For the purposes of France’s Best, Central France is the whole of the Centre-Val-de-Loire Région which was not changed during the 2016 Regional re-organisation. It’s Prefecture is Orléans and it consists of the original four Départements of Cher, Indre, Indre-et-Loire and Loiret and together with the next door Région of the Île-de-France can be seen as the Heart of France.

Azay-le-Rideau

The whole area of the Loire Valley is quite flat, ideal for cycling, and is bisected by the magnificent eponymous river as it makes its way from the Mountains of the Ardêche in the south to the Atlantic Ocean at St-Nazaire in the west. Its rural nature is bejeweled with palatial Châteaux such as Chambord, Chenonceaux, Villandry and Azay-le-Rideau and never too far from the mighty Loire itself or one of its tributaries.