Regular British visitors like to keep it secret: the best way to explore the unspoiled countryside of the Pays de la Loire is in a boat.

With about 250 miles of waterways, all clean, flowing rivers plus the historic Nantes to Brest Canal, the Pays de la Loire is just the place for messing about in a boat.

Rent a cruiser (sometimes referred to as a �houseboat� in French) and go as you please. These are like a home-from-home, with beds and showers, kitchen and sitting room. Boats can sleep from 2-4, right up to 10-12. Easy to steer, no licence required.

Get tips on where to eat and what to see from lock keepers along the way; tie up where you want. Wake up to see cows munching in meadows, kingfishers catching breakfast. Rent bikes so that you can make mini-excursions into the country lanes. This riverboat holiday could be the most relaxing �active holiday� ever!

START ON THE SARTHE Pick up your cruiser at the marina in Sabl�-sur-Sarthe, a classic small French town. Load up with baguettes, p�t� and cheese, not forgetting the wine and the town�s famous sabl�s, shortbread-like biscuits. Then tootle off along the 82-mile long Sarthe, one of France�s prettiest rivers. Attractions include Solesmes, the Benedictine abbey that is a world centre for Gregorian chant, and Malicorne-sur-Sarthe, famous for its faience, decorative pottery. Details: www.anjou-navigation.fr; tourist board www.tourisme.sarthe.com

GOING GREEN From Nantes, there are two ways to explore the Erdre and the S�vre Nantaise rivers. To do your own thing: rent a Ruban Vert, a �green� and silent boat with an electric engine www.rubanvert.fr. Or board a Bateaux Nantais for a lunch or dinner cruise. On a warm evening, dinner is particularly romantic www.bateaux-nantais.fr

THE MAYENNE ATTRACTION Genuinely rural in the north, the Mayenne is the sort of natural river you remember from children�s books, such as Swallows and Amazons. With their neat cottages and gardens, villages along the banks seem unchanged for decades: M�nil, Chenill�-Chang�, Grez-Neuville. Mayenne itself has a massive stone bridge and even more massive castle, home of a revamped museum www.museeduchateaudemayenne.fr. At Le Lion d�Angers, where the pretty River Oudon joins the Mayenne, you can tour the stables and watch international show jumping at one of France�s national studs. www.maine-anjou-rivieres.com

CAN YOU CANOE? Another easy option is renting a canoe or kayak. Only 20 minutes south-east of Nantes, you are deep in vineyards. See them as you paddle along the S�vre Nantaise river. There are also small, lesser-known vineyards (Coteaux du Loir, Jasni�res) along the banks of Le Loir, the tributary spelled without an �e� on the end � not to be confused with La Loire, its big sister.

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