Best Places to Retire in Southwest France

What makes a good place to retire, rather than to visit

Before the places themselves, it is worth being clear about what matters at seventy and eighty as well as at sixty. The people who are happiest twenty years into a retirement here tend to have chosen with these in mind.

Time to a hospital. Not just a GP, but a hospital with an emergency department. In much of rural southwest France that means a drive of 30 to 45 minutes. That is fine for most people, but it should be a decision you make knowingly, not something you discover after a fall.

A GP who will take you on. Parts of rural France are short of doctors, and some practices are not accepting new patients. Ask locally before you buy, and register with a médecin traitant as soon as you are able.

Being able to live without driving. Almost everyone here drives, and outside the larger towns a car is essential. But a town where you can walk to the bakery, the pharmacy and the market will serve you better in your eighties than a farmhouse at the end of a track. Many retirees buy rural at first and move into a town a decade or so later. Planning for that second move from the start is no bad thing.

Getting home, and family getting to you. An airport with flights to where your children and grandchildren live, and a station with trains to Bordeaux, change how connected you feel. Note that many of the region's flights are seasonal.

A community you can join. Some towns have a large English-speaking community, some very little. Neither is better, but you should choose deliberately. Most people find a mix of French and international friends the happiest arrangement.

The February test. Visit out of season. A town that is full of life on a Saturday in July can be shuttered and empty on a wet Tuesday in winter, and you will live through a lot of those.

What the money buys. Prices vary a great deal across the southwest, and a cheaper house in the right place leaves money for the things that make retirement comfortable.

With those in mind, here are the places that consistently work well, starting in the area this site knows best.

Duras

Duras is a small town on a ridge in the north of Lot-et-Garonne, with a medieval château at one end and its own wine appellation, the Côtes de Duras, on the slopes below. It is a working French town rather than a tourist set piece, and it has enough for daily life: bakeries, a pharmacy, small shops, cafés, professionals and a Monday market that is the fixed point of the week.

For a hospital, a large supermarket or a wider choice of shops you drive to Bergerac or Marmande, each about half an hour away. Bergerac airport is around 35 minutes, and Bordeaux about an hour and a quarter. There is a British and Dutch community, but less concentrated than in Eymet, so daily life runs mainly in French.

Best for: people who want a genuine small town with long views, good-value property and good access to services, without living in an expatriate enclave. Our full guide to Duras covers the town in detail.

Eymet

Twenty minutes north of Duras, just inside the Dordogne, Eymet is a thirteenth-century bastide with an arcaded central square and a large, lively Thursday market. It has one of the highest concentrations of British residents in rural France, and English is widely heard in the cafés.

For retirees that has clear advantages. It is easy to make friends quickly, there are clubs and associations of every kind, and practical help is always close at hand. Eymet is also compact and fairly flat in the centre, with a supermarket, banks, pharmacies, a médiathèque and restaurants, so it is one of the few towns of its size where you can manage much of daily life on foot. Bergerac, with its hospital and airport, is about half an hour away.

The trade-off is that some people find it harder to practise their French, and prices in the town itself reflect demand. Villages around Eymet are often better value.

Best for: those who want a ready-made social life and a walkable town. See moving to Eymet for more.

Bergerac

Bergerac is the practical capital of this part of the southwest: a proper town on the Dordogne river with a handsome old quarter, a hospital, specialists, large supermarkets, a railway station on the line to Bordeaux and an airport with seasonal flights to several UK cities and the Netherlands. Markets run on Wednesday and Saturday.

For retirees, Bergerac's appeal is that everything is close. You can live in a town house or an apartment near the old quarter and walk to most things, or in a village a few minutes out with the hospital still nearby. It is less picturesque in its outer districts than the villages around it, and it has the ordinary bustle of a working town.

Best for: anyone for whom healthcare and travel connections are the deciding factors.

Sainte-Foy-la-Grande

Sainte-Foy is a bastide on the Dordogne river at the eastern edge of the Gironde, about half an hour from Duras. It is a working town rather than a showpiece, with more shops and services than its size suggests, a local hospital, a railway station with trains to Bordeaux and Bergerac, and a large Saturday market that draws people from a wide area.

It is less polished than some of its neighbours, which keeps property prices reasonable. The streets of the centre are flat and walkable, which counts for more each year.

Best for: retirees who value a train to Bordeaux and everyday services more than postcard looks.

Monségur

Monségur is a quiet Gironde bastide on a spur above the Dropt valley, about twenty minutes from Duras, with a fine covered market hall and long views. It is thoroughly French, with fewer British and Dutch residents than Eymet, and it has enough for daily needs: bakery, bars, shops, a pharmacy and a weekly market. In summer it hosts a well-known jazz festival.

The town sits on a hill, which is part of its charm and worth weighing if mobility might become an issue. For a hospital you drive to Marmande, La Réole or Sainte-Foy-la-Grande. Bordeaux is about an hour.

Best for: those who want immersion in French life with help available nearby. See our guide to living in Monségur.

Marmande

Marmande is not on many retirement lists, and it should be. It is a market town in Lot-et-Garonne, famous for its tomatoes, with a hospital, good shopping, and a station on the main line between Bordeaux and Toulouse, with Bordeaux about an hour by train. Property in and around Marmande is among the best value in the region.

It is a functional town rather than a beautiful one, but the villages around it, towards Duras and the Dropt valley, are lovely, and living ten minutes out gives you the countryside with the services close.

Best for: retirees on a tighter budget who want reliable services and rail access.

Villeneuve-sur-Lot

Further south in Lot-et-Garonne, Villeneuve-sur-Lot is a substantial bastide town on the Lot river, with a hospital, good shopping, cafés along the river and a busy market life. Around it are some of the most attractive hilltop villages in the department, including Pujols and Penne-d'Agenais, and the plum orchards that produce the famous pruneaux d'Agen.

It is a larger town than most on this list, which means more services and more choice, and it is a good base for those who want town convenience with countryside close by. Bergerac airport is roughly an hour away, Agen's railway station closer.

Best for: people who want a real town with a river and services, in an area where property remains affordable.

Sarlat-la-Canéda and the Périgord Noir

Sarlat is the jewel of the Dordogne: a medieval town of golden stone with one of the best-preserved historic centres in France and a celebrated Saturday market. The surrounding Périgord Noir is classic Dordogne country of river valleys, castles and prehistoric sites, including the Vézère valley with its decorated caves.

Sarlat has a hospital and a full range of services. The cautions are worth stating plainly. In July and August the town is very busy with visitors. The landscape is hillier than further west, which matters for walking and driving in later years. Property in the most famous villages carries a premium, and Bergerac airport is well over an hour away.

Best for: retirees who want the classic Dordogne and are willing to pay for it.

Périgueux

Périgueux is the capital of the Dordogne department and the most complete small city in the area: a large hospital, government offices, a cathedral with distinctive Byzantine-style domes, a Gallo-Roman museum and a historic centre beside the river Isle. Its Wednesday and Saturday markets are among the largest in the department.

Rail links run to Bordeaux and Limoges, though there is no direct high-speed service to Paris. For retirees who would rather have a city on the doorstep than a village, Périgueux offers urban services at prices well below Bordeaux, with the countryside of the Périgord Vert and Blanc minutes away.

Best for: those who want city services, culture and healthcare without big-city prices.

Brantôme and the Périgord Vert

North of Périgueux, Brantôme sits on a loop of the river Dronne around its abbey, with troglodyte caves cut into the cliff behind. The Périgord Vert around it is greener, wetter and quieter than the south of the department, with lower property prices and a scattering of British residents.

Brantôme itself has shops, restaurants and a market, and Périgueux with its hospital is roughly half an hour away. The wider area is rural, and winters are quieter than in the towns further south.

Best for: lovers of rivers and countryside who are comfortable with a more rural life.

Saint-Émilion, Libourne and the Bordeaux fringe

For retirees who want Bordeaux within easy reach, the towns on the eastern edge of the Gironde are worth considering. Saint-Émilion is beautiful but expensive and busy with visitors. Libourne, just below it on the Dordogne, is a lively market town with a hospital and frequent trains to Bordeaux, which is about half an hour away. The villages of the Entre-Deux-Mers, between the Dordogne and the Garonne, offer vineyard countryside with Bordeaux's services and airport within an hour.

Best for: those who want a big city and a major airport close by. For more on the wine country here, see our Bordeaux region wine guide.

Further afield: the Lot, the Gers and the coast

The southwest is a large region, and several other areas suit some retirees well.

• The Lot, around Cahors and Figeac, has dramatic limestone river valleys and beautiful villages, though it is more remote from airports and hospitals in places.
• The Gers, between Agen and the Pyrenees, is deeply rural, quiet and good value, with a strong food culture. It suits people who genuinely want the countryside and are comfortable driving.
• The Atlantic coast, from Arcachon south through the Landes to the Basque Country, offers sea air and larger towns with excellent services, at noticeably higher property prices.

Comparing the main options

Times are approximate driving times and vary with traffic and season. Flights from Bergerac are largely seasonal, so many residents use Bordeaux in winter.

The practical side of retiring here

Choosing the town is the pleasant part. A few practical matters deserve as much attention.

Residency. EU citizens can live in France freely. British, American and other non-EU retirees generally need a long-stay visa before moving, usually the long-stay visitor visa (VLS-TS visiteur), which requires proof of sufficient income and health cover and a commitment not to work in France. After the first year you apply for a residence card, and after five years of legal residence you can apply for longer-term status. Our guide to retiring in France from the UK and the guide to visas and residency cover this in detail.

Healthcare. Once you are legally and stably resident, usually after three months, you can join the French health system through PUMA. Eligible UK state pensioners may instead register using an S1 form, which means the UK funds their French healthcare. Most residents also take a mutuelle, a top-up insurance policy, because the state reimburses only part of most costs. See healthcare in France.

Tax. Once France is your main home you will normally become French tax resident, and the UK and France have a double tax treaty to prevent the same income being taxed twice. Pensions, savings and investments can be treated differently in France than at home, so take advice from someone who handles cross-border cases before you move, not after.

Buying. The process runs from an accepted offer to a compromis de vente, with a ten-day cooling-off period for the buyer, then a final deed signed before a notaire usually two to three months later. On older property, notaire fees and transfer taxes add roughly 7 to 8 percent to the price. Our guide to buying property in France walks through it.

Inheritance. French succession law reserves a share of an estate for children, and this catches out many retirees with blended families. Under the EU Succession Regulation you can choose, in your will, for the law of your nationality to govern your succession instead, but the interaction with French rules is complex, so take advice from a notaire when you buy.

Running costs. Your outgoings will depend far more on the house than the town. A large old stone house can be expensive to heat and maintain, while a well-insulated village home keeps costs low. Our guide to the cost of living in Lot-et-Garonne gives realistic figures.

Renting before you buy

The single best piece of advice for anyone retiring to the southwest is to rent first, ideally through a winter. Six months in a furnished rental, in or near the town you think you want, will tell you more than any number of holiday visits. You will find out whether the market, the café and the community suit you, how long the drive to the hospital really takes, how cold the houses get, and whether you like the place when the visitors have gone home. Many people change their minds about where to buy, and it costs far less to change your mind as a tenant than as an owner.

Choosing well

There is no single best place to retire in southwest France, but there is usually a best place for you. Decide what matters most: walking to the shops, flights home, a large English-speaking circle or full immersion, a city or a village. Then visit in winter, talk to people who have lived there for ten years, and rent before you commit.

Our free relocation guide brings together the practical steps of the move, from visas and healthcare to buying a home. If you have a question about a particular town, email hello@southwest-france.com.