Travel bucket list idea:
Saumur, Pays de la Loire, France
Saumur Castle and Saint Peter’s Church
This postcard-perfect, medieval town clustering along the Loire River is a historic and aesthetic gem, and worth a special visit.
Once you’ve wandered through character-filled streets, lined almost exclusively with buildings constructed in the Loire’s iconic Tuffeau stone, wine-tasting cellars await in and around the town.
Saumur is one of the region’s largest wine areas, with multiple wineries offering visits and tastings, several located in troglodyte cellars and tunnels.
You could also stop by the Chateau de Saumur, mounted majestically above the town. It’s just as impressive inside, home to fine medieval architecture and a decorative arts museum.
Saumur, Pays de la Loire, France
Experience
Beneath this attractive Renaissance and neo-Gothic chateau is a remarkable 9th-century fortress, a troglodyte labyrinth complete with drawbridge, stables, and guardrooms. The chateau is also known for excellent wines, which you can taste in Les Caves de la Comtesse de Colbert in the chateau grounds.
Adult price: £10
Good for age: 18+
Saumur, Pays de la Loire, France
Experience
Travel back to the Middle Ages in this vast monastic complex and splendid Romanesque church. It’s home to the sculpted tombs of Henry II of England, Eleanor of Aquitaine and Richard the Lionheart.
Good for age: 18+
Saumur, Pays de la Loire, France
Experience
This series of cool, dank caverns in Montsoreau is said to have once been inhabited by loups (wolves), then exploited as quarries, before being turned into a champignonnière (mushroom farm). Button, oyster and shitake mushrooms are cultivated here today.
Good for age: 13+
Saumur, Pays de la Loire, France
Experience
These sculpted troglodyte caves offer an interesting blend of wine tasting, culture and history. The cellars here, open daily for tastings, are part of a historic 5-mile-long complex of underground galleries, which include an unusual ‘underground cathedral’.
Adult price: £5
Min age 18
Good for age: 18+
Duration: 2 hours
Saumur, Pays de la Loire, France
Experience
This winery and vineyard offers a complete immersion into the world of wine, starting with a short introduction to the principles of oenologie (wine-making), followed by a tour of the production facility, a visit to the cellars, and ending with a wine tasting.
Min age 18
Good for age: 18+
Duration: 1-2 hours
You can visit Saumur independently by car, or by train (it’s just over 2 hours from Paris).
Start with the tourist office to get information about the area’s wineries, best visited in the afternoon, then stroll through the town centre to the chateau.
When it’s wine time, one of the most interesting cellars is a 2km walk from the castle at Caves Bouvay-Ladubay, a vast property with underground cellars you can visit by bike.
Spring or summer is best for the clement weather, but autumn’s pretty too when the surrounding vineyards’ leaves are changing. The chateau closes in winter.
