NEW gites in the Dordogne

 

We’ve recently welcomed some new properties onto France for Families, so check out some highlights in the beautiful region of the Dordogne, in the Aquitaine region of France.

These gites in France all have a unique character, whilst sharing this gorgeous location.  Suitable for families or couples or even a group of friends enjoying a holiday together in France, this range of gites and holiday homes also offers something for all budgets.

The Dordogne is one of the most popular inland destinations for the Brits, due to the stunning medieval castles, historical villages and towns, and the famous prehistoric caves of the UNESCO listed Vezere Valley. Highlights include Sarlat, popularly known as the ‘medieval capital of the Dordogne’, the ancient stone houses along the river at La Roque-Gageac and Chateau de Montfort, a fairytale castle on a hill a few kilometres from Sarlat.Why choose the Dordogne for your holiday to France?  Check out more about the Dordogne region here.

Maine de la Garde

Aquitaine, Dordogne
Saint Martin de Riberac
4 bedroom, sleeps 6
£500 – £900 per week

 

MainegitepoolSituated on top of a hill with superb views over rolling countryside, Maine de la Garde is a spacious 18th century farmhouse, fully renovated to be a comfortable and well-equipped family home.

There’s great emphasis on the outdoors, with a 12m x 5m heated pool, and two and a half acres of garden and hilltop meadow, surrounded by fields and woods – so lots of space for children to run around.

It’s a remarkably peaceful location, yet close to Ribérac with its famous market and all the amenities you need. Great for painting, walking, cycling, canoeing, or just relaxing and enjoying the many and varied delights of the region.

 

Find out more about Maine de la Garde here >>>

 

Les Chardonnerets Luxury Gites

Aquitaine Dordogne
Thiviers
2 bedroom, sleeps 6
£325 – £875

Chardonnetsgarden

This beautiful selection of gites in the Dordogne offer you everything you need for a relaxing holiday.

These 5 individually designed gites are each furnished and equipped to the same high standard but with their own unique charm.

Features that you will enjoy as standard in all of the accommodation include:
• Fully equipped kitchens including dishwasher, microwave, washing machine, coffee maker and toaster
• Comfortable living areas with lounge furniture and log fires.
• English TV and radio as well as a DVD and CD player.
• Private patio & garden area with garden furniture and BBQ provided.
• Toilet facilities upstairs and down.
• Central heating for year-round comfort.

Plus the all important internet access!

Find out more about Les Chardonnerets gites here >>>

La Roche Chabrelle – Papillon

Aquitaine, Dordogne,
Saint Just
Bedroom 4 Sleeps 6
From £345 ato £995 per week

LarochechabrellegitepoolSet in spacious grounds on a hilltop with wonderful views, La Roche Chabrelle is a family friendly gîte complex with 4 gites.

Three of the gites are near to the heated 12 x 6 swimming pool, the other, Papillon, is more secluded with a private garden.

There are plenty of walks and cycle rides on the doorstep, canoeing on the nearby river Dronne and many cafes bars and restaurants just a short drive away. Brantome, the nearest town is known as the Venice of the Dordogne and has an excellent market.

Papillon is an exceptional Gîte with a very well equipped fitted kitchen including cooker, fridge, freezer , dishwasher and microwave. The beautiful large vaulted and beamed sitting room overlooks the garden. There are two twin bedrooms and one double bedroom. Bathroom with bath and shower. Washing machine. Separate WC. Private garden with terrace, garden furniture and BBQ. The kitchen/diner has a wood burning stove. Bed linen and a generous welcome pack are provided. Free Internet access is available as is UK & French TV, subject to availability.

This is a paradise for children who love having the freedom of five acres to play in. There are swings, a badminton net, a small football pitch and a cricket rebound net and a games cave with table tennis and table football. There is also have a troglodyte cave on site which was inhabited during medieval times.

Find out more about La Roche Chabrelle here >>>

 

Les Charmettes

Aquitaine, Dordogne
Saint-Geyrac
3 bedrooms, sleeps 5
£350 to £695 per week

Les Charlottes gite Dordogne

Les Charmettes is a beautifully restored French farmhouse within easy reach of Perigueux in the Dordogne.

Surrounded by meadows and trees, the house offers all creature comforts and privacy, where you can either chill or explore the nearby towns of Les Eyzies, Le Bugue, Sarlat, Lascaux, to name a few.

The gite itself caters for nature lovers with a wide range of animals and birds from hares to hawks and buzzards, and many varieties of wild flowers and butterflies.
The gite offers the following:
• Comfortably accommodating two couples or a family of four, the gite is light and airy.
• Well appointed kitchen with hob, oven, fridge, dishwasher.
• UK & French TV is available as is free WiFi connectivity.
• Off the kitchen is the master bedroom, which has its own ensuite bathroom.
• Off the main hallway is another double bedroom with its own loo/shower.
• The upstairs twin bedroom has a beautiful view over the meadow.
• The tiled floor has u/f heating for winter lets.
• Outside there is a rear patio for private sunbathing, and the terraced deck offers an excellent al fresco dining area for BBQ cooking or breakfast outside; overlooking the paddock.
• Pets are welcome.

Find out more about Les Charmettes gite here >>>

Le Magnolia Chambres d’Hotes (B&B)

Aquitaine, Dordogne
Cherveux-Cubas
3 bedrooms, sleeps 6
55 euro to 75 euro per night

Magnolia Chambres d'hote gite

This bed and breakfast gite is nestled in a quiet corner of the little village of Cubas, yet with very easy access to many towns, including Excideuil, Hautefort and Perigeux.

The beautiful Maison de Maitre has been fully renovated to provide a very high standard of accommodation whilst remaining cosy.  The large garden offers somewhere to relax or run around, depending on your age!   The gite is within easy walking distance of two fantastic restaurants, a bar, butcher, baker, doctor, pharmacy and post office and three minutes walk brings you to the river and canoeing facilities.

All three of the bedrooms are arranged around a guest landing which makes us particularly suitable to families. If you were to book all three rooms you would effectively be able to keep bedroom doors open which helps when you have little ones!   A full continental breakfast is included in all prices which are per room, per night.

Find out more about Le Magnolia B&B here >>>

Dormouse, Pont de Fournil

Aquitaine, Dordogne
Saint Laurent des Hommes
1 bedroom, sleeps 4
220 – 270 per week

pointdefournilgitesunset

In the heart of the Dordogne lies the picturesque Pont de Fournil, a beautifully tranquil campsite with holiday gites.

Nestling amongst the trees on an 8-acre site are six pitches with electric emplacements with hook-ups and choice of hard standing and tree shade, and three charming chalets. Both with a stunning views of the River Isle, which flows serenely past creating an enchanting setting for a perfectly relaxing holiday in the Dordogne.

You can be as laid back or energetic as you like, either lounging round the swimming pool or making full use of the tennis court. There is also a three acre fishing lake on site.

The Dormouse gite sleeps 2/3, this smaller gite is ideal for couples, or people who are looking for a longer stay (great savings to be made ….the longer you stay the less you pay) with lovely views over the River.  The accommodation comprises of one double bedroom with ensuite toilet and shower,  an open plan lounge and kitchenette with sofa bed plus an
outside terrace with patio set.

Find out more about Pont de Fournil here >>>

 

La Grange

Aquitaine, Dordogne
Razac de Saussignac
4 bedrooms, sleeps 10

£1000 – £3000 per week

lagrangegitedordogne

La Grange Sud is a stunning farmhouse gite in the Western Dordogne, close to the pretty towns of Bergerac, Duras and Eymet.

The villa is easily accessible by car being six hours from Caen and St Malo ferry ports – (guests receive a 20% discount with Brittany Ferries).

This holiday property offers space for solitude as well as communal areas for socialising, and has many interests for the very young as well as older guests.

Facilities include a very affordable optional chef with a range of dining experiences, heated pool with retractable cover, complimentary WIFI, UK satellite TV with full sports package, air conditioning, safes, supersize trampoline, plasma TV, hundreds of DVD’s, large selection of new bikes and helmets in 3 sizes, golf trolleys, clubs and bags, book library, board games, flat screen TV’s in bedrooms.

A heated pool is at the centre of the private pool area. A retractable cover and night lighting ensures the pool can be enjoyed continuously from Easter to the end of October, with a guaranteed minimum temperature of 24 degrees.

Guests can choose whether to relax by the pool, enjoy a range of beauty treatments without leaving the farmhouse, cycle through the large network of quiet lanes, taste the famous local wines of St Emilion and Monbazillac, visit the colourful Issigeac market, enjoy canoeing and go karting, sample the delights of L’Imparfait in Bergerac, one of the many wonderful restaurants, or enjoy a peaceful round of golf at Chateau Vigiers, followed by a golfers massage at the house – La Grange Sud is a wonderful holiday venue with something for everyone at any time of the year!

Find out more about La Grange Sud here >>>

Acabanes

Aquitaine, Dordogne
Thenac
6 bedrooms, sleeps 16
£1200 to £4500 per week

Acabanes gites pool france
Welcome to Acabanes – a large, luxury holiday home, in a beautiful area of the Western Dordogne, South West France; close to the pretty towns of Bergerac, Duras and Eymet. For golf enthusiasts, it is 4 miles from Chateau Vigiers.

With six bedrooms and four en suite bathrooms, the villa can accommodate ten adults and six small children. Ideal for family groups and extremely child friendly but also perfect for couples wanting a romantic break. Acabanes has been successfully dog friendly for 15 letting seasons, with an enclosed two acre garden and fantastic traffic free walks from the doorstep.

The villa offers room for solitude in addition to spacious communal areas for socialising, and accommodates the very young as well as older guests with limited mobility.

Extensive facilities are provided for all interests; fast speed WIFI, 50” plasma, full satellite TV, Air Con in all upstairs bedrooms, laptop safe, championship pool table, kids snooker table, table football, trampoline, table tennis, racket sports, vast selection of DVDs, gym, infra red sauna, large selection of bikes, Wendy House, sand pit, toddler plastic cutlery & crockery, high chairs, push chairs, cots, Four Poster bed, football goals, play area, hammocks, sun loungers, hairdryers, tea/coffee in bedrooms, book library, board games, gaming table, Viners cutlery, Denby crockery, Le Creuset, Weber BBQ’s.

The 11 x 5 m private, saltwater heated pool has a retractable cover and night lighting, and is enjoyed continuously from Easter to the end of October, with a minimum temperature of 24 degrees.

Find out more about Acabanes here >>>

Family holiday south of France Nice

8 Euro-busting ideas for 2017 holidays to France

If you’re a keen traveller to France, then it can hardly have escaped your notice that the pound’s value in relation to the euro is not at it’s best.

It’s not quite the car crash of the near-parity experience we had a few years back, but it’s not great.

 

Even if the money exchange is not your thing, the constant talk of ‘Brexit’ and the instability of everything concerning this will certainly have brought the question of ‘how many euros / dollars can I get for my pound’ into regular conversation.

The question is, what impact will the exchange rate have on holiday-makers making their decision on where to go for 2017? If you want to take the family to France, how much is it going to cost you?

Will 2017 again be the year of the ‘staycation’ where most of the country descends on the somewhat cramped conditions of Cornwall or are you determined that your family holiday abroad is to be saved at all cost?

There are certainly ways and means of making your money go further so that your family break doesn’t require a second mortgage (although at the current interest rates that’s not such a bad thing).

So here is France for Families guide to making the most of your money for family holidays to France.

 

Helleguy

1) Buy in £s
It may seem obvious but the biggest spend is going to be the holiday accommodation. We are lucky in the UK that there are many big holiday companies who sell holidays to France in pound sterling. By purchasing in pounds you don’t have to worry about the exchange rate and whether you would get a better deal one day or the next.

 

 

HELLEGUY, BRITTANY

 

 

Benodet breaks, Brittany, outdoorpool2) Buy smart – last minute deals
Here’s a top tip from someone who works in the travel industry (erm, me). The bigger holiday companies always price check against each other, on either a daily, weekly or monthly basis. New discounts tend to come out at the beginning of the month when they have assessed how the previous month has done.

The bigger French holiday companies, such as Eurocamp, Siblu Holidays or Pierre & Vacances will have a lot of ‘availability’ (holiday homes) to sell and would much rather it sold that lying empty, so watch out for those last minute bigger discounts.

 BENODET BREAKS, BRITTANY

There is still a lot to be said for hanging on to the last-minute if you want a great deal and you aren’t particularly fussy where you go. The only thing you need to be careful of is your ferry crossing. The short sea crossings from Dover to Calais generally have good availability right to the last minute. However the longer western channel crossings from Brittany Ferries tend to get more limited and more expensive the closer it gets to the departure date.

Unfortunately, Brittany Ferries is a French-run company (and I mean that in the nicest way) and the French don’t tend to like discounting. One, they don’t need to because they are the only ferry provider on some routes so it’s their way or the no-way, and secondly because their availability gets booked up quickly.

This is something to bear in mind if you want to book a last-minute holiday to western Brittany, you could have a long drive from the Calais or Dunkirk.

Luxury Vendee Villa3) Buy smart – French Gites
So, there are the big companies that are highly competitive on holiday accommodation and there are small privately owned companies who run their own campsites or gites.

If you are after a gite holiday to France, the tricky thing here is that they are sold on an individual basis. So if you like the look of a particular holiday home, you need to consider booking fast and in advance otherwise you will be disappointed.

So, how do you buy smartly for a French gite holiday?

 LUXURY VENDEE VILLA, VENDEE

Firstly, many French gites are owned and operated by Brits, you’ll find many of them listed on franceforfamilies.com. This goes back to point 1 – find out if you can pay for the accommodation in pounds as oppose to euros. You may find that they have UK bank accounts that you can transfer money into, thus saving you money on UK to France bank transfer fees as well as potentially losing on the exchange rate.

Secondly any French gite worth it’s ‘sel’ (salt!) will have a listing on that well-known review site. Yes, TripAdvisor, that’s the one. Check it out. Read the reviews. Balance the negatives against the positives. If they have a nice four-star rating based on a good number of reviews you’re going to get value for money.

If the gite you’re interested in has good reviews then you probably need to get in quick and here is where booking in advance can do you a favour. If you book a year in advance it the owners will probably sell at the current years price. They will be keen to secure an early booking and so be inclined to give you an early booking discount. Don’t be afraid to negotiate, but do remember that most gite owners are independents and certainly with owners on our website, they are there for the love of France and to share that love with you. Don’t be too mean!

Top tip for your cross-channel ferry– many gite owners have a discount arrangement with Brittany Ferries and may pass on this discount to you – always check when booking.

4) Pools & stuff
So you’ve found the type of holiday that you want, whether a traditional French gite or an all singing and dancing holiday park and you have decided on the accommodation you like.

Next thing to think about is the family. And by family I mean the children. Yes, the old adage “if the kids are happy then I’m happy” certainly comes into play for a holiday.

What is it that the kids need on holiday that will stop them hounding you day and night with their declarations of boredom? And most importantly, is it included in the price?

Holiday parks operated by Siblu offer ‘fun passes’ with their holidays, which give you access to their pool complexes, bars and restaurants. Their holiday parks or campsites in France tend to be quite full on with daytime and evening entertainment. Great for kids of all ages, but in particular older children and teenagers who love to get involved in clubs and activities such as football. You can basically kick them out of the mobile home in the morning and just welcome them back at mealtimes.

 

siblu les charmettes

SIBLU LES CHARMETTES

Great for you to sit on the sunlounger and finish War and Peace. Or Fifty Shades. Or whatever the latest blockbuster is.

If you prefer something a little less ‘sociable’ and more private, then look for gites with private pools, or at least shared with just a few other people. These can very much suit the family just looking to get away from it all and relax in peace.

Some gites also offer games rooms, outdoor play areas with equipment such as trampolines etc, so check that out when booking. Although bouncing on a trampoline in thirty-degree heat may not appeal to you, it’s amazing what a ten year old still enjoy

5) Book with friends and families
There are lots of holiday homes and gites in France that cater for large groups, with places having up to twelve bedrooms for example or sleeping up to twenty-five!

Holidays are a great time for families to come together in a ‘neutral zone’, i.e. you’re not invading anyone’s home space. The biggest advice I can ever offer (with plenty of experience) is that you always seem to get on better with your in-laws in a home that isn’t your own. Or their own. And on holiday.

Chateau de Seguin

CHATEAUX LE SEGUIN, CHARENTE

And of course the great thing is you can share costs.

You can search on franceforfamilies.com by number of bedrooms and number of ‘sleepers’. (Just saying).

6) The dreaded tolls
If you’re heading from Calais in a direction due south, there’s no avoiding the toll roads. Well there is, but we wouldn’t really recommend it, your journey will become twice as long. If you want to know more about toll costs, read our handy gude here.

A handy tip for tolls is to pay on a credit card that you can use abroad free of charge. I have used a Nationwide credit card and a pre-paid credit card from the Post Office. Believe me, there is nothing worse that using a credit card which charges you an extra £3 each time you swipe it at a toll booth.

So find a good no-charge card and use that. It’s quicker than fumbling around for French change and you’ll get through the toll booths quicker.

Alternatively, here’s something to think about. There are very few toll roads in the west of France. Virtually none in Brittany and very few down through the Vendee and Charente. If you catch a cross-channel ferry from Portsmouth to Le Harve, Cherbourg or St Malo for example, you can travel around Brittany toll free.

7) Holiday shopping
Sorry I don’t mean the interesting stuff like bikini’s and new beach shoes. These are the essentials that you buy when you are on holiday, like beer and wine. And food.

Olive stall

I don’t know about you, but I was always a bit snobby when it came to Lidl and Aldi. (Did you know that both these companies are owned by brothers who had an argument and went their separate ways in the food supermarket industry?). However, Lidl in France was a bit of a revelation. When you can tear yourself away from the wonder of a new DIY cement mixer or three blankets for three euros in this local supermarket, you will discover some very nice food at extremely good prices.

The meat section is especially good, with some good BBQ items, perfect for that French gite al fresco experience and a range of nice cheap beers and surprisingly drinkable wine.

For the kids, you can do no better than to buy twenty-four ice-creams that are very similar to Magnums for a princely sum of about three euros. (I may have exaggerated slightly for dramatic purposes, but they are still great value).

8) Eating out
Eating out in France hasn’t been a cheap option for some time. But a holiday to France isn’t a real holiday without trying to work out what on earth steak tartare is, so here’s some handy tips:

Eating out in France

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Look for a ‘formule’ deal, which is a French set menu. You may see a 10 / 12 / 15 ‘formule’ that offers a starter, main and desert. This will a more limited choice, but often good food.
  • The restaurant will probably make up for lost profits with expensive soft drinks so if you can avoid the Fanta and Coke and see if you can make do with either water (free) or a ‘syrup’ – a cordial juice with water.
  • House wine in France is much more palatable than house wine in the UK, so don’t be afraid to order a ‘carafe’ of the local tipple. It’s cheaper and tastes fine.
  • The very touristy places on the sea front or by a harbour have a tendency not to be very good in my experience. Overpriced and poor food quality. So head inland slightly and you’ll find restaurants that work that little bit harder for your custom.

So here are some handy euro-busting tips from France for Families. Hope they prove useful for your next family holiday to France!