Bouches-du-Rhône: French Department Buying Guide

Meaning ‘mouths of the Rhône‘, Bouches-du-Rhône sits on the south coast between Montpellier and Toulon, where the Rhône completes its journey and empties out into the Mediterranean Sea.

One of the six départements that form the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region, it has many delights to attract tourists, as well as the sun (300 days of it a year) and sea – among them Marseille, its capital, and the beautiful Roman spa town of Aix-en-Provence.

The most populous of the Provençal départements also has two national parks – the wild Camargue and the parc naturel régional des Alpilles, a mix of olive groves, orchards, cypress hedges, garrigue scrubland and pine forests.

Marseille, edgy, vibrant with a proud maritime history, is the obvious choice for urbanites. It’s bursting with shops, restaurants and museums and has an enviable calendar of cultural events.

Property here isn’t as expensive as other stretches of the Riviera, however luxury villas and apartments in some of the more select areas near Marseille can still set you back over €1.5 million. At the cheaper end of the market, you can bag a three-bedroom home with a pool for €450,000 plus and city-centre apartments with two bedrooms and balconies for €200,000. As you might expect, Marseille has a healthy rental market.

Further north, in pretty Saint-Rémy-de-Provence you’ll find two-bedroom apartments costing €250,000 and above, poolside villas coming in at over €800,000 and farmhouses with land anything from €1.5 million. Other communes popular with buyers include Eygalières and La Ciotat.

There are bargains to be had if you know where to look, though. Focus your property search on the small villages inland such as Mallemort or Tarascon, where a three-bedroom home in need of a bit of work can be yours for just €250,000-€300,000.

For a South Coast destination, Bouches-du-Rhône is surprisingly accessible. There are airports at Marseille, and nearby Montpellier and Béziers, while the TGV from Paris to Marseille can take as little as three hours.