Travel bucket list idea:
The mysterious but fascinating troglodyte world of the Loire is the fascinating underside of all those lovely white stone chateaux.
Thousands of kilometres of tunnels – originally dug out of the soft, underlying, tufa strata as part of Middle Age stone quarries – became chapels, houses and farms to create the largest troglodyte region in Europe. Some are still lived in, while others have been converted into hotels and restaurants, dramatic wine cellars (providing ideal conditions for storing wine), mushroom farms and even a zoo.
Doue-la-Fontaine, Pays de la Loire, France
The troglodyte houses more than 70 species in enclosures dug out of the surrounding rock, creating dramatic enclosures. Open daily February-October.
Adult price: £20
Best for ages 4+
Saumur, Pays de la Loire, France
These sculpted troglodyte caves offer an interesting blend of wine tasting, culture and history. The cellars here, open daily for tastings, are part of a historic 5-mile-long complex of underground galleries, which include an unusual ‘underground cathedral’.
Adult price: £5
Min age 18
Best for ages 18+
Duration: 2 hours
Saumur, Pays de la Loire, France
Beneath this attractive Renaissance and neo-Gothic chateau is a remarkable 9th-century fortress, a troglodyte labyrinth complete with drawbridge, stables, and guardrooms. The chateau is also known for excellent wines, which you can taste in Les Caves de la Comtesse de Colbert in the chateau grounds.
Adult price: £10
Best for ages 18+
Saumur, Pays de la Loire, France
This series of cool, dank caverns in Montsoreau is said to have once been inhabited by loups (wolves), then exploited as quarries, before being turned into a champignonnière (mushroom farm). Button, oyster and shitake mushrooms are cultivated here today.
Best for ages 13+
Louresse-Rochemenier, Pays de la Loire, France
This troglodyte restaurant serves delicious traditional fouaces, circular flatbreads, filled with mushrooms and cheese, and served in caves used as refuges during the 16th-century Wars of Religion.
Best for ages 18+
Azay-le-Rideau, Centre-Val de Loire, France
Not many tourists know about this long-forgotten troglodyte village, hidden away in a wooded valley. You can tour the three abandoned farms, and children can pet the farm animals. Forty-minute guided tours are available by advanced request.
Adult price: £6
Best for ages 18+
Duration: 3-4 hours
Saumur, Pays de la Loire, France
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A postcard-perfect, medieval town famed for its troglodyte wine cellars (filled with excellent wines) and majestic hilltop chateau.
Best for ages 18+
Louresse-Rochemenier, Pays de la Loire, France
The most complete and extensive troglodyte site in the Loire Valley, a museum of two former farms with stables and cowsheds, twenty furnished rooms and a soaring 13th-century chapel, all dug down into the tufa rock.
Adult price: £4
Best for ages 18+
Most of the sites are located in and around the towns of Saumur and Doue-la-Fontaine or around Azay-le-Rideau. No booking is required – you can just show up – but if you want a guided tour in English, sometimes you need to email ahead.
The temperature in the caves remains a constant 12C all year round – pleasantly refreshing on hot summer days – but you’ll need a sweater.
Most sites close in January and February and sometimes November and February, so check timings before you plan or go.
Destination guides including or relevant to this experience
Loire Valley, France
Northern France’s beautiful UNESCO-listed valley, home to heart-stoppingly beautiful historic chateaux, authentic village life, world-class wines and fascinating troglodytes.
