The Walled City of Guérande

Pays de la Loire

The beautiful walled city of Guérande is situated in France's Pays de la Loire region and offers a wealth of attractions for visitors. As well as several fascinating museums, the city has an abundance of salt marshes and wetlands. If you want to stay in a self-catering gite Pays de la Loire is an excellent choice of holiday destination.

As well as the city of Guérande, the region is also home to Nantes, Angers, Le Mans and many more towns and cities well worth a visit. Guérande dates back to the 11th century but didn't experience considerable growth until the 14th century.

The Wars of Succession saw the town extended and fortified. Today Guérande remains walled and can be entered by four huge gates. Guérande is a haven for keen shoppers and the city streets are lined with charming little craft and gift shops.

There are also many delis and specialist food retailers, making this a great place to stock up on local delicacies before heading back to your accommodation. If you are looking for a conveniently located gite Pays de la Loire has many within easy reach of the region's historical towns and cities. Eating out is always a pleasure in Guérande with creperies around every corner. These are perfect for a light lunch or afternoon snack and are ideal for al fresco eating.

If you fancy a more formal meal, there are plenty of excellent bistros serving regional dishes and locally produced wine. Guérande is probably most famous for its salt industry and it was salt that saw the city prosper from medieval times onwards. Salt is still big business in the area today and Guérande is known as a producer of the fine fleur de sel, widely used by professional chefs. Today the city's salt marshes produce around 300 tonnes of this specialist salt and some 10,000 tonnes of regular salt.

The visitor attraction at Terre de Sel explains the history of this important industry and has salt harvesting demonstrations and many displays. The attraction has its own shop selling salt and locally produced products such as the very popular salted caramels.

There are several museums in Guérande including the Musée de la Porte, the Musée de la Poupée and the Musée de la Maison de la Pèche. The Musée de la Poupée is one of the best for children and has an impressive collection of toys and games. Horse drawn carriage rides are also popular with families and children will love seeing this pretty and fascinating city from the comfort of a carriage.