Champignonnière du Saut-aux-Loups

Useful Information

Location:	Avenue de la Loire, 49730 Montsoreau. Follow D947 along the Loire, at Montsoreau, at the roundabout at the western end of town. (47.2195283, 0.0458089)
Open:	Museum: 07-FEB to 03-JUL daily 10-18. 04-JUL to AUG daily 10-19. SEP to 11-NOV daily 10-18. Restaurant: 07-FEB to 11-NOV daily 11:30-16. [2026]
Fee:	Museum: Adults EUR 8.50, Children EUR 6.50, Students EUR 8, Unemployed EUR 8, Disabled EUR 8. Groups (20+): Adults EUR 8. [2026]
Classification:	Limestone Mine
Light:	Electric Light
Dimension:	T=13 °C, H=80 %.
Guided tours:	D=1 h, L=500 m.
Photography:
Accessibility:
Bibliography:
Address:	Champignonnière du Saut-aux-Loups, Avenue de la Loire, 49730 Montsoreau, Tel: +33-241-517030. E-mail: E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1900	quarry closed, beginning of mushroom growing.

Description

The Champignonnière du Saut-aux-Loups is a mushroom farm, museum, and restaurant located inside a former underground quarry. Two hectares of Medieval underground chambers are used for the growing of mushrooms, a part is an underground museum. The exhibition includes local archaeology, fossils and flints, Medieval quarrying methods, and mushroom growing.

The restaurant has a small room in a former cave house. There is a medium-sized chamber for 45 persons and a banquet hall for up to 120 guests. A large terrace overlooks the Loire.

The name Champignonnière du Saut-aux-Loups translates "Mushroom Farm of the Leaping Wolf". The mascot of the restaurant is a cartoon wolf, but actually Saut-aux-Loups means somersault. It is a term from mushroom growing: when the mushrooms reach a certain size, they fall down by their own weight with a somersault.