To think I almost skipped this! On a recent roadtrip through France, this turned out to be my…read morefavorite of the many chateaus that I visited. The entire complex is immaculately maintained, which can't be said for the much more famous Chateau of Versailles. The house itself was not as decadent as others, which made it a bit more relatable. For example, on the upper floor were children's bedrooms. Outside, you could spend hours wandering the famous gardens and taking pictures. From the geometric hedges to the water features to the labyrinth, the entire complex is simply beautiful!

Chateau and garden is one of my favorite. This chateau is famous on the very well maintained…read moregarden. The chateau was built 1536. This is the actual chateau without castle. It listed as UNESCO world heritage site for their landscape. The chateau has 14 rooms to visit. I like the drawing and study room. It has a grand piano in that room. The office of Joachim Carvallo is the location he plans his vegetable garden. The dining room has a checker board marble floor. The Prince Jerome's bedroom is Napoleons youngest brother. The red silk reflects military lance. There table in front of the bed has decorative surface. The garden is huge. There are total 7 sections. This includes Ornamental, Wood, Water, Sun, Maze, Herb and Vegetable Garden. The ornamental garden is my favorite. This garden has multiple colors. The edge of each tree or bush corner was perfectly trim. Picture perfect. I wish my lawn care company can do this.

This Zoo is gorgeous and HUGE. They have a very diverse amount of animals and environments to…read morewander and view. This zoo however, is absolutely NOT disabled friendly at all if you have a walking mobility issue. They don't offer motorized wheelchair rentals. They have a push wheelchair rental but its super small size and you must have an adult with you who can push it. After that obstacle, this park is hilly. I mean, very hilly and uneven everywhere. Smooth pavement but up and down everywhere. Even from the entrance to the zoo you are expected to park and walk up a hill immediately to get to the entrance. The food was decent and there are a lot of cafes inside the park. Not a lot of vegetarian options but they have things you can eat. They also have some random cats that live in the zoo. They are charming to find. Something that might not be as obvious on their website is the way they have their hotels linked to this zoo. They have deals where you can get a room with food inclusive and zoo entry tickets all in a bundle. I highly recommend that for the weekend you stay that you choose this over an airbnb. The town is very small where this zoo is. You can easily get there from Paris, it takes one train to St Pierre station then a local TGV line to St Aignan. Then you take a taxi 10min to the hotels. (You need to arrange this in advance) The food inclusive in the hotel stay is breakfast and dinner and then you lunch on your own at the zoo. I stayed at the Jardines hotel because it was only a 700m walk to the zoo from there, but wanted to stay at the Les Pagodas one. They are both beautiful but the Les Pagodas had way better food for dinner. This is a two day zoo visit. It would be very ambitious to see it all in one day. They do have swimming pools at the hotels and air conditioners but the beds are just ok. The staff at the zoo and hotels were extremely kind and do speak English and when they didn't were very patient with translation tools. Though extremely challenging as someone with walking issues, I don't regret coming.

The best Zoo in France!…read more Because its enormous! TheBeauval Zoo covers the area of 30 hectares!ZooParc de Beauval Little Birds Because it has the largest diversity of animals in France! There are about 5700 animals coming from around 600 species.The Beauval Zoo Map Because its so well designed and organized that you move easily and freely avoiding crowds! And on top of that it has a very useful map to useZooParc de Beauval Panda Because as the only one Zoo in France and the 1 of 15 Zoos in the world that has panda animal...even two giant pandas actually: Huan Huan and Yuan Zi. Because it looks different to the typical Zoo. Because of the attractions it offers! There are many shows and talks during the whole day and the agenda can be view here Because of truly amazing Special Birds Show Because of the NEW very famous Sea Lion Show Because it has some extraordinary and unusual species and novelties Because Beauval shelters 7 big & impressive families: big cats, primates, herbivores, birds, reptiles, fishes and aquatic mammals Because of the impressive Australian House r Because of the interesting Manatee Basin. Because it has an impressive vivarium Because of the huge - 11 meter tall Gorilla Complex greenhouse Because lets not forget about the smaller cute impressive animals coming from 4 different species: Otter, Red panda, Raccoon and Barbary macaque. Enjoy! I did!