Centre-Val de Loire - Pays de la Loire
Gault & Millau reinvents the French stroll. The walk is all about discovery: products and producers, recipes and chefs, gourmet stalls and artisans, hotels, men, women and stories that create links and meaning.
More than 129 referenced establishments
49
restaurants
64
artisans
16
hotels
57
cities
14
gourmet itineraries
2026
92 km
24 hours in Cholet and surroundings
Don't get your handkerchiefs ready, you'll find them on the spot! Cholet has been the French capital of handkerchief production for three centuries. Textile production on weaving looms developed here as early as the 18th century, and the reputation of Cholet handkerchiefs grew rapidly. Although production came to a severe halt during the French Revolution, Cholet being a stronghold of the Vendée insurrection, it picked up again in the following century with the industrialization and mechanization of the looms.
9 km
48 hours in and around Sancerre
Lovers of wine, and of Loire Sauvignon in particular, often only know Sancerre from its appellation contrôlée label. From New York to Sydney, we toast to the pleasure of this pure, pale gold color, delightfully offering its tangy notes that often evoke spring flowers as well as autumn fruit.2025
83 km
48 hours in Chartres, on the paths of Péguy and Proust
Chartres, an hour from Paris - or possibly two, depending on the time of day and the part of the capital from which you are departing - is an easy and major destination. For the charm of its old quarter, for its lively commercial life with many good food stores, for its fine restaurants, numerous in density for a prefecture of less than 40,000 inhabitants, and of course for its famous 13th-century Gothic cathedral, which emerges dozens of kilometers around from the wheat plains of the Beauce.2024
184 km
48 hours in the footsteps of Le Grand Meaulnes
The short life of Alain-Fournier, who died in Verdun in 1914 at the age of 27, is intimately linked to his only novel, Le Grand Meaulnes. The landscapes, hamlets, houses and castles where the action of this iconic tale takes place offer a nostalgic and romantic vision that has remained almost unchanged for a century.2023
148 km
3 days in the gardens of the Loire Valley
A stroll through Touraine will give you an idea of its wealth of gardens. From the Middle Ages to the present day, the region has cultivated know-how and transformed the need for food into an art form dedicated to the pleasure of both the eye and the table.
12 km
48 hours in Nantes
Can a city's cultural policy influence its culinary scene? Without a doubt. And that's what Nantes has been proving for the past 30 years. This revival is the result of a genuine political will and a successful combination of urban planning and culture in a rundown urban environment where everything had to be (re)done.
74 km
48 hours in Rabelais country
Chinon, Bourgueil, Saumur... The mere mention of these three names sounds like a corkscrew. One imagines Jean Carmet in his cellar, opening a Saint-Nicolas, pronouncing in his inimitable phrasing the famous sentence: "It's not what you drink that's important, it's who you drink it with".
51 km
48 hours in Saumur, a land of wines
Cradled by the Loire, which seems to impose its rhythm, sometimes nonchalant, sometimes spirited, Saumur is also an appellation d'origine contrôlée for whites and reds to be (re)discovered. A town whose terroirs you can explore and whose wines you can taste, following in the footsteps of Vignobles Edonis.
197 km
48 hours in the heart of the Alpes Mancelles
300 million years ago, there were mountains here. Planed down over the millennia, they now bear little resemblance to the Écrins or even the Vercors. But a few ridges punctuate a green nature walk in the heart of the Parc Naturel Régional Normandie Maine, which spans four départements - Orne and Manche in Normandy, Sarthe and Mayenne in Pays de la Loire - and 134 communes. In 2019, the park will also apply to UNESCO to be classified as a Geopark of the World for its geological heritage (there are currently 7 in France).2022
