How much should you budget for your French holiday? These are some of the costs you should be prepared for…

Unless you are staying in a rented town house or city centre apartment - in which case you may have travelled by air, coach, ferry or Eurostar - it is more than likely that you will arrive at your rental property in a hire car or your own car.

The appeal of many out-of-town rental properties is their isolation, miles away from anywhere, including a bus stop or railway station. So a car is almost essential, not least of all because of the inevitable extra luggage you have to take for self-catering.

Every year, France welcomes over 75 million tourists across its borders. This figure makes it the most popular holiday destination in the world with 25 million more visitors annually than the USA, the second most popular destination.

A large attraction for many people is France’s incredible diversity. Being the largest country in Western Europe, France’s territory encompasses many varied features. It has five different mountain ranges, vast plains, borders with seven different countries (as well as containing the independent state of Monaco), numerous major rivers and coastlines on the Channel, Mediterranean and Atlantic Ocean.

This is the second part of our guide to the top ten places to rent property in France, detailing the type and style of property available in each as well as an indication of seasonal prices.

An area spread out over four departments (counties), the Loire river valley is famed for its historic towns and breath-taking castles, set against a backdrop of never-ending vineyards. Its climate is also noticeably better than the north of France and it is easily accessible from several airports in the region, including the Val de Loire airport in Tours that has regular services to the UK.

This is the third part of our guide to the top ten places to rent property in France, detailing the type and style of property available in each as well as an indication of seasonal prices.

Painters such as Cezanne and Van Gogh were fascinated by sun, colour and rural life of Provence, painting masterpieces of its grape harvests, Cyprus trees and other features of its countryside. It also provided inspiration for authors such as Marcel Pagnol (whose classic novels Jean de Florette and Manon des Souces were set in the region) and Peter Mayle who engraved the Provencal countryside into the psyche of British Francophiles with his novel, A Year in Provence.