Charente
in Nouvelle-Aquitaine

If Bordeaux feels too polished and Provence too busy, Charente quietly gets on with being one of France's best-kept secrets. Come for the Cognac, stay for the château-filled countryside, sleepy villages, and gloriously slow art de vivre.

how long to go for

a long weekend

when to go

april, march, june, may, july

holidays

Bastille Day, Assumption Day, Armistice Day, All Saints day

how to get there

Fly into Bordeaux or Paris, then continuing by train or car. Angoulême is just under two hours from Paris by high-speed TGV

how to get around

by car

nice to know

Charente seems to have a château around every bend, from medieval fortresses to elegant Renaissance estates – making it feel as though France accidentally left a few extras behind.

local language

French

currency

euro

in an emergency

call 112

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Domaine des Étangs

Massignac

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Forget everything you thought you knew about château hotels. At Domaine des Étangs, a beautifully restored 13th-century castle doubles as an art gallery, where contemporary works sit alongside centuries-old stone walls and each of the seven suites is named after a planet. Beyond the château, sculpture trails weave through 2,500 acres of forests, meadows and lakes, while afternoons are best spent paddleboarding, rowing across the water, exploring the organic kitchen gardens with the resident gardener or spotting wildlife with the estate's forest ranger.

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Charentein Nouvelle-Aquitaine