French Rural Retreats

Lovingly renovated farmhouse amid vines and sunflowers, deep in the Charente countryside - small pool in garden, beaches 45 minutes away.

A sylvan hideaway tucked into the hills of the Southern Alps, full of Provençal charm inside and out – Saint-Cézaire and the coast are close

The views take your breath away, the breakfasts are beautiful, and you feel like you're staying in the home of dear friends

Restored mill house with a stream running through the garden, and warm hosts who give you suppers made from their homegrown produce

Go with the slow - homemade delights, no plastic anything, few mod cons - just relaxed humorous hosts and a beautiful place

Lodge and gardens – superbly designed, immaculate, fresh, eco friendly – rest in unspoilt Picardy. Anglo-French hosts take turns to cook

Get away from it all in 'old' France, where melons taste like melons & hikes start from the door. This rural bolthole is a serious treat

A beautifully restored cottage in a rustic-chic style, set above the dramatic Gorges de l’Aveyron; perfect for couples or families of four

A period manor and pretty rooms in old stables: a quiet base for Pas-de-Calais and Picardie. Madame loves the house, animals, story-telling

Come to be thoroughly cosseted and nurtured in this ancient Presbytery surrounded by rolling countryside with views of the Dordogne river

Hilltop château on the edge of a small village half an hour from Saint-Émilion, with a lovely garden, a swimming pool and two lakes

A thatched farmhouse only just over the channel near Rouen that’s well hidden in lush gardens, but worth finding for the gourmet food alone

A mid 1800s converted farmhouse and a cottage in a quiet hamlet with private gardens and lovely grounds, just 15 minutes from the coast

Come for authentic restoration, chic Savoyard décor, breathtaking views of the Portes du Soleil, and a chairlift a 7-minute drive

It's not often you get an entire hamlet to yourselves but here it is – 10 traditional stone houses with big communal spaces in rural bliss

Three comfortable, modern apartments with private terraces, a lovely garden to wander, a pool, a vineyard and views of rolling hills

On the site of an old sawmill in the mountains of the Jura, a guesthouse of warmth and charm - with table d'hôtes, a pool and a spa

Bring family or friends to this beautiful 16th-century stone manor house standing in a tiny hamlet in the heart of the Dordogne