Centre

Loire Valley (French: Vallée de la Loire) is known as the Garden of France and the Cradle of the French Language. It is also noteworthy for the quality of its architectural heritage, in its historic towns such as Amboise, Angers, Blois, Chinon, Orléans, Saumur, and Tours, but in particular for its world-famous castles, such as the Châteaux Amboise, Château de Villandry and Chenonceau.

The landscape of the Loire Valley, and more particularly its many cultural monuments, illustrate to an exceptional degree the ideals of the Renaissance and the Age of the Enlightenment on western European thought and design. The Loire Valley is an outstanding cultural landscape of great beauty, containing historic towns and villages, great architectural monuments, its many châteaux, and fine wines.

Centre Location

Centre is located in northern part of central France and is famous for its chateaux in the Loire Valley. It is circled by Normandy and Ile-de-France to the North. Flanked to the west by Western Loire and Poitou-Charente. On the south it is bordered by Limousin and Auvergne, and Burgundy to the East. The departments are: Cher, Eure-et-Loir, Indre, Indre-et-Loire, Loir-et-Cher and Loiret.

Centre Landscape

The Centre région is dominated by the Loire Valley. Cenntre includes the rich, fertile valleys of the Loire River and its tributaries: Cher, Indre, Eure, etc. It is also famous for the grand châteaux of the Loire Valley which attract many tourists to the area. In general the landscape is flat with gently rolling hills to the south.

Centre Attractions

There are too many beautiful chateaux to mention but they are well worth visiting. Of the major towns in the region, Orleans, Chatres, Blois, Tours, and Chinon are well worth visiting. Try cycling alongside the Loire Valley and enjoy many village stops en route. There many wines to sample on the way so be careful! Centre is also home to two of France´s great cathedrals, at Bourges and Chartres.

Centre Weather

There is an old saying that once you get to the south of the Loire, the weather improves. Certainly there are long lazy sunny Summers with blue skies without the temperatures getting excessively hot. It is green so it does rain but only short sharp showers in the Summer. Winters can be cold but still with plenty of sunshine.