Although city living is the best fit for our family at this phase in our lives, we all love the countryside, and in fact we dream of having a French country place of our own someday. Luckily, la vie à la campagne (country life) is incredibly easy to access in France thanks to a network of thousands of affordable gîtes (pronounced jeets), or rural rental properties, scattered throughout the country. Many of these independent homes can be rented for less than the nightly rate of a generic roadside motel in the U.S.
We’ve stayed at a storybook cottage covered in wisteria, a former chicken coop converted into a luxury retreat alongside a petit chateau, and a loft-like house with a serene pool on an estate in the heart of Provence. Typically these gîtes are managed by the owners who live on the property, often in the larger main house. In our experience, most gîte owners are retired couples who maintain two or three rental properties for extra income. We usually find them on Airbnb.
We’ve enjoyed gîtes for weekend getaways and weeklong retreats, but many families book them for two weeks or more at a time. Like any self-catering, independent property, we’re usually welcomed by the host and invited to settle into the house as if it’s our own — fully embracing the fantasy of a French country life.
So what does one do during a stay in the French countryside? Of course, that can vary greatly based on where you’re staying, but we usually seek out places where simply spending time on the property is enough to keep us happy. Scenic swimming pools, private gardens, wooded trails, and friendly farm animals are usually high on our list of must-haves when seeking out a place. One of our favorite gîtes had a lavender field planted alongside a vegetable garden where we were invited to help ourselves to the produce.
Another favorite activity in the French countryside is village-hopping. France is chock-full of charming villages, and most places we’ve stayed are near at least one of the 150-plus officially designated Plus Beaux Villages de France (most beautiful villages in France). An outing to one of these villages, where you can stroll around, visit cafes, and do a bit of shopping, is the perfect way to spend a low-key afternoon in the country. We also love visiting chateaux and churches, antique shopping at brocantes and vide-greniers, and sampling regional food on market days.
It’s a good life in the French countryside, and every time we leave the city we inevitably find ourselves scrolling through local real estate listings and dreaming of buying a place of our own. Home prices in the country can be shockingly cheap, and it’s very tempting to imagine buying a property, fixing it up, and sharing it with guests. But sadly, we’ve learned that’s not as easy as it seems.
For a while it was a pretty sweet setup for gîte owners in France, who could buy a country property for next to nothing, open a few gîtes, and make a decent living on bookings. But the laws are changing regarding short-term rentals, taxes are rising, and the government is imposing more onerous restrictions and regulations on owners. We discussed the issues with our host at a beautiful gîte in the Dordogne over Easter, a retired Brit who’s been living in France for over a decade. She’s worried, waiting for information from the powers-that-be, and wondering how to pivot to continue running a profitable business.
I don’t envy the gîte owners the challenges ahead, but I hope they’ll be able to figure out a way to move forward so that we can continue visiting and living out our French country fantasies — at least until we can have a place of our own someday.
If you’d like to stay at a gîte in the French countryside, here are a few of our favorites:
- La Chartreuse du Maine in the Dordogne — Three cozy gîtes on a sprawling estate with a beautiful pool overlooking the rolling hills of the Perigord. It's walking distance to a charming village with a great bakery, and two bikes are provided. The amazing hosts helped us plan a custom itinerary for discovering the Dordogne.
- Le Pommier Gites in the Perigord Vert — Wisteria-covered cottage surrounded by a beautiful garden and access to a pool in the countryside just outside of Riberac. Very kind British hosts and friendly cat! We stayed here on a chilly spring weekend and found it to be very cozy.
- Le Jardin d’Avignon — Two gîtes on a quiet estate not far from Avignon. Great location for exploring the Provence region. Beautiful, serene pool and very reasonable rates.
- Chateau de la Ruche — Although we stayed at the chateau itself, we heard glowing reviews of the gîte from the family staying there. The property is amazing, the hosts are incredibly kind and professional, and it’s a great home base for exploring the Loire Valley. We hope to stay in the gîte ourselves one day!
