Le Puy-Notre-Dame: Wine Routes and Heritage

Le Puy-Notre-Dame is surrounded by around 1,500 hectares of vineyards. Signposted circular routes and educational trails explore the wine-growing landscape; historic lanes, the collegiate church, and the Cave Vivante du Champignon offer different points of interest. When planning your trip, you can therefore consider whether you would most like to learn about winegrowing, longer hiking stages, architectural history, or underground cultural history.

Circular Routes and Winegrowing Educational Trails

Four signposted circular routes pass through vineyards, nearby hamlets, and characteristic village lanes. They range in length from 4 to 40 kilometres. This makes distance a clear point of comparison when choosing between a shorter loop and a more extensive tour. The routes offer different impressions of the area: vineyards, small hamlets, and lanes in the village.

The Circuit d’Interprétation Viticole is a 3.7-kilometre walking route with eight interactive information panels in French and English. They explain the work involved in winegrowing throughout the year. The Régalade educational trail offers a different perspective: it introduces regional grape varieties, vine pruning, and vine blossoms. At two stops, you can answer true-or-false questions. While the Circuit focuses on the work involved in winegrowing over the course of the year, Régalade covers specific topics relating to vines and grape varieties.

Cycling Route and Long-Distance Hiking Trail

The Vélofrancette route is less than five kilometres from Le Puy-Notre-Dame. If you would like to cycle there, check the route conditions in advance. For longer hikes, a 2025 route guide describes two consecutive stages of the Voie des Plantagenêts: from Doué-la-Fontaine to Le Puy-Notre-Dame, followed by Le Puy-Notre-Dame to Thouars. Check the stage details before setting out on a longer hike.

Town History and Collegiate Church

Le Puy-Notre-Dame was a fortified town and was one of the 32 walled towns of Anjou. Old town gates and walls remain in the historic lanes. As you walk around, you will see tangible traces of the town’s fortifications, which shape the historic character of the lanes.

Notre-Dame Collegiate Church dates from the 12th and 13th centuries and has welcomed visitors for more than 700 years. It houses the Sainte Ceinture relic. A pilgrimage to the relic is held annually and has been observed for centuries. The church and the surviving town fortifications offer different ways to explore the history of the town: sacred architectural history on the one hand, and gates and walls in the streetscape on the other.

Tuffeau Stone and Cave Culture

The Cave Vivante du Champignon is located in a former tuffeau stone quarry dating from the 16th century. Generations of mushroom growers and winemakers later reused the underground galleries. Tours are offered in troglodytic dwellings dating from the 16th century, where cultivated and wild mushrooms are grown. The Cave’s topics include its history, tuffeau geology, marine fossils, troglodytic dwellings, and local history. These are presented through a slideshow and staged displays.

At the end of the visit, a tasting of wines from the family winery Le Clos Saint-Maur is offered. If you are planning a tour or tasting, confirm availability before your visit. This lets you include the cave visit in your plans without confusing it with walks through the vineyards or historic lanes.

Discover more destinations: Champigné, Saint-Clément-De-La-Place, Trémont, Vauchrétien, Chazé-sur-Argos, Nueil-Sur-Layon, Contigné, Genneteil.

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