ZooParc de Beauval Autumn Camp in Thésée, Touraine

A discovery week built around the largest animal park in France. Two full days are spent at the ZooParc de Beauval, eight kilometres from the centre, where more than 35 000 animals from around the world are grouped into 22 zones. A naturalist workshop on the giant panda has children read the traces the animal leaves in its habitat, handle field equipment and record what they observe, learning the species' biology and how it is protected. The week also takes in Amboise and the Clos Lucé, where Leonardo da Vinci lived and worked, and a day of team Olympiades.

The published rate covers the stay at the centre, accommodation, meals and the activity programme. Supervised travel to the centre by train or coach from a choice of departure cities is charged as a supplement and listed separately, a departure city runs only with a minimum of three participants. Families who bring their child to the centre themselves pay the base rate. A health record form and a copy of the vaccination record are required before departure.

Children stay at the Temps Jeunes centre in Thésée, in rooms of two to nine beds with washing facilities close by; the centre's own description gives the range as one to nine beds. The centre stands in a large enclosed park, with direct access to woodland about ten minutes away on foot and a shaded park five minutes away. Free wifi is available. Stated capacity is 48 people.

Meals are prepared on site by the centre's own cook. The centre takes groups on full board or half board.

Two days at the ZooParc de Beauval; a giant-panda naturalist workshop; a day in Amboise with the Clos Lucé and the town's monuments; and a day of Olympiades with team trials of sport, thinking and cooperation. Children are also invited to propose an activity of their own choosing. Grand games, themed days and evening activities run through the week, and a city stade and a large park are close by.

The centre sits in a large enclosed, wooded park with green space and a sports pitch, beside the Cher in Touraine. There is a refectory, bedroom accommodation and a separate classroom building; a city stade is nearby. Free wifi is provided. Woodland is a ten-minute walk away and the shaded park five minutes.

Supervision runs at one adult for every eight children, with a director holding the French BAFD qualification and a leader qualified in first aid (PSC1). The surroundings carry a good deal of history — Thésée is a former Gallo-Roman settlement, and the châteaux of the Loire, the vineyards and the troglodyte sites are all close at hand.