'About the area'

View holiday villas and gites to rent in this area.

Centre The ‘Centre’ is the administrative region in the middle of France, stretching from south west of Paris down to the north of Limousin and Auvergne and is bordered to the west by Normandy. The capitol of this area is Orléans and the largest city is Tours. Unlike many other regions of France the ‘Centre’ region is not a historic province of France, but includes an area between the Paris region and the Loire valley that was for many centuries the historical heartland of the old kingdom of France, the Orléanais (region of Orléans), Berry, and Touraine (the area around Tours). There are six ‘departments’ in the ‘Centre’: Cher, Eure-et-Loir, Indre, Indre-et-Loire, Loir-et-Cher and Loiret. To the north of the region lies the large wheat belt of the Beauce, and to the south are many forests and wetlands.
Tourist attractions in the ‘Centre’ are:
Orleans: The regional capital, an historic city on the banks of the Loire.
La Sologne: Is a large area covered by woods, formerly used as hunting grounds by kings and nobles of past times.
Blois: An historic town on the northern bank of the Loire, with a magnificent Renaissance castle.
Tours: This is the largest city in the region. It has a beautiful historic centre with some very old half-timbered houses. It also has a cathedrel and castle.
Zoo Parc de Beauval: This Zoo has the largest collection of animals in France, about 4000 it is claimed. It lies in the Loire valley area.
Chartres: Chartres has a magnificent mediaeval gothic cathedrel best known for its wonderful stained glass windows.
The river Loire: The wide slow-moving Loire is one of Europe's most magnificent rivers. It flows past many interesting towns and villages and the flat land that flanks it makes it ideal for walking and cycling holidays. It also lends itself to many leisure pastimes like fishing and sailing.
Bourges: Bourges has a wonderful gothic cathedral, and is the famous Renaissance town residence of Jacques Coeur.
La Brenne: La Brenne is reputedly the area of a thousand lakes. It has lots of wetland areas and is ideal for birdwatching.