Buying a property in France

Sculpted by the mighty Atlantic Ocean that crashes against its shores, Brittany – known as Armorica, ‘Land of the Sea’ – is home to a wild and dramatic coastline. Head inland from this rugged beauty and you’ll find a patchwork pastoral landscape of enchanting mediaeval towns and thick verdant forests. This Celtic outpost feels a long way from Paris, with the fiercely independent locals still celebrating Breton culture today.

If you want to buy in a bucolic backdrop, Burgundy offers a tapestry of countryside cornerstones: mediaeval villages, mustard fields, and sweeping vineyards. Explore its rolling green hills and you will be whisked on a historic, gastronomic, and cultural adventure – with the region’s wealth firmly on display. Its handsome capital Dijon can rightly claim to be one of the country’s most attractive cities thanks to its architectural splendour – from half-timbered houses to elegant Renaissance buildings. To reach your rural bolthole there, you can jump on the TGV from Paris, which
takes just over 90 minutes, or hop over or under the Channel in your car and enjoy a pleasant road trip.

This popular region is named after France’s longest river that snakes through countless vineyards past opulent aristocratic estates, feudal castles, and sophisticated cities, including Orléans, Blois, Tours and Angers. Its position on the frontier between northern and southern France makes it the perfect launchpad to explore the rest of the country’s splendour. With frequent flights to Lyon and just a short train or autoroute ride from Paris, getting there in the first place isn’t too difficult.

The channel ports of the north – Dunkirk, Calais and Boulogne – aren’t just a gateway to France. Those that take the time to stop in this attractive region will discover enticing places inland and on the coast: Arras, Amiens, Beauvais, Abbeville, and Le Touquet to name a few. The 50 miles separating Dover from Calais may as well be 5,000 miles given the vast difference in culture and property prices – which are around a third to half the price of the equivalent back home. The region is appealing for anyone wanting to keep in close touch with friends and family, with ferries and the Eurotunnel whisking car passengers there in no time at all.

Extending from Provence to the Pyrenees and the border with Spain, this sun-baked coastal region is awash with reminders of its rich heritage – from Roman aqueducts to hilltop Cathar castles. Now part of the greater Occitanie region, it’s become well known for producing a third of France’s wines, and the golden beaches that line its Mediterranean shore – where you’ll find a more relaxed vibe than the excesses of the Côte d’Azur. Places of interest include Carcassonne, Montpellier, Narbonne, and Nimes – dubbed the most Roman city outside Italy. Despite being in the south, reaching your place in the sun won’t be difficult, with flights from Heathrow to Perpignan, Montpelier, and Marseille.

This wild and empty corner of France appeals to those who want to swap hectic modern life for nature and tradition. Beneath its beauty, hot volcanic springs bubble up to supply Vichy and Volvic with their iconic mineral waters, while high mountain streams conflate to form three of France’s mightiest rivers: the Dordogne, the Allier and the Loire. Add in the county’s largest area of protected landscape – the Parc Naturel Régional des Volcans d’Auvergne and its neighbour, the Parc Naturel Régional Livradois-Forez – and you won’t be surprised to hear that countryside cottages built from the local black volcanic stone dominate the property scene. You can reach your rural idyll by train from Paris to Vichy, Clermont-Ferrand, Limoges and Uzerche. The A71 motorway runs down the middle of the region.

Modern Paris’ has become a tale of two cities where the traditional touchstones – monument-lined boulevards, museums, classical bistros and boutiques – sit alongside contemporary multimedia galleries, creative wine bars, design shops and tech start-ups. The enthralling Parisian architecture remains its calling card, making it one of the most visited cities in the world – with people flocking there to view and snap iconic structures like the Louvre, the Grand Arche, Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower. You probably won’t be surprised to hear that city centre properties command eye-watering prices. Head to suburbs like Hauts-de-Seine and it gets more affordable. The capital of France is easy to reach by car, train or air.

The towering, snow-dusted Pyrenees mountains straddle the Franco-Spanish border. Snow sports enthusiasts make the pilgrimage to the region’s serrated chain of peaks and the resorts that adorn them between November and April each year. Visitors and residents share its slopes, valleys, tarns and mountain pastures with fascinating wildlife like mountain goats and brown bears. Unlike the Alps, coastal living is also an option around here: Biarritz, Bayonne, and St-Jean-de-Luz on the Atlantic coast and Perpignan on the Mediterranean. Whether you buy at altitude or on the coast, you can reach your place in the Pyrenees by flying from Heathrow to Biarritz, Pau, Agen and Perpignan