Imagine swapping Marseille’s urban clamor for the gentle rustle of olive trees and a waiting clawfoot bathtub in a restored farmhouse.
Usually, I’m all in on the big city chaos and clamor outside my apartment window here in Marseille. But sometimes I hear the breeze through the olive trees in the Provence countryside calling my name. That’s when I go in search of a gîte.
Gîtes are a style of accommodation that symbolizes a long history of rural hospitality here in France. To a budget-conscious wanderer, a good gîte can offer serenity, generous amenities, and local insights for a stunningly good deal. It’s a word I highly suggest putting in your travel vocabulary the next time you’re headed to France. Here’s why.
A Place to Lie Down
The word gite comes from an Old French verb, Gesir, and literally means “a place to lie down.” Historically, gites were rustic accommodations offered by vintners, farmers, and shepherds to travellers passing through rural areas where no tourist hotels were available. Setting up an extra bedroom or a small cabin on the property for passers-by offered a valuable service while creating a useful side hustle for the hosts.
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Today, the term “Gite” describes a variety of accommodations, all generally united by a notion of personal hospitality and rustic charm. There are Gites d’Etape, rustic hikers’ hostels situated along France’s long trail systems, or Gites d’Equestre, equipped for lodging horses. Gites de Charme is the colloquial term for a nice country guesthouse offering home-cooked meals, beautiful views, pools, and nice linens… the stuff French countryside fantasies are made of.
The Ideal Countryside Budget Booking
I love a good Gîte de Charme because they come with the type of, well, charms that are unlikely to fall out of the lockbox at your average Airbnb. And all for a comparable price.
Since many gîte owners live on premises, they can be fountains of local knowledge and travel insight, which is particularly useful in rural areas where all the best-of lists don’t quite reach. Many offer an included breakfast or optional dinner service, which provides an opportunity to lightly rub shoulders with your hosts and other travelers and taste the local terroir.
A fair few have pools, jacuzzis, or en-suite kitchens (and clawfoot bathtubs, but we’ll get to that in a second). With any luck, there might be a cute dog, too.
A quick survey of pricing on gites-de-france.fr shows a variety of top-rated properties available between 90-200 Euros a night.
How Do I Find One?
“Gîte” is a helpful search term to plug into many booking sites, Airbnb.com and Booking.com included. Particularly if you’re travelling for outdoor recreation and visiting popular hiking, skiing, or oceanside regions, expanding your lodging search to gîtes can help you uncover hidden gems and avoid brimming hotels or peak-season pricing.
Gites-de-France is an organization that certifies gites across the country and assigns a rating from 1 to 5 stars, corresponding to the French hotel star system. That means the number of stars isn’t a judgment on the quality of the place, but instead defines the specific amenities available at the lodging. For example, a 2-star Gîte might not serve meals or might lack a TV or kitchenette. A 4-star gîte might have an outdoor pool, meals, bikes, or outdoor equipment to rent.
When I’m planning a road trip or looking for a little country escape, I’ll browse Gites-de-France.fr for a cool old lodge with a fireplace or a guest house set back amongst the grape vines. Then, I usually book directly with the property, as most places have their own websites and are happy to book with you by email or phone. Do that and save yourself and your host any commission fees on other booking sites.
Gite, Mas, Chambre d’Hote…quoi?
If you’re thinking that “gîte” just sounds like a twee French word for a bed and breakfast… I see where you’re coming from. But you might be unsurprised to learn that the French can be rather picky about these definitions.
Technically, a Gite is not a bed and breakfast. That would be a Chambre d’Hote. Chambres d’Hote are usually more full-service affairs, where you might be expected, for instance, to sit down to dinner with your hosts and fellow guests. These can be lovely accommodations too, but are sometimes a little more convivial and intimate than I’m looking for on a weekend away or a stopover on a road trip. Properties self-describing as a gîte might have similar services as a Chambre d’Hote but tend to feel a little more chill, in my experience.
Also, just while we’re being pedantic: What a gîte is not, really, is a Mas. Typical of the Provence region, Mas are historic stone homes refurbished into boutique hotels or retreats, with slightly more luxe, traditional hotel service. These also rock, obviously, but represent more of a splurge. When I’m flush, a personal favorite is Mas de Precheurs in Tarascon.
Sometimes You Just Need a Clawfoot Bathtub
It’s early spring in Marseille and and a cold, dry, maddening winter wind, known as the mistral, is driving us all crazy. The sun hasn’t come out in like 36 hours, which might as well be the end of days for the sun-addicted Marseillais. My girlfriend and I have considered many different options for healing our winter blues. We decide all we really need is to get out of the city and into a bathtub.
Le Sens des Merveilles is a four-star gîte two hours from Marseille in Mane, just down the street from the idyllic and oft-touristed medieval village of Forcalquier. The patronne, Nathalie Elbaz, is a wedding dress designer by trade. For decades, the Luberon region was her go-to retreat from her home in Marseille, and a dream of moving out permanently to the countryside was realized when she came across an old farmhouse for sale, in need of serious renovation but with airy second-floor rooms perfect for a Gîte de Charme. Elbaz drew the plans for the renovation herself. “We rebuilt it ourselves over about two years, top to bottom. But it was worth doing the work ourselves, to see our dream realized the way we imagined it.”
A member of the Elbaz family shows us to our room with support from the house’s official Maître D’, a spunky Australian shepherd named Tia. “The Forest Room” has a well-stocked kitchenette, a little balcony for listening to the wind through the olive trees, and, thank the gods, a spacious clawfoot bathtub smack in the middle of it.
Nearby, Forcalquier has a beautiful weekend market and graceful Romanesque churches. The Luberon region features serene walking trails that descend into dramatic limestone gorges. The Elbaz family provides a lovely morning breakfast spread over which Nathalie loves to divulge expert travel advice.
That is, if you can manage to pull yourself out of the bathtub.
What Makes a Good Gîte Guest?
I posed the question to Madame Elbaz. “I love guests that take time to enjoy the home and its environment, not just to sleep here. Those who take a moment to sit by the pool or enjoy the jacuzzi, those who take a moment to enjoy everything we’ve built here to create a tranquil space.”
Planning Your Next Gîte-Away:
Next time you’re travelling in France outside of its metropolitan centers, booking a gîte can get you great accommodation with a personal touch in beautiful scenery, all for budget-friendly rates.
Gîtes are usually independently owned and operated by people who live on the property and are generous with information about their town and region.
Many serve breakfast and occasionally dinner, which can be great in remote regions where dining options are limited, or if you just can’t be bothered.
Try browsing dedicated sites like gites-de-france.fr or search “gite” on major booking sites like Airbnb or Booking.com. If you’re travelling in the Luberon region, I personally recommend Le Sens des Merveilles for its well-curated guest rooms in rustic Provençal surroundings and a warm welcome from Madame Elbaz and family.