Things to do near Saumur and Chinon

We did some wine tasting in Chinon and we visited a couple chateaus that I think are relatively close--Saumur and Azay le rideau. The town of Azay le rideau is also very attractive. The chateau in Saumur is very old and the area around the chateau was interesting for a stroll. The winery we went to in Chinon was Pierre & Bertrand Couly. Its larger and the building is new, however, the people doing the tasting were the owners and we had a nice time visiting with them. We enjoyed the wine and it was relatively inexpensive so we shipped a case home.

Chinon is a good restaurant town, and the area has its own, regional domain wines. I personally wouldn't stay in town, but it's a nice town. I think you mean that you have a car. We really liked Fontevraud Abbey, and it's quite a substantial UNESCO WHS. Azay-le-Rideau and the Chateau there are extremely nice places. You didn't mention Villandry, which has the most famous gardens of any. You didn't mention the month - I would try to see an "illumination" night at a major Chateau if I could.

Only half joking, the Chinon nuclear plant is much more viewable than any in the U.S., from passing roads. While it is 100% worth visiting (elevator to the lower town), the castle at Chinon is a ruin.

Don't know if you have time to visit the Dordogne River, but a suggestion is a canoe trip from Cenac to Beynac gliding past medieval castles & villages! Heading south to the charming town of Amboise is a great stop for lunch, & Leonardo da Vinci's home. I recall a great bakery in town! More time? Visit the quintessential town of Sarlat. The best weekly market we found in the region! The Loire is one of our favorite areas of France.

Thank you for your input. We are making kayaking/canoeing a theme of our vacation, hoping to hit the water in Brittany, the Dordogne, the Lot and the Ardeche...even though we are getting to France as summer and the tourist season comes to an end.

We will be in Vezac, about 1 mile from the banks of the Dordogne for 4 days, and have planned to do a canoe trip while we are there. We also plan to visit the caves in Les Eyzies. It has been 17 years since we visited Sarlat, but it was in that town that we discovered the deliciousness of French farmer's markets.

Though my travel companions would disagree, I enjoyed the tank museum in Saumur. The dioramas were pseudo-kitschy, but effective. Some tanks are ginormous. If you have anyone in the family who watches the history channel , they might enjoy it.
Obviously the abbey is first sight.
The mushroom museum was overpriced and underwhelming. I still get grief for having the boys look at dirt. We did enjoy a lunch, fixed price in one of the caves down along the river . (Amboise I think).

We spent a few days in that area 4 or so years ago. As history certainly drives some of our choices both Fontevraud Abbey and Chinon were what got us there. And both of them were great. We stayed in Saumur, a small city that we enjoyed a lot more than we expected. Our small hotel turned us on to this http://www.ifce.fr/en/cadre-noir. The Cadre Noir is a corps of instructors, at the French military riding academy École Nationale d'Équitation at Saumur since 1828. They also perform as an equestrian display team. I It is considered one of the most prestigious horsemanship schools in the world. Very similar to the Lipizzan horses in Vienna. We did both a tour (since it was a slow day and we are not French speakers, we had a great young rider as our guide and he spent probably 90 minutes with us). We returned for a show. You might take a look.

Thank you for suggestions. We will definitely add Villandry to the list of places we were going. Azay Rideau (sp?) was already one of the places we were going to visit. You have convinced us to work it into our plans. Since we don't leave for a few months, we will continue to read the forum to hear other suggestions.