Organising car hire in Saumur, a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France, allows you to access Angers along the Bouche Thouet River in 45 minutes. Hiring a car in Saumur allows you to access the beautiful scenery of the Saumur vineyards between the rivers Loire and Thouet. These vineyards produce some of the best quality wines in the country. Only 21 minutes away from Saumur is the abbey of Fontevraud; the most intact medieval abbey in France, this building is where Plantagenet's Richard the Lionheart and Henry II of England are buried.
If you plan on hiring a car in Saumur, a visit to L''Abbaye Fontevraud, the largest abbey in Europe, comes highly recommended. After ten centuries of being cloistered, the public can now access Fontevraud. It has been a monastery, and a prison city, so accessing it now is a complete change of tack. Built between 1105 and 1165, the abbey combines the styles of Angevin and Poitevin. The abbey then became a prison city, between 1804 and 1963. Known as one of the toughest prisons in France, prison life was filled with silence, work and rituals. Rent a car in Saumur and explore the abbey, or drive 45 minutes and explore fabulous Angers.