery for samples of the famed orange liqueur, and Château de Montreuil-Bellay, a stunning castle and winery with year-round tastings. If Montreuil-Bellay has you falling head over heels (hic) for châteaux, there are plenty more round these parts that will help to grow your love affair. Within 15 minutes, Montsabert, Brissac – the highest castle in France, with plenty of caves to explore – and Montgeoffroy are the closest, but it’s worth going further afield for the largest fortress in Europe at Brézé and the striking châteaux in Saumur and Angers. Kids in tow not as into wine and castles as you are? Bring them instead to meet the animals at Bioparc de Doué-la-Fontaine zoo or to wander around the Terra Botanica theme park – and if that’s not enough for them, try a longer jaunt to Puy de Fou, the historic theme park that’s a rival in popularity to Disneyland.