We're off to the south of France, dahling, maybe a little air kissing with the latest celeb in town, a quick aprés ski in the Alps, and then a soiree in a little ancient town that's just absolutely fabulous for a tipple, sweetie.

All right, I'll admit it, before I wrote this article the nearest I'd ever got to St Tropez was at the cosmetics counter in Boots. But even if you've never set foot in France, most of us are aware of the lashings of full-cream luxury on show in the southern region of Provence.

The Languedoc-Roussillon region is just beginning to take off as a holiday destination, already becoming the fourth most popular region for tourists, according to the Comité régional du tourisme (CRT) in Languedoc-Roussillon, but it has always been seen as a 'low-budget provence' – a label the region is keen to discard as it increases in popularity. Both the Provence and Languedoc regions offer the warm Mediterranean Sea lapping at their coasts, both have a history entwined with fame and artistic endeavour, and both have a kaleidoscope of intense landscapes and charismatic towns, so why are the regions' appeal so different?

Divine Provence
For the most part, the French Riviera is mouth-wateringly luxurious (or eye-wateringly extravagent, depending on your budget), but Provence, already popular with Brits escaping to France, covers over 31,000 square kilometres, and has one of the most diverse landscapes in Europe. The choice of location and ambience is almost literally limitless. It's also an area that has, along with places like Brittany and Normandy, had a long history of Brits choosing it as a property investment destination and holiday home hot-spot.

Long-time resident and self-confessed Provence afficionado Elayne Murphy, a Provence Granny and property agent, is entrancingly enthusiastic about Provence. "It is the wonderful environment – hilltop villages, sandy beaches, the good medical system, the food and wine, the poppies, lavender, sunflowers, all in abundance, the colourful markets, I could go on for ages! Can you tell that I love my region?! I've been here 38 years and I still get a kick out of it all."

It's hard to add anything to such a rave review, so a gentle trek round Provence may be useful at this point. The region is split into six departments: the Hautes Alpes furthest north, with the Alpes de Hautes Provence sandwiched between it and the Alpes Maritimes, which end in the Mediterranean Sea to its south. All three border Italy, while the Alpes Maritimes also has Monaco as a neighbour.

The Bouches Du Rhône department is the most westerly, with Vaucluse to the north of it and Var to the east. The Hautes Alpes is sparsely populated with around 121,000 people living in an area five times the size of London. It is located in part of the Alps mountain range. The department lays claim to the highest village in Europe: Saint-Véran, in the Queyras Regional Natural Park, which is around 2,000 metres above sea level. The average height of towns in the department is around 1,000 metres.

As you would imagine, tourism is largely a winter event, based around skiing and climbing, as well as the far more enjoyable pastime of sitting and watching people skiing and climbing while you take in the Alpine splendour. Alpes de Hautes is another largely rural department made famous because it is home to The Gorge of Verdon, 'Europe's Grand Canyon', an impressive river canyon that is popular with ramblers, kayakers and climbers. Alpes Maritimes has Nice as its capital, a city second only to Paris in the amount of hotels (which line the the Promenade des Anglais) and the number of tourists it sees each year.

The city has a complicated dialect, Niçard, as well as a distinct local culture and a whole host of tasty dishes like bouillabaisse and farcis niçois. Var was named after the Var River, which, after a bit of shuffling of borders, no longer runs through the department.

Toulon, Var's major city, has a population around 565,000, and was a major naval port in the 18th century. While navigating the city's winding streets and browsing in the fragrant open air street markets is a lot different from what you'd expect on the Côte d'Azur, there is no pretension, plenty to see and a pleasant, bubbling atmosphere. Across the water the Iles d'Hyères, also known as the 'Golden Isles', offer the perfect tranquil escape from city life, well two of them do, anyway.

The privately owned Porquerolles and Port-Cros have been turned into national parks, while the third, L'Ile du Levant, is the polar opposite. It has become a nudists' mecca and is covered with souvenir shops, discos and camping grounds. Vaucluse is bordered by the Rhône to the west and the River Durance to the south, while mountains occupy a significant proportion of the eastern half of the department, with Mont Ventoux, also known as 'the Giant of Provence', dominating the landscape.

Finally, Borches du Rhone has panoramas so mesmerising they inspired one of the most profound and playful artists of the century. Paul Cézanne, from Aix en Provence, created vibrant, dancing images of his surroundings, and even now, on the 100th anniversary of his death, the vistas are little changed.

Live it up in Languedoc
Alex Hampshire, a Brit who settled in Languedoc, felt the region's immense appeal immediately. He says, "On a superficial level we both felt that the area, visually, had much in common with parts of Italy, which we know and love. We drove through the area just twice, on the way to Barcelona and back and immediately fell in love." He describes a typical weekend in Cannes et Clairan, where he has lived since 2002, as follows, "We visit a very French (no English voices) market in Sommieres most Saturday mornings, visit a cave to taste wine in the afternoon and have dinner, alfresco, with friends at home on Saturday evening. On Sunday, we nurse the hangover!"

If you kept travelling west through Borches du Rhone you'd arrive in Gard, the easternmost department in the Languedoc-Roussillon region, wedged between Lozère to the north and Herault to the south-east. Aude and Pyrenees Orientales come next, running like a necklace along the Mediterranean coast.

Lozère's population is small, at around 74,000, and points of interest include the Cévennes National Park, which it shares with adjacent Gard. Gard lies as a testament to the perseverance and innovation of the Roman empire. The Pont du Gard aquaduct is rightly regarded not only as a feat of engineering, but a palpable contrast of humankind's attempt to master the land and nature's refusal to be tamed. The valleys are lush, the colours that penetrate  the landscape impossible to mimic on a canvas, and Nimes, Gard's capital, is a must for anyone who admires Roman architecture.

Herault is geographically diverse, with beaches in the south, the Cévennes mountains in the north, and agricultural land in between. Montpellier, the departmental capital, has a population of around 460,000 people, and is home to the country's oldest university, the University of Montpellier. The university, wide open streets and large grassy parks all endow Montpellier with a laid-back, mellow feel. Aude is a department that extends from the small fishing port of Narbonne on the coast to Carcassonne much further inland towards the Midi-Pyrénées.

Carcassonne, the capital, is especially proud of the restoration it has undergone to revive the city of roughly 44,000 people to its medieval glory. Stand at any viewpoint in or around this city and you could be staring at a page in a fairytale book; the walled city is resplendent amid the surrounding fields and with the mountains as a backdrop is truly a fantastic sight. The most southerly department, on the border with Spain, and once under its rule, the Pyrénées-Orientales now has a population of about 400,000, of whom just over a quarter live in the capital, Perpignan.

Cost comparison
The traditional connotations of Provence as being visited only by the wealthy is not the true story, but are property prices really affordable or have the prices been pushed up by some of its jet-set residents? Murphy says, "Property prices have risen dramatically but this year they have settled to a more realistic level. She adds, "The good new hot-spots for investors are around Montpellier and Aix en Provence, but an average three-bedroom villa with garden and pool is generally around 600,000 euros (£405,000) in Provence. However, you will get a better villa for that money in Vaucluse and Var than you would in the Alpes Maritimes."

The buy-to-let market is obviously healthy, with Cannes international film festival and the popularity of the Alps as a ski resort attracting a large number of people to the area. The Côte d'Azur, or French Riviera, that runs from Monton in the Alpes Maritimes to Toulon in Var is inevitably dominated by the top-end market, with prices reflecting that.

Across in the Languedoc, the areas are decidedly more working class, meaning there are generally more locals in the towns and villages than tourists at any one time. The region is the world's most prolific wine producer, so expect vineyards to be in the upper price scale, but residential property tends to be more easy on the pay packet, although there are scant areas that aren't appreciating fast as house-hunters from Spain, Germany and the UK descend upon lesser-known areas in search of the next big thing. Hampshire agrees, saying, "House and constructible land prices have increased, I have read, by as much as 40 per cent. Land prices in our village have increased by 50 per cent. The days of dirt cheap barns to do up are long gone but property generally is still much cheaper than in the UK."

A recent Abbey National survey showed that Languedoc-Roussillon was a popular area for UK overseas buyers with the majority intending to invest between £50,000 and £150,000, and property specialists have noted that this may contribute to the region's resilience in the face of a market slow-down across the rest of the country.

Home from home?
And now to the topic that divides property hunters and investors – has it already been discovered by expats? Even our French cousins realise that when Brits buy in an area, prices fly up quicker and higher than a Can-can girl's legs in the Moulin Rouge.

For investors and those in the buy-to-let market, a burgeoning British population can usually mean good returns. For those looking to live in 'real' France, they may have to search further afield, or perhaps they too are warmed by the thought that the Jones are only a few chateaux down the road. In the Languedoc, Hampshire believes, there are English enclaves "all over". He says, "The first that springs to mind is in and around Pezenas. My rather naive view when we moved here was that apart from a different language the English and French were very similar. They are not. "It is much more rural here and more genuinely French than Provence and, dare I say, inhabited by a different type of person. We have always been greeted with much warmth and friendliness by all the French. We love the way of life and the genuine and simple pleasures of village life." But, Murphy points out, Provence is a big place, and there's something for everyone who takes the time to hunt around. "In the Alpes Maritimes I would say that the British keep more to themselves as there are numerous clubs and associations that keep them busy, also a lot of people work in British environments like Sophia Antipolis and Monaco." She adds, "In the Var there are clubs, but the Brits seem to integrate better and I would say that in the Vaucluse and Bouches du Rhône they definitely are part of their village lives."

Getting there
Ryanair currently flies from London Stansted to the Languedoc's international airport in Montpellier, as well as Toulon, Nimes and Carcassonne. The Train à Grande Vitesse (TGV) network also runs extensively through Languedoc which makes getting to the region from London or Paris surprisingly easy by train.

The route between Montpellier and Perpignan is earmarked for an upgrade, though the date has yet to be confirmed and the TGV link onto Barcelona is due to open in Feb 2009, cutting journey times from Perpignan to just 50 minutes.

Road links in the region are being improved all the time. The new A75 auto-route linking Paris and the north with the coastal A9 motorway is to be completed soon.

In Provence, there are fewer low-cost airline routes than you might expect, given the area's popularity with tourists. Easyjet flies from Gatwick to the international airports in Nice and Marseille, but the few other regional airports have more random flights to destinations in Europe.

Provence also benefits from modern road links thanks to a dense network of motorways. However you get there, the Languedoc and Provence regions are a part of France worth the journey, if not for the stunning scenery, then only to say you've ambled down the same rustic ruex as Sartre, or Bogart, or 'that Hilton girl'.

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For further information:
Elayne Murphy
Alex Hampshire
Francophiles

Read other artciles about France:
Report shows the south of France is tops
Discover the Averyon department of France
French property bargains are still there

Article published in September 2006