Whatever your budget, you’ll find representatives from all the major French hotel chains across the region, covering country inns to city centre and chateaux hotels. You’ll also come across some names you may not recognise.

Around the year 1000, pilgrims from all over Europe began flocking to Santiago de Compostela in northern Spain, following the discovery of the tomb of St James. Many of them set out from Paris, their journey passing through Poitou-Charentes along two alternative routes.

France has more than its fair share of enchanting country villages but only 151 have earned the prestigious label of being amongst the Plus Beaux Villages de France, and six of these lie within the boundaries of Poitou-Charentes.

Perched on a hillside above the Charente river, Angoulême became the “Capital of paper” in the Middle Ages when dozens of mills lined the river banks. A designated “Art and History town”, Angoulême is also widely regarded as the “Capital of the image” and more especially, the comic strip.