Alternative Aquitaine Blog

30% off luxury manor house near the beach in July, save nearly £2000 per week! Manoir de Seignanx is gorgeous - lovely inside, heated pool, games room, beach 8 kms. It sleeps up to 20 so between, say, 3 families it's just £1500 per week each, amazing for this quality of accommodation. It is available w/b June 30th, July 7th & July

Need a private tennis court? A heated pool? A games room? Then test out our new Villa Best For search tool, launched today...

Just back from a few days in Aquitaine and newly-opened chez Vincent in Moliets-Plage was a real highlight. A stylish, contemporary poissonnerie & restaurant, the fish & seafood is to die for! Nice, reasonably-priced wine too. It was packed on a May Tuesday night - quite an endorsement. You can also take away amazing seafood

Currently 34 degrees in St Jean de Luz compared to only 20 in Nice. And the less said about the weather here in Devon the better...

Appearing for 2 weeks only this summer is a superb, contemporary holiday home owned by the family of rugby legend J-P Bastiat. The south west coast has long been a popular playground for the brutes of French rugby. Situated at Seignosse Ocean, the villa sits on the dunes overlooking the beach and features a mix of modern and ethnic

Enter, view entries & vote here! Welcome to the 2012 Alternative Escapes photo competition! All Alternative Aquitaine and Alternative Escapes clients are eligible to enter and vote. 5 prizes of £20 Amazon vouchers are on offer for the most popular scenic shots, cameos of Aquitaine life, action scenes or just something funny or

News from Hossegor: we've just learned that a free shuttle bus connects the 5 kms between Seignosse-bourg and its lovely beaches in July & August. We've two great villas with pools in the bourg both with availability in the summer school holidays, Villa Julianna and Maison Torekov. The beach is closer than you think!

The sun's arrived, the clocks are going forward and the temperature's rising - time to think about some fun at the beach! And there's no better place for that than Les Grandes Vagues, a stunning ocean-facing apartment in Hossegor, south west France. Surfers will relish some of Europe's best swells and anyone looking to party will enjoy

The sea temperature in Hossegor is already at 13 degrees and rising - compare that to a chilly 8 or 9 in Devon! So put away your winter wetties, dust off the old 3/2 and head south to tuck in to some Grand Cru Aquitaine surf! Many breaks down there are reputed to be for experienced surfers only but actually there is good surf for all...

  Aquitaine's beaches are second to none in France, and it needn't cost the earth to spend your holiday close to them. Allée des Dunes, just 15 mins from Biarritz, offers modern chalets at around £1000 per week w/b August 18th for a family of four. Tennis courts, pool & free kids club on-site; great beach 1 km away -

Continuing Alternative Aquitaine's Affordable France theme, since when did a 4500 Euros per week holiday rental qualify for 'Affordable France'?! Well, Le Luc can sleep up to 21 people...

Aquitaine, that's where! According to the Guardian Travel on March 3rd 2012, three of the top nine secret places chosen by French celebrity chefs, musicians & designers are in Aquitaine. Charming Cap Ferret (chosen by designer Philippe Starck), beautiful Biarritz (chef Hélène Darroze), georgeous Bidart (writer Agnès Desarthe). Don't tell anyone...

Calling all Francophile runners! The Cap Ferret half marathon is a scenic, flat, course and you can breathe easily with the scent of fresh pine all around you!  For advice on the run and extending your stay with a holiday rental on Cap Ferret, speak to Justin, a running nerd and Aquitaine expert...

"Budget luxury" is a bit of a travel buzz term these days, but it does exist, even in Biarritz! In the leafy Chiberta district is this stylish three bedroom self-catering apartment, with boutique hotel standard bed linen, wifi, jacuzzi bath, plus hot tub with sea view! The beach is just 200m away; tennis, golf, surf on your doorstep

The Times picked up on our 'Affordable France' theme and ran an article featuring Chateau de Salles - our pick as 'best value' holiday destination for France 2012.

Check out our Top Tip value-for-money ideas for holidaying in France this summer: Affordable France