Loir-et-Cher

The Loir-et-Cher department is in central France, in the Centre-Val de Loire region, and its capital is the city of Blois. Located at the heart of the Loire Valley (a UNESCO World Heritage site), it contains the legendary Château de Chambord, the largest Renaissance château in the Loire Valley. Its economy combines agriculture, historical tourism and forestry (the Sologne region). The department's landscape varies from fertile plains to the forests and ponds of Sologne, and its cost of living is reasonable, while it is about an hour and a half from Paris by train.

Blois, Romorantin-Lanthenay, Vendôme

• Site universitaire de Blois – Université de Tours (IUT de Blois)

Major towns like Blois, Romorantin-Lanthenay and Vendôme are generally calm towns. As in many of France's tourist towns, you should watch out for pickpocketing in the city center and near the train station, but crowding and crime are lower compared to metropolises.

Public transport is mostly based on city buses and TER trains, which connect Blois to Orléans, Tours and Paris. For villages and smaller towns, having a car or a housemate with a car helps a lot.