Gîtes and Villas in Aquitaine

Aquitaine stretches from the Atlantic coast through pine forests and vineyards to the edge of the Pyrenees, taking in the elegant city of Bordeaux and a vast hinterland of rivers, medieval bastide towns and some of France's finest wine estates. It's a region that rewards slow exploration: rent a gîte here and you can follow country roads through the Médoc or Graves appellations, spend mornings at outdoor markets, and still reach Atlantic surf beaches within an hour's drive.

The self-catering rentals in this part of south-west France suit families after space, couples touring the wine routes, and anyone who wants a base for both city culture and rural quiet. Bordeaux itself is compact enough for a day trip, while the Dordogne valley, the Arcachon basin and the Landes forest all lie within comfortable reach.

About Aquitaine

Aquitaine was historically a powerful duchy — Eleanor of Aquitaine married two kings and shaped medieval politics from here — and the English held sway over Bordeaux and its wine trade for three centuries. That legacy shows in the Gothic bulk of Cathédrale Saint-André de Bordeaux and in the continuing appetite for claret across the Channel. The 18th-century wealth of the wine merchants rebuilt central Bordeaux in pale limestone, and UNESCO now protects more than 1,800 hectares of that neoclassical cityscape.

Beyond Bordeaux the character shifts. The Médoc peninsula runs north between estuary and ocean, its gravel soils thick with cabernet vines and its village names — Pauillac, Margaux, Saint-Estèphe — familiar from wine lists. Inland to the east, the country softens into mixed farming, bastide market towns and the first limestone ridges of Périgord. South and west, the Landes forest — Europe's largest maritime pine plantation — reaches down to the Basque coast, sheltering long straight beaches and dozens of laid-back surf towns.

People stay in Aquitaine for the combination: serious gastronomy without Paris prices, beaches that don't require Mediterranean crowds, and enough wine estates, markets and riverside villages to fill a fortnight without seeing the same place twice.

Things to do in Aquitaine

Start with Bordeaux, an hour or so from most gîtes in the region. Place de la Bourse is the postcard shot — symmetrical 18th-century facades reflected in the shallow pool of the Miroir d'eau — but the whole riverside quarter between Porte de Bourgogne and the Jardin public repays a morning on foot. The Cité du Vin is a wine museum with tasting sessions and a panoramic bar; it explains appellations, terroir and the mechanics of ageing without requiring prior knowledge. For contemporary art in an unusual setting, Bassins des Lumières projects immersive digital exhibitions inside a cavernous former submarine base.

Further into the city, Cathédrale Saint-André de Bordeaux has royal wedding history and a separate belltower you can climb, while the Grosse Cloche — a 15th-century gate and clock tower — marks the old medieval core. The Opéra National de Bordeaux performs in the Grand-Théâtre, a columned neoclassical building that predates the Revolution. On the right bank, Darwin Eco-système occupies a former barracks turned cultural space: skate park, organic café, street art and a programme of markets and gigs.

Food & drink

Aquitaine is serious about what it eats. Oysters come from the Arcachon basin, duck and foie gras from farms inland, and Espelette pepper drifts up from the Basque country to the south. Bordeaux's Capucins market runs every morning except Monday and remains resolutely local — fishmongers, cheese stalls, rotisserie chickens, seasonal vegetables. Wine is the constant: reds dominate, but try a chilled white Graves with oysters or the sweet Sauternes with blue cheese.

The food retail here is well organised — hypermarkets like E.Leclerc Saint Médard en Jalles and Carrefour Mérignac stock serious wine sections alongside the usual groceries — but it's the small-town markets and vineyard cellar doors that make self-catering here worthwhile. Buy direct from producers, cook simply, drink well.

Getting there

Bordeaux–Mérignac airport is around 40 kilometres from the centre of the region and has frequent low-cost flights from UK airports. Bergerac, 88 kilometres away, is another Ryanair option and can be closer depending on where your gîte is located. If you're driving, the ferry from Portsmouth to Saint-Malo (Brittany Ferries) is 476 kilometres north — a full day's drive but manageable if you break it at the Loire. Eurostar to Paris Gare du Nord is 533 kilometres away; from there, high-speed TGVs reach Bordeaux in just over two hours.

A car is useful once you're here. Bordeaux itself is walkable, but wine routes, market towns and beaches spread out across a wide area with limited bus services between them.