Set in the countryside around Vitré, the neo-Gothic Château du Bois Cornillé overlooks a landscaped park of centuries-old trees, dotted with meadows, ponds and copses.
Set aside plenty of time and wear sturdy shoes: the Bois Cornillé park stretches across a vast 50-hectare estate, with woods and terraces to explore at your leisure. You can stroll around with the breeze in your hair, armed with a map showing the site’s 22 points of interest. Laid out in the 19th century in two phases of work by the landscape architects Bühler and then André, the park forms a harmonious whole where French-style flowerbeds, landscaped meadows and bridle paths sit side by side. The bell towers of Val d’Izé and the castle’s turrets come into view as walkers round a bend in the woods. There are no exotic species here; instead, oaks, lime trees and plane trees form an integral part of the landscape. In terms of heritage, the Bois Cornillé park is home to a number of fine points of interest, including a chapel, an orangery, toll houses and an unusual prison gate, moved here from Rennes in 1905.