French Cottages

Expertly Curated French Holidays,Your Home in France since 1998
For 27 years, French Cottages has offered highly curated holiday homes across France — with personal, human travel guidance based on decades of first-hand experience, totally unlike the automated platform bookings.
Every enquirer receives access to our 123-page French Travel Guide — a professionally printed and online resource, which is, as far as we know,
unique in the world, filled with practical travel advice distilled from decades of experience travelling in France.

ORDER YOUR FREE COPY RIGHT NOW

WHAT WE OFFER
French Cottages is an Australian-owned, boutique travel specialist offering a hand-picked collection of high-quality holiday homes — including cottages, apartments and villas — in France.

Our properties are located in the historic hearts of four exceptional French regions, each centred around one carefully chosen hub village that allows you to live like a local while exploring the surrounding area.

Each property is chosen for its quality, location, and ability to deliver an authentic, comfortable French holiday experience.

With French Cottages, you benefit from expert French travel guidance before, during and after your stay.
“You get so much more than just rental accommodation in France with French Cottages.” — Peter and Liz Rogers, guests

If you’re looking for a thoughtful, experience-led way to explore France, along with carefully chosen places to stay and practical advice that actually helps, you’re in the right place.

If you already know us and simply want to check availability for your dates, you can view our always up-to-date live availability calendar here:  
LIVE AVAILABILITY CALENDAR.
PLEASE NOTE that we are not a booking platform and we normally
operate on a Friday to Friday weekly booking cycle during
the main season from April to October.

For the past 27 years, our guests have enjoyed the benefits of Hub-Based Travel — a way of travelling where you base yourselves in a vibrant, living French village (not a purpose-built tourist centre), then explore the surrounding region from your own home in France, living like a local.
This provides a much deeper,  more genuine and interesting experience than all those commercial tours and river cruises, which are not only expensive but superficial.

Make your itinerary “Hubbable, not luggable”
— the relaxed, intelligent way to travel in France.

If you send us your dates in France,
we will be happy to suggest a complete itinerary.

So ... pour yourself a glass of your favourite French wine and take the time to relax and  fully read and discover the gems in this website.
And don't miss out on our FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS section below.

Based in Melbourne, Australia.
Winners of the TOPI Best Principles Award (2019) for protecting the original qualities of living French villages.

CLAIM  YOUR  $100  PER WEEK  DISCOUNT VOUCHER
JUST DOWNLOAD A FREE COPY OF OUR 123-PAGE FRENCH TRAVEL GUIDE.
CLICK OR TAP HERE

A uniquely different
French Travel Experience.

With 27 years of devotion to, passion for, and experience in France, we can show you the way to discovering an exceptionally beautiful and memorable cultural and travel experience that no commercial tour or cruise can achieve. You will enjoy a much deeper, more diverse and authentic travel experience with us than you will with those regimented bus tours and superficial river cruises.
TO CAPTURE JUST A GLIMPSE OF THE FEELING, PLAY THE VIDEO
(play button bottom left-hand corner)

THEN ORDER YOUR FREE 123-PAGE TRAVEL GUIDE TO FRANCE
BY CLICKING HERE.


Bonjour et Bienvenue to
Your Home in France

An exclusive boutique network of very high quality French Holiday Homes: Cottages, Gîtes, Apartments and Villas
for your holiday in France combined with expert guidance from us to help you plan your trip.
Much more than accommodation in France, our unique hub-based approach to French Travel has no equal.

THIS  IS  WHAT  THE  AI  CHATBOT  CHATGPT  SAYS  ABOUT  US
French Cottages offers boutique holiday accommodations in France, emphasizing a hub-based travel approach.
This method allows guests to immerse themselves in local culture by staying in carefully selected villages
and exploring surrounding regions at a leisurely pace.

The website highlights the benefits of this travel style,
contrasting it with traditional tours and cruises, 
which can be costly and less immersive.

By basing oneself in a vibrant village, travellers can experience a more authentic and relaxing holiday.

Additionally, the site offers a comprehensive 123-page French Travel Guide,
drawing from 30 years of travel  in France, to assist in planning and enhancing the travel experience.

Overall, French Cottages presents a distinctive approach to French travel,
focusing on authentic experiences and personalised service. 

The proprietors of French Cottages are David Hitchins and Bryan Stark, based in Melbourne, Australia

Who are we and why are we unique?

We are the two Australian managers and owners of 8 holiday cottages in four distinctive regions in France.  We have been developing our special approach to French Travel for over 30 years.

This site is totally unlike those booking platform sites that you see everywhere these days on the internet - automated sites that peddle the properties of others for a commission, with absolutely no concern about where these properties are or
what they really have to offer you. They just want to make money.
They do not love France as we - and you - do!
(view this video by Dick Smith about the effect those sites are having)

Contact us and we will be glad to help you in any way.

ENQUIRE WITH BRYAN AND DAVID NOW
The proprietors of French Cottages are David Hitchins and Bryan Stark, based in Melbourne, Australia


Can you can plan your whole
'Tour de France' with us?

Mais oui! This is our specialty!
We can help you plan your ENTIRE French or EUROPEAN itinerary if you wish, drawing upon our wide knowledge of all parts of France and Europe generally.
You only have to mention this when you contact us. It's a free service!
For quick answers or regarding availability of our cottages, contact us here.

START DOING YOUR RESEARCH NOW...
Dordogne Villa Views
Not just any old village.

No matter how pretty.
It must be just the right village with just the right type of centrally - based accommodation and thoroughly French: a five star village.
And you must be living right 'inside the walls' (not on the outskirts) of a village with that 'something extra'.

Loire Valley Medieval Festival
Sorry, no amount of searching the web will make you any wiser. 

This necessary"extra" quality cannot be judged by perusing the internet; you need to have stayed and lived there to know, just as being in the real Paris is so much better than viewing any photograph of it.
It's a fine difference but ... vive la différence!
It is why we travel after all.

Guests Enjoying L'Olivier Villa Garden
Except on this site because you can...

See and hear live video interviews with our guests direct from the villages - direct from the cottages.
See why they all say it was just so exceptional and how they still dream about their experiences years later, and come back for more!
Moving and inspiring to watch and listen to: don't miss out. CLICK OR TAP HERE TO VIEW

Hand written testimonials from our cottages
"To anyone considering booking with French Cottages, I say,
What are you waiting for? Contact them for the best tips, suggestions and service.
We will certainly use this company again. Thanks so much! "
and another (of many!)
"I'm so happy we trusted your judgement; everything you promised was delivered, and then some."

Testimonials French Cottages
Testimonials French Cottages
The proprietors of French Cottages are David Hitchins and Bryan Stark, based in Melbourne, Australia

A beautiful, stunning and informative production.

Order our 123-page printed French Travel Guide which puts all those other travel magazines out there to shame!

We believe that it is the only printed production of its type in the world.

Whether you're a first time visitor or a seasoned French travel expert, we're sure you'll find the answers and insights to nearly all your French Travel and Accommodation questions in this amazingly informative guide.

Our travel and holiday accommodation suggestions will make your
already exciting holiday in France even more memorable!

It's simple to get a copy delivered right to your door: just click here.
This new and vastly improved version is $25 plus postage
but you can view it for free by clicking here.

ORDER YOUR PRINTED TRAVEL GUIDE NOW

Contact Us For Your Best French Holiday Ever

Fill in this brief form, submit it and we'll get right back to you.
(if the submit button seems to fail, please scroll up and check that all required fields have been completed)
Any problems with the form? Just email us at stay@frenchcottages.com
OR (CALL US OLD-FASHIONED) just PHONE us on our Melbourne office number 03 8658 0799
(+613 8658 0799 if calling from outside Australia)

Discover the Real France with French Cottages Holidays

Your resource for organising the Best French Travel
Itinerary you’ll ever experience.

WRITE TO US NOW VIEW ALL OUR PROPERTIES

French Cottages
Frequently Asked Questions

Is French Cottages the same as Airbnb or Booking.com?

No. French Cottages is not a booking platform or marketplace.
We are a France-only holiday specialist that personally curates and manages a small collection of high-quality holiday homes and provides expert human travel guidance before, during and after your stay. Our approach is very different from large automated platforms.

Do you personally select and manage your properties?

Yes. Every property offered by French Cottages is personally selected for its quality, location and suitability for an authentic French holiday. We focus on a small number of homes in carefully chosen villages rather than listing thousands of anonymous properties.

What makes your French Travel Guide different?

Our 123-page French Travel Guide is a professionally produced, printed and online guide written entirely from first-hand experience travelling in France over nearly three decades.
It is designed specifically for independent travellers staying in real homes — not hotels — and, as far as we know, no other holiday rental business in the world offers anything comparable.

What is hub-based travel?

Hub-based travel means staying in one vibrant French village for a period of time, using it as a base to explore the surrounding region, rather than moving accommodation every few days.
This approach is more relaxed, more authentic, and allows you to experience France much more deeply than fast-paced touring or cruises.

Can you help plan an itinerary across multiple regions in France?

Yes. If you tell us your travel dates, we are happy to suggest a complete, logical itinerary combining regions such as Paris, Provence, Dordogne, the Loire Valley or the Pyrenees.
This kind of planning is based on decades of experience and is something automated booking platforms simply cannot do.

Who is French Cottages best suited for?

French Cottages is ideal for travellers who value quality, authenticity and expert guidance — particularly those planning longer stays, travelling independently, or wanting to experience France beyond the obvious tourist routes.

Where are you based?

French Cottages is based in Melbourne, Australia, and has been operating continuously for 27 years, supporting guests before and during their holidays in France.

Do you provide support during our stay in France?

Yes. We remain involved before and during your stay, offering advice and assistance when needed. Our role doesn’t end once you’ve booked — quality holidays require human support, not just confirmation emails.

Address

759 Rathdowne Street
North Carlton 3054
Victoria
Australia


Contacts

Email: stay@frenchcottages.com
Phone: +61 (3) 8658 0799

Links

©Copyright 2026
French Cottages
AUSTRALIAN BUSINESS NUMBER
66 304 051 155
CHECK OUR CREDENTIALS WITH THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT