Le Thouet

Camping Le Thouet is located at the Coteaux du Chalet, in Montreuil-Bellay (Maine-et-Loire), about 15 km from Saumur. The town, ranked among the Plus Beaux Détours de France, grew up around its castle and its ramparts, in the Loire-Anjou-Touraine regional nature park. The site covers 8 hectares, about thirty metres from the river whose name it bears.

According to specialist listings, it has around forty pitches with electricity, 29 of them reserved for motorhomes, as well as eight rental units in the form of mobile homes. It has no star rating. The manager, Nadia Drouan, highlights more than twenty years of experience in tourism, and guests are welcomed in French, English, Italian, Spanish, German and Dutch.

As for opening, the campsite, the rental units and the service area are announced as open from 1 January to 31 December, with the possibility of winter caravanning. The official website, loaded by script, does not publish readable dates; it is therefore advisable to confirm by phone, especially for the mobile homes and holiday periods.

The stopover suits motorhomers passing through on the Loire route as well as longer stays in a mobile home.

Heritage trail in Montreuil-Bellay (24 stops), ramparts and medieval town, walks beside the Thouet; castle open from 1 April to 1 November.

The site offers a restaurant with snack bar and bar, an outdoor pool and free wifi according to traveller reviews. The pitches are large and the washrooms include showers and toilets accessible to people with reduced mobility. A laundry with a washing machine is available, and sheets and fridges can be hired on site.

For motorhomes, the campsite’s service area provides drinking water, waste water disposal and electricity. Listings give a price of 23 € per night for a transit pitch, with electricity at an extra 3 €; these amounts should be checked at reception, as they depend on the season.

The mobile homes come with linen, a television, crockery and wifi. Pets are accepted. The nearest bakery is 2.7 km away, the municipal pool 3 km, a supermarket 6.4 km and Saumur station 13.7 km.

Off-season, what matters is the practical side: winter caravanning is possible, but nothing indicates whether the pool, the restaurant or the washrooms are open or heated in January. This information should be confirmed directly with the campsite before you come.

On site, you can play volleyball and table tennis, and a play area welcomes children. Activities for all ages are announced, with no detailed programme. The campsite is beside the Thouet, suitable for fishing and canoeing; sailing and horse riding are also listed among activities in the surrounding area, as are organised hikes.

The main visit is Montreuil-Bellay itself. The medieval town can be discovered on a waymarked walking trail with 24 points of interest, with its ramparts, fortified gates, its mill and its botanical garden. The feudal castle, built around 1025, preserves a barbican, moats, vaulted underground passages and a medieval kitchen with a central hearth, with Renaissance additions; it is open from 1 April to 1 November 2026.

Outside the castle’s opening dates, the town can be explored on foot and Saumur, 15 km away, offers its own visits. The Montreuil-Bellay tourist office is on place du Marché. The campsite therefore lends itself to a late-season stay devoted to heritage and riverside walks, with nothing to guarantee that the pool or the leisure facilities on site will be open.