Discover Doué-La-Fontaine: Bioparc and underground heritage

Doué-La-Fontaine offers several distinct themes for visitors: the troglodytic Bioparc, the underground presentation of Le Mystère des Faluns, a self-guided museum tour, a rose garden and a signposted walking trail through the town’s heritage. These attractions and travel options provide practical starting points for planning your visit.

Bioparc and underground presentation

The Bioparc de Doué-la-Fontaine is a troglodytic zoo with 2,000 animals. It includes a mineral-and-plant labyrinth and naturally climate-controlled tunnels. It features 125 animal species, 30 percent of which are on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species. The categories range from vulnerable to endangered and critically endangered, through to extinct in the wild. The percentage therefore covers species at different levels of threat and does not refer only to the highest category. If you include the Bioparc in your plans, you can make both its wildlife and its distinctive underground setting key parts of your visit. Seasonal visitor arrangements may vary.

Le Mystère des Faluns offers a different focus: this troglodytic attraction features an underground, scenographic tour through the subterranean spaces of Anjou. It evokes the underwater world that existed in Doué-la-Fontaine ten million years ago. The presentation includes film projections, lighting effects, blue-shimmering walls, fish imagery and a reflecting pool. While the Bioparc brings together animal species and designed tunnels, Le Mystère des Faluns focuses on this earlier underwater world. Seasonal access may vary.

Museum, rose garden and walking trail

The Musée aux anciens commerces offers a self-guided tour with explanatory panels in French. Commentary booklets are available in English, German, Dutch or Italian. This provides different language options: you can follow the French panels or use a booklet in one of these languages. Visitor materials and language options may be updated; check the latest information before your visit.

Les Chemins de la Rose is a four-hectare English-style rose garden with a walking route through the roses. Unlike the underground tours, the emphasis here is on a stroll through the garden. Rose collections and visitor programs may change.

A signposted walking trail through Doué-la-Fontaine takes adults and children to features of the town’s above-ground and underground heritage. It starts at Le Mystère des Faluns; an illustrated guidebook accompanies the walk. If you plan to take this trail, you can use its starting point at Le Mystère des Faluns and the guidebook for orientation. Route materials and explanations may be updated.

Getting there and choosing a hotel

Regular Anjou Bus services run to Doué-la-Fontaine throughout the year. Timetables and routes may change, so check the service for your travel dates. Saumur railway station is a nearby rail connection for Doué-la-Fontaine; train services may also change. Check the current rail connection before finalizing your journey.

Discover more destinations: Vernantes, Vaudelnay, Le Longeron, Antoigné, Saint-Macaire-en-Mauges, La Chapelle-Saint-Florent, Linières-Bouton, Chemillé-Melay.

For the main travel overview: Maine-Et-Loire.