Situated between Angers and Tours, Saumur is a historic city dominated by one of the most famous castles in France. Immortalized in the illustrations for Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, (among the most famous examples of French Medieval art), the castle, like many of the great Châteaux of the Loire Valley, is built with the same tuffeau limestone that underlies the great vineyards of the region. The area around Saumur provided stone for most of the great Châteaux of the Loire Valley as well as for Westminster Abbey and other great structures in France and England. Excavations left from building castles and palaces resulted in a network of hundreds of miles of underground tunnels. These ready-made cellars make Saumur the ideal center for the Fines Bulles®, the sparkling wines of the Loire.

In addition to the famous sparkling wines (including Saumur Brut and Crémant de Loire) Saumur also produces Saumur-Champigny, one of the Loire Valley's great red wines.

Saumur is also the home of France's National Riding School and the famous Cadre Noir. The annual Carousel (an equestrian show that takes place in Saumur in July) draws thousands of visitors every summer.