Villa holidays in the South of France: an introduction
If you are lucky enough to be able to take your time to meander through France on the way to your villa in the South of France, you will notice that there is a point at which the scenery starts to change. Provence is different, not just in scenery, but as an experience it’s quite unlike the rest of France and has been justifiably famous with the British since the aristocracy started to arrive here en route to Italy in the late 18th Century.
These days things are a little different. Every August the South fills up as the rest of France arrives. Motorways can be horrible and the traffic near the beaches even worse. But the reputation, while sometimes deserved, is overdone. With a little homework, even in August it is still possible to find your own place in a villa with a pool in the sun far from the crowds. Here we offer a quick tour of the areas of interest.
The South of France can broadly be subdivided as follows:
The Cote d’Azur: is the area stretching West as far as Menton.
Beautiful scenery: it is here that the foothills of the Alps fall off at the coast. This dramatic combination of scenery and sea views is one of the things that makes the area so famous. Villas that are a little way inland are generally the best value for money in the area: here are some very comfortable holiday villas for about half of what one pays closer to the coast. The area is for most an ideal combination of pretty villages and accessibility of the sea when one is so inclined. Villas in the area are in the areas around Valbonne, Opio and
Tourrettes-sur-Loup. A little further West, in the areas around Grasse
are the villas with the most spectacular views in the South of France.
Villas in the area East of Nice: That is the stretch including Monaco, Cap Ferrat and going as far as the Italian border. The home of serious money. One of the reasons for this is of course the beauty of the scenery and the quality of the building. Rents for villa holidays are similarly breathtaking, either impressive or wasteful depending on how you see the world.
The Var: is basically the area around the Gulf of St Tropez. St Tropez proper is a stylish suntrap which came to prominence in the 50s when Brigitte Bardot and others graced the then undeveloped sands. The development of the town has come on some way since then and it is packed in the summer, but it retains a certain exclusivity - celebrity spotting is not hard in St Tropez. Villa holidays in St Tropez proper are not cheap - do not expect change from £15000 per week for a good villa in the town or near the famous Pampelonne beach - but as you get further inland so the scenery improves with spectacular views over the Gulf of St Tropez, and the villa rents go down. Around the Gulf at Beauvallon are a number of charming villas for about one third of what one pays a few kilometres closer to the so-called ‘action’. There are also a some attractive and realistically priced villas near the charming village of Grimaud. The style of villas in the St Tropez area is dictated by local government, and must be in a Provencal style. Further West, towards Grasse, a more modern style of villa can be found alongside the traditional Mas Provencal.
Practical considerations: If you have taken villa holidays in Spain and Portugal, you will be used to certain things being included in the price: cleaning, utilities, laundry and so on. That is not always the case in France where the usual way is for tenants to pay for all electricity, gas, water, cleaning, and laundry as an extra, and sometimes linen hire too. You will however find that most UK tour operators do try to include these things so as to take the guesswork out of the budgeting, but it is always wise to ask! Also tradition in France dictates that some villa owners insist on minimum two-week bookings in villas during peak periods, again ask if you want a single week. The airports for the areas mentioned are at Nice and Toulon.
Useful information about France is at France Monthly.