The new “Châteaux of the Loire” Green Guide takes you off the beaten track

With the support of Mission Val de Loire, on behalf of the Centre and Pays de la Loire Regions, the guide’s editors – all of them travel specialists – crisscrossed the region for over two months in search of new curiosities and good addresses to inform their readers of.  

A stage for some of the great scenes in French history, with its châteaux, historic towns and villages, vineyards and gastronomy, the Loire Valley was included on UNESCO’s World Heritage list as a living cultural landscape in 2000. Michelin decided to redraw the map for its new Green Guide focusing on the listed site alone. 

The guide comprises 3 sections: 

• organising your trip
• understanding the destination 
• discovering the destination (detailed tours and address books)

Note that, thanks to the work carried out on promotion and development of the site, Fontevraud Abbey now has 3 stars (“worth the trip”), as does the International Garden Festival at Chaumont-sur-Loire, which makes its first appearance in the guide. 

The MICHELIN Green Guide “Châteaux of the Loire” (510 pages) costs 14.90 euros and is available at bookshops or from www.cartesetguides.michelin.fr  

On the web

• Chaumont in the stars (La Nouvelle République, 14/05/2012)