Holidays with children don't have to be of the traditional bucket and spade type to be a success. A lot of people thought we were very odd when we took our two children to the Loire Valley when they were about 5 and 8. Comments varied from "Poor kids being dragged round all these châteaux – they'll be bored stiff", to "It's not fair for them to miss out on the beach". Well the reality was that we were certainly not over-ambitious with our sight-seeing and they were never once bored. Neither did they miss out on the beach as we were staying near the attractive little riverside town of Montrichard with its lovely river-beach which ticked all the boxes. Now 15 years later facilities for children are even better in the region.

For children with any degree of imagination the châteaux on the Loire are magical. For little girls the fairy-tale look-alikes of Chenonceau and Azay-le-Rideau are a must. Little boys of a blood-thirsty disposition will enjoy hearing about the assassination of the Duke of Guise by bodyguards armed with swords and daggers at Blois.

Various châteaux including Chambord and Chenonceau now do audio-guides in English (some on iPods) aimed at children between 7 and 12. If you choose your châteaux carefully you will find the little extras that appeal to children. Chenonceau has its maze, Chambord its horse show and Cheverny its Tintin Museum. If your children are old enough they might enjoy the son-et-lumiere shows which are held at many of the châteaux at night. Check the websites to see which nights are in English.

If your children are keen on animals they will enjoy climbing the observation tower at Chambord to look for wild boars, stags, foxes and wild sheep or a visit to the petting zoo in Tours' Botanical Gardens. If you want a bigger zoo try the Zoo Parc de Beauval.

Intersperse mornings or afternoons out with down time on one of the river beaches such as Montrichard. It has a safe roped-off area for swimming (no big waves for timid swimmers to cope with), pedaloes to hire, mini-golf, swings and petanque. For older children the area is great for canoeing, fishing and even wind-surfing. Rowing boats can be hired at Chenonceau and the Pagoda at Chanteloup where there is also a good selection of wooden games to play with free of charge.

The Fantasy Forest Amusement Park near Cheverny provides a good day out with paint-ball, go-carts and acrobatic concourse, whilst the Espace Aquatique at Loches provides a good outing with its pools, slides, sauna and Jacuzzi.

All in all we felt that the Loire provided something for all the family and best of all it is a relatively easy drive from the Channel ports. There is a good selection of properties available here at Rentals France.