The Facts

  • Departments - Dordogne (24), Gironde (33), Landes (40), Lot-et-Garonne (47) and Pyrénées-Atlantique (64)
  • Access – Aquitaine is easily reached by main motorways or national routes and Calais to Bordeaux is about 8 hours. In addition to the direct regular flights from London to Bordeaux, a number of cheap airlines fly to regional airports such as Pau and Biarritz. A TGV can be picked up from Paris, which will take you directly into Aquitaine.
  • Climate – Mild temperatures all year round, enough rain to provide a green, floral environment, plenty of sunshine to enjoy the delights of the beach in spring, summer and autumn. Summers in the inland areas can be very hot (record temperatures of 40C+ in 2003) whereas the coasts and Pyrenees remain cooler thanks to sea-breezes and altitude.
  • Well known for - foie gras, confit de canard, truffles, veal, goose, hare, oysters, armagnac and St Emiliion wine.

About the Region

One of the popular departments is the Lot et Garonne, a rich rolling land where the finest tomatoes in the world are grown at Marmande and indisputably the plumpest plums, making Agen the centre of the prune trade for centuries. The great Canal du Midi flows gently through this region of leaded chateaux and bastide villages on it’s way to Toulouse, Carcassonne and henceforth to the Mediterranean.

Bordeaux itself is a great historic port, with regular flights to the UK and Spain and fantastic shopping. The city is in the Gironde department, most famous for growing some of the worlds’ most sought after wines.

In fact, Aquitaine itself is just one big vineyard. With 145,000 hectares of vines, 90% of which are Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (Designation of Origin) areas, Aquitaine is the biggest region of fine wines in the world! Viticulture represents 39% of the region’s farming production, with around 8 million hectolitres of red, rosé and white wine produced each year, making… one billion bottles.

Property for Sale in Aquitaine, France

The landscape here is flatter and property hunters may find better value as long as they search away from the bigger towns and cities and avoid the more obvious tourist spots. Likewise the Landes is relatively unexplored by overseas buyers and offers forests, lakes and interesting domestic architecture.

Low cost flights to Toulouse and Bordeaux make the Lot and Garonne extremely desirable, but bargains are still to be found in the property market, a little gentle research is all that’s needed.

If you do your research you can pick up a renovation project for under €30,000. Two bed town houses can be bought for under €60,000 and detached houses for around €180,000 upwards.

The website currently advertises over 30 properties for sale in Aquitaine, with the list changing frequently.

Property for Rent in Aquitaine, France

The website currently advertises over 600 self-catering rental properties in Aquitaine and over 70 chambre d’hotes, hotels or Auberges.

Prices start at around €50 per room per night for bed and breakfast and around €500 a week for a 1 bedroom self-catering property.