BEAUVAL ZOO

ore than two million visitors flock here every year to see the 35,000 or so residents of a world-leading zoo which has made a powerful contribution to new ideas about how we preserve and protect animals in captivity. Visitors to Beauval enter an amazing and immersive world that stretches out over more than 45 hectares. More than 800 species are available to see in the equatorial dome, the four tropical greenhouses, Europe's largest aviary and an aquatic amphitheatre.

The zoo came into being thanks to Françoise Delord's passion for animals and opened in 1980 as an ornithological garden with 2,000 birds. Before long, rare species of all kinds, feathered and furry, came to live at Beauval. The most famous residents during the 1990s were undoubtedly the exceptional white tigers and lions - the only ones of their kind in France - followed by the great apes, reptiles, sea lions, manatees, hyenas, rhinoceroses and others. While bringing species together in a single park was nothing new, what made Beauval original was the way the animals were presented. There is a vast African savannah, an Australian greenhouse with a marine aquarium, a plain especially for African elephants, a greenhouse dedicated to gorillas and impressive manatees, a hippopotamus reserve with an underwater viewpoint, a hectare-long equatorial greenhouse dome, and even a cable car with incomparable views from 40 metres. Every year, the site offers visitors something spectacularly new in the way it presents species or introduces them to animals they haven't see before. In 2012, the arrival of a pair of giant pandas from China was a major national event, and they were later joined by several babies. Clearly, it takes several days to take in Beauval Zoo and all its amazing sights. Five hotels have been designed to offer visitors the best possible welcome, with a range of accommodation options themed around China (the Beauval Pagodas), Mexico (Beauval Shores), Indonesia (Beauval Gardens), Africa (Beauval Heights) and Vietnam (Beauval Cottages). Sixteen restaurants and four shops help to make your visit an enjoyable one, with plenty to discover, educational activities and shows that let you see the sea lions' underwater ballet and great birds in flight. This thrilling and otherworldly experience is more than just a trip out - it's a voyage in itself!

Avenue du Blanc, 41110 St Aignan - www.zoobeauval.com

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Welcome to a region where you'll find not just the châteaux of the Loire Valley but wildcats and pandas too! The Centre-val de Loire region is famous for being France's historic heart, but it also owes its reputation to one of the most beautiful zoos in the world: Zooparc de Beauval. Beauval is just two hours fifteen minutes from Paris, not far from Tours and Blois.