Centre – Val de Loire - Sextant French Properties

Living and buying property in Centre-Val de Loire

The Loire and its towns provide a first picture of Centre-Val de Loire. The region also includes the Perche hills, Sologne woodland, Berry countryside and Beauce plains. Alongside the familiar châteaux, it is the town houses, apartments and rural properties that make it possible to imagine a home here.

Tours, Orléans, Chartres and Bourges offer reference points for choosing between urban life and a setting closer to the countryside.

Explore the departments

Eure-et-Loir
Chartres, the Eure and Loir valleys, the Beauce and the Perche give Eure-et-Loir several settings for a home. The department combines towns connected with the Paris region and more rural landscapes for permanent living or regular stays.

Loir-et-Cher
Blois, the Loir valley and the wooded landscapes of Sologne offer complementary settings in Loir-et-Cher. Châteaux are part of its image, but property buyers will also find neighbourhoods, small towns and rural homes to explore for everyday living.

Loiret
Orléans, the Loire riverside, forests and eastern towns give the Loiret a varied property choice. Buyers can explore homes near urban services or look for a house in more rural surroundings within this part of the Loire country.

Cher
Bourges, the Sancerre hills and the Berry countryside give the Cher several settings for a home. City apartments, small-town houses and country properties offer different ways to spend time in this part of central France.

Indre
The lakes of the Brenne, Berry villages and the Creuse valley give the Indre varied rural scenery. Châteauroux, Issoudun and Le Blanc offer starting points for a permanent house or a place for country stays.

Indre-et-Loire
Tours, the Loire and Indre valleys, vineyards and Touraine villages provide several ways to make a home in Indre-et-Loire. Pale stone buildings, gardens and small-town houses are part of the character, alongside a substantial urban choice in Tours.

Loire towns and Touraine homes

Tours, Blois and Orléans offer apartments and houses across varied neighbourhoods. Amboise, Chinon and smaller Loire-side towns bring a different scale to the search. Stone buildings, gardens and riverside walks can form part of the wish list alongside services and everyday journeys.

The Perche, Sologne and Berry

These areas have different landscapes and building traditions. An older Perche house, a property near Sologne woodland and a village home in Berry serve distinct plans. Defining how you would use a garden, welcome guests and spend your days helps clarify what a country residence should provide.

A permanent home or a base for visits

The north may suit buyers with connections to the Paris region, while other towns provide their own local bases. For a holiday home, the complete journey and ease of organising stays matter. For a permanent move, a neighbourhood or small-town setting can help bring the property into line with your intended routine.

Tours and Touraine: choosing how to live with the town

Tours is a useful starting point for buyers who want urban life alongside an interest in the Loire countryside. Its older centre, residential districts and neighbouring communes provide different settings for an apartment or house. A central home may suit someone who enjoys walking to shops and spending evenings in town. A house with a garden can give family life more space. In either case, the address is best understood through the places you would use regularly, rather than its distance from a famous landmark alone.

Around Amboise, Chinon and Loches, pale stone and historic surroundings contribute to the appeal of older properties. Some houses enclose a courtyard; others open towards a garden or retain outbuildings. The pleasure of that character can be quite intimate: a dining room facing outdoors, an upstairs bedroom or a sitting room whose light changes through the day. When viewing, look for the spaces you would actually inhabit. A house with fewer rooms may feel more welcoming than a larger property if its layout suits the way you spend time together.

Orléans, Blois and the Loire between them

Orléans and Blois each have their own pace, neighbourhoods and connection with the river. An older apartment, a town house and a home in a surrounding village represent separate choices. Allowing time to walk between appointments helps make those choices tangible. You begin to recognise the streets where you would shop, the places you might take visitors and the residential areas in which you would feel at home.

Beyond the larger towns, the Loire passes through inhabited landscapes rather than a continuous visitor attraction. Individual villages and small towns have their own identities. A house near a village centre may bring local life into each stay, while a property focused on its garden can make family meals and time outdoors the main attraction. For a second home, it is worth imagining a quiet week as well as a busy summer gathering. The right property should be enjoyable when occupied by two people as well as when every bedroom is in use.

The Perche and Sologne: distinct country-house settings

The Perche areas of Eure-et-Loir invite interest in country houses, former farms and smaller groups of rural buildings. Older proportions, gardens and gently enclosed landscapes can make a compelling setting for a family home. Elsewhere in the department, Chartres, Dreux and Châteaudun offer town houses and residential neighbourhoods. Buyers considering a permanent move should explore these possibilities as carefully as the rural addresses; the area is a place to live throughout the year, with different communities and routines.

Sologne has another atmosphere, shaped by woodland, ponds and villages. Brickwork, courtyards and rural outbuildings give some properties a recognisable character. Here, it helps to decide what you want the grounds to contribute. A modest garden beside the kitchen, space for growing things and more extensive land support different kinds of ownership. Rather than treating acreage as an advantage in itself, picture the parts you would enjoy using during a normal stay. The relationship between the house and its immediate outdoor space often matters most.

Berry: small towns as well as open countryside

In Cher and Indre, Bourges, Châteauroux, Issoudun and smaller settlements provide different starting points. Village homes, rural houses and urban apartments allow buyers to choose how closely they want to live with the countryside. Some want the landscape outside every window; others prefer to walk into town and take country outings from there. Both approaches can produce a satisfying home, provided the location matches the intended routine.

Berry rewards attention to ordinary places as well as notable buildings. A market square, a familiar path or a public garden can say as much about life here as a sightseeing itinerary. That attention carries into a viewing: the shape of the living rooms, access to the garden, space for visitors and a room for working quietly help explain whether an older house will suit you. The appeal is in bringing the character of the place together with a comfortable everyday arrangement.

Giving the first viewing trip a clear purpose

For buyers arriving from abroad, the region’s variety makes a focused visit especially worthwhile. Choose a few connected areas and compare them at an unhurried pace. Check current travel options for those locations, then allow time to explore the surroundings of shortlisted homes. A sequence of appointments becomes far more useful when it also establishes where you would enjoy returning, whether for regular visits or a longer chapter of life in France.

Your property search

Explore the properties offered by Sextant and refine your search by location, property type and budget. Share your plans with a property consultant to discuss the homes that interest you and the viewings you would like to arrange.