Riverside towns are charming and sought after – Carolyn Reynier picks out three set along France’s longest waterway, the mighty River Loire

Home and income

Generally, few settings are as calming– or as coveted– as those beside a river and these five homes offer rare tranquillity among watery idylls, yet are also within relatively easy reach of the capital

Four-bedroom homes

We arrive in the New Forest under a curtain of torrential rain; windscreen wipers on full throttle, headlights catching glimpses of muntjac deer as gusts batter the car. Crawling up a winding dirt tra

Languedoc estate agent Freddy Rueda talks to Karen Tait about the appeal of his area and the local property market