Regional guide
Pays de la Loire
Choose a city as your starting point, then explore the departments and guides available in this area.
Ideas to get you started
Available guides: 5
Ideas to get you started
A selection of city guides to help you choose your base.
Angers
Angers, the historic capital of Anjou and departmental capital of Maine-et-Loire, carries its past into the present-day city centre. The Plantagenet story, the dukes of Anjou and a strong tradition of…
Read the guideLa Roche-sur-Yon
La Roche-sur-Yon is shaped by a decision made in 1804. Napoleon transferred the administrative centre of the Vendée from Fontenay to the small settlement, intending to impose order after further unres…
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Laval
Laval grew beside a crossing of the Mayenne, close to the historic regions of Normandy and Anjou. Founded in the eleventh century on the site of an earlier Roman ford, the town developed around its ca…
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Le Mans
Le Mans has two strong identities. Its historic centre preserves Roman defences, medieval religious buildings and close links with the Plantagenet dynasty, while the city’s name is also inseparable fr…
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Nantes
Nantes is a city of ducal strongholds, formal squares, covered passages and reminders of its life as a major port. Capital of the Duchy of Brittany until the fifteenth century, it prospered through in…
Read the guideExplore the departments
Choose a department to continue exploring its cities and places to visit.
What to discover
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Places to Visit in Pays de la Loire
This directory gathers the destination pages available for Pays de la Loire. Five departments form the next level: Loire-Atlantique, Mayenne, Vendée, Sarthe and Maine-et-Loire. The regional index connects them with Nantes, Laval, La Roche-sur-Yon, Le Mans and Angers, respectively.
Browse by department
Select a department to continue from the regional overview to its city route.
- Loire-Atlantique, for the route to Nantes.
- Mayenne, for the route to Laval.
- Vendée, for the route to La Roche-sur-Yon.
- Sarthe, for the route to Le Mans.
- Maine-et-Loire, for the route to Angers.
From departments to cities
The city pages sit below the department pages rather than directly below this regional overview. Choose Loire-Atlantique for Nantes, Mayenne for Laval, Vendée for La Roche-sur-Yon, Sarthe for Le Mans or Maine-et-Loire for Angers. Return here when you need to switch departments.
Department and city names retain their established French forms, including accents where appropriate.
Keep exploring
More guides from the same area to help you continue your search.