Family walking holiday in France
| country: | France |
| location: | The Loire Valley |
| trip type: | Self guided, summer walking holiday |
| departures: | Any day from 12 Mar - 23 Oct |
| price: | From £885 (8 days) including flights from UK, from £795 excluding flights |
the amazing things you'll be doing
The Loire and one of its main tributaries the Cher flow through countryside of leafy forests, green valleys and charming villages. This beautiful landscape was the hunting grounds and rural retreat of the French kings and noblemen between the 15th to 18th centuries.
Along the lower reaches of the rivers the hunting lodges grew into extraordinarily ornate chateaux, fuelled by a desire of each of the nobles to surpass the extravagance of his neighbours; the result is a magnificent collection of architectural masterpieces, the best of which punctuate our walking route.
The Loire valley is also famous for its wines, collectively known as vins de Touraine; flourishing vineyards thrive on the fertile soil around the river and its tributaries, and many producers are well-prepared to receive visitors and are more than happy for them to try a glass or two. This holiday is a relaxing and relatively gentle walk; distances are long enough to allow a satisfying exploration of the area, but short enough to leave time to visit chateaux en route, to enjoy the charming villages with their tempting cafes and restaurants, or simply to sit and enjoy the beauty and tranquillity of this enchanting area.
Along the lower reaches of the rivers the hunting lodges grew into extraordinarily ornate chateaux, fuelled by a desire of each of the nobles to surpass the extravagance of his neighbours; the result is a magnificent collection of architectural masterpieces, the best of which punctuate our walking route.
The Loire valley is also famous for its wines, collectively known as vins de Touraine; flourishing vineyards thrive on the fertile soil around the river and its tributaries, and many producers are well-prepared to receive visitors and are more than happy for them to try a glass or two. This holiday is a relaxing and relatively gentle walk; distances are long enough to allow a satisfying exploration of the area, but short enough to leave time to visit chateaux en route, to enjoy the charming villages with their tempting cafes and restaurants, or simply to sit and enjoy the beauty and tranquillity of this enchanting area.
day-by-day itinerary
| Day 1: | Fly London to Marseille, transfer to L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue. |
| Day 2-7: | Five day-walks, with one free day. Much of the walking takes place to the east of L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue in the hills surrounding the charming villages of Fontaine de Vaucluse, Gordes and Rousillon. |
| Day 8: | Transfer to Marseille; fly to London. |
award winner
This tourism business won an awardin our 2004 Responsible Tourism Awards - organised by responsibletravel.com in association with The Times, World Travel Market and Geographical, Magazine of the Royal Geographical Societyhow this holiday makes a difference
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On this walking tour of the Loire valley you stay in small, locally owned character hotels, eat the best of the local cuisine, and travel down by Eurostar. You walk at your own pace, so it is left up to you how you spend you precious holiday time, though we give you plenty of guidelines. This trip has low environmental impacts, and puts a little bit back into rural local communities, and helps conserve rural lifestyles.
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Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |