Good roads / cities in Western France

[marting]

I'll shortly be doing a trip around Europe and I'm looking for some good places to visit on my way back to Calais.

I'm stopping at Bordeaux but would like to spend another night somewhere between Bordeaux and Calais. Le Mans sounds like it would fit the bill, but I'm not sure if there's all that much to do except visiting all the heritage sites.

Anyone had some good experiences in this region?

[Puggit]

Tours has a lovely city centre, lots of extremely old buildings and a nice cafe culture, but that's it.

The heritage area of Le Mans is exceptional, but only really livens up in the evening. During August there's a light show which shouldn't be missed but it sounds liked you'll be late. The rest of Le Mans, apart from the track, is easily forgettable.

If you can route it in, I'd recommend Vendôme which has a very interesting centre. Slightly smaller would be Amboise, but it also has a great castle and good shops.

Angers always rates well, but I've never been there.

[Simes205]

Rouen, Chartres are also not bad. You could head up to Caen area and do the Normandy beaches. Then take the autoroute back to Calais.

[itsnotarace]

We did Bordeaux & La Rochelle on the way back from the Pyrenees last year, then back via Mont Saint-Michel and then stayed in Bayeux for a couple of nights exploring the Normandy landing beaches/ Caen etc

Really enjoyed it

[zbc]

We stopped at Blois overnight on our holiday this year and the chateau there is stunning and the town centre very pretty. If it's just a one night stop I can recommend it. Otherwise there atre many beautiful Chateau up and down the Loire near here - and you could still drop in on le Mans.