Grand Aquarium de Touraine — Attraction in Loches

This is a lovely aquarium in a charming medieval city. I have visited aquariums on the east and west coasts of the United States, as well as volunteered for one in Los Angeles. I have seen my share. My 4-year-old son loved petting the slippery koi fish in their touch tank. We were both captivated by the electric eel exhibit. It made the electrical charge of the eels, an easily unseen detail of this fascinating creature, tangible to even the youngest of patrons through an inventive visual and audio display. We strolled through large enveloping exhibits that immerse the viewer in the environment of the animals, skillfully using light and sound to create an inviting experience. My favorite was the giant catfish, Silurus Ganis. Apparently, they are native to Europe. I had never seen them before. They are in a dark tank decorated in the style of rusty metal shipwreck, moving gracefully to soft classical music like eerie freshwater whales. Though there are colorful tropical fish from other parts of the world, the native fish really shine here. The Grand Aquarium de Touraine manages to creatively curate native fish and their habitats just as well as most aquariums display more exotic and colorful animals. Definitely...

Great place to take young children and a great idea for if the weather isn't great. An entrance ticket is available as a joint ticket with the miniature château park. The staff are very friendly and speak good English, and all the information signage on the various tanks is in French and English. It is bigger than it initially looks and you can spend quite a decent amount of time there with young children running between the displays. There is lots of information and things to find for the kids to keep them entertained. It never gets old even for adults watching sharks swimming overhead and there are a few displays which are all around and above to really immerse you. There is even an interactive area and a tank of fish that you can stroke. The carpark is a bit confusing and Google maps wants to make you drive round the back to the service entrance. There isn't a restaurant or cafe, so don't expect to be able to get anything to eat other than a bottle of drink or a chocolate bar / packet of crisps. However there is a large gift shop. Highly...

Nice aquarium with a variety of animals including crocodiles, sharks, frogs, jellyfish, seahorse, eels and fish, as well as a variety of algae and corals. Very nice experience, especially with children as there is one area to stop by in between and have them color and also toilets throughout the walk. Helpful & friendly staff, however some tanks really didn’t appear sufficient for the amount of fish in them and some animals really didn’t seem lively, unfortunately. Definitely made to appeal to humans- which was proven at the koi tank, that was very shallow and small, with the purpose of a “petting zoo”. Generally not an issue but the fish had no place or opportunity to withdraw from the hands- once could obviously tell they were all trying to stay in the center where they couldn’t be touched but it just wasn’t possible in the tank. So overall a great and impressive location but I’d wish for some adjustments in the future for the...