Your French villa, the one with the shutters painted the blue of a Provence sky, the fig tree heavy with fruit in the garden, and the pool that catches the afternoon light and holds it until 9pm, will be the best holiday you have ever had. Or it will be an expensive disappointment. The difference is not the region, the Dordogne, the Lubéron, the Côte d’Azur, and the Alps are all magnificent, or the budget (a £500 villa in the Lot is as beautiful as a £5,000 villa in Saint-Tropez, and the swimming is better). The difference is the planning: the weeks before the holiday, the questions you ask the owner, the research you do on the village, and the understanding that a French villa holiday is not a hotel holiday, the silence is yours to manage, the market is your kitchen, and the rhythm of the day is the rhythm of the village. Here are our top tips for your summer villa holiday in France.

French Villa Holiday, Top Tips

• 1. Book the village, not the villa: The villa is half the holiday. The village is the other half. A swimming pool is a swimming pool (the water is wet, the sun is warm, and a plastic chair by a 3-metre pool in the Ardèche is as pleasant as a sun lounger by a 12-metre pool in Antibes). The village, the boulangerie (the croissant, the baguette, the pain au chocolat, the morning walk to the bakery is the essential ritual of the French villa holiday), the café (the morning coffee, the pastis at 5pm, and the sense of belonging to the rhythm of the village that grows over the week), and the market (the Wednesday market in the medieval square, the cheese stall, the olives, the melons, the tomatoes that taste of the sun, and the sausage of the region, the saucisson sec, the essential mountain food). Essential regions: the Lot (the most beautiful river in France, the villages of Saint-Cirq-Lapopie and Rocamadour, the cliffside pilgrim village, the goat’s cheese of the same name, and the view from the top that is the most beautiful in the south-west. The Lot is quieter, greener, and cheaper than the Dordogne, and the swimming in the river, the canoes, the cliffs, and the water that is warm and clean and deep green, is the best in France), the Lubéron (the stone villages, Gordes, Roussillon, Ménerbes, the lavender fields in July, and the light: the light that brought the artists from the north, from Paris, and kept them there for the rest of their lives), and the eastern Pyrenees (the Roussillon, the Catalan corner of France, the mountains behind, the Mediterranean in front, and the villages of Collioure, the anchovies, the Matisse paintings, the castle, and the most beautiful small town on the French Mediterranean, and Castelnou, the most beautiful village in the eastern Pyrenees). Essential question for the owner: “How far is the nearest boulangerie?” If the answer is more than a 10-minute drive, find a different villa. More France →
• 2. The food, cook at home, and cook properly: The French supermarket is one of the great pleasures of the French villa holiday: the cheese counter (the 40 cheeses, the local chèvre, the Tomme de Savoie, the Comté that has been aged for 36 months), the charcuterie (the jambon de Bayonne, the saucisson from the Ardèche, the pâté de campagne), and the wine aisle (the local wine, the Cahors, the Côtes du Rhône, the rosé of Provence, that costs €5 and is better than the £15 bottle you buy at home). The essential French villa meals: the baguette-and-cheese lunch (the baguette, the cheese bought from the market, the tomato salad with basil and olive oil, the bottle of rosé, and the pool. The best lunch in the world), the barbecue (the loupiac, the sea bass, stuffed with fennel and lemon, grilled, served with the new potatoes from the market and the aioli, the garlic mayonnaise that separates the cooks from the pretenders. The essential equipment: a good knife, a garlic press, and a peppermill, French rental kitchens are notoriously under-equipped, and the three items above will transform your cooking), and the Sunday roast, the poulet rôti (a free-range chicken from the market, roasted with the garlic, the herbs, and the potatoes from the farmer at the market. The simplest and most satisfying meal of the week)
• 3. The rhythm of the day, the French way: The English villa holiday is a race: the pool by 9am, the sun until 5pm, the dinner, the wine, and the collapse. The French villa holiday is a rhythm: the morning swim (the pool to yourself, the water cold, the air fresh, and the silence), the walk to the boulangerie (the croissant, the butter of the Charentes, the layers, the flakiness, and the crumbs on the table), the market (the sensory overload, the colours, the smells, and the sweetest, most expensive strawberries you will buy, and you will buy them every day and remember them long after you have forgotten the cost), the siesta (the shutters closed, the fan turning, and the sleep that you have earned through doing nothing), the afternoon swim, the pastis on the terrace (the aniseed, the water turning the clear yellow liquid a cloudy, milky white, the louche, and the taste that is the taste of the south of France), and the dinner (the food you bought at the market this morning, the wine you bought this afternoon, and the company you brought with you. The dinner lasts until 11pm, the conversation meanders through the topics of the day, the market, the swim, the book you are reading, and the sense that this is the life you were supposed to be living)
• 4. The practical details, what you need to know: The French villa rental market is regulated by the French government, the owner must be registered, the property must meet safety standards, and the contract (the contrat de location) is governed by French law. Book through: Airbnb (the broadest selection), Gîtes de France (the most reliably good, the gîte is a standardised quality rating, from 1 épis to 5 épis, and the standard is generally higher than the equivalent Airbnb rating), or Sawday’s (the curated selection, the most beautiful properties, and the highest prices). The essential questions to ask the owner: “How close is the nearest neighbour?” (the privacy of the pool), “Is the pool saltwater or chlorine?” (saltwater is gentler on the skin, and the salt pools are more pleasant), “Is the pool heated?” (essential for May, June, and September, the unheated pool in May is a test of your commitment to the holiday), and “What is the check-out time?” (the French check-out is often 10am, and if the cleaner arrives at 10.01am and you are still sitting by the pool, you will experience, for the first time, the full force of French bureaucracy). Payment: the deposit (the caution, 25% of the rental, usually, refundable within two weeks of departure), the balance (8 weeks before arrival, by bank transfer or card), and the security deposit (the chèque de caution, a voided cheque or a card hold, not cashed unless there is damage. The French system trusts you; the Airbnb system charges you. Either works). Insurance: the standard travel insurance does not always cover villa rentals. Check the terms, particularly for cancellation (the French rental contract is binding, and the refund if you cancel is not guaranteed)