The Loire is the longest river in France. With a length of 1013 kilometres, it drains an area of 117.000 km2 which represents more than a fifth of France's land area.
It rises in the Cévennes in the département of Ardèche at 1.350 m near Mont Gerbier de Jonc, and flows for over 1000 km north through Nevers to Orléans, then west through Tours and Nantes until it reaches the Bay of Biscay at St Nazaire. Its main tributaries include the Maine, Nièvre and the Erdre rivers on its right bank, and the Allier, Cher, Indre, Vienne, and the Sèvre Nantaise rivers on the left bank.
The banks are characterized by vineyards and chateaux in the Loire Valley.
le canal de la Loire à Briare, dans le département du Loiret