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St Emilion, France

St Emilion Holiday Rental Cottages and Gites in France

A listed UNESCO World Heritage Site, Saint-Émilion is a town in the Gironde department in the Aquitaine region in south-western France. Saint-Émilion is located 35 km (22 mi) north east of Bordeaux.The prospect of a holiday rental in Saint Emilion conjures up the taste of rich red wines! Yet the town is worth a visit in itself: elegant and cosy, it has lots of cobbled streets, medieval buildings and romantic views.

Saint-Émilion's history goes back to prehistoric times, with fascinating Romanesque churches and ruins stretching along steep and narrow streets. When you rent a self-catering holiday home in St Emilion you’ll want to know about its rich history: it was the Romans who planted vineyards in what was to become Saint-Émilion as early as the 2nd century. In the 4th century, the Latin poet Ausonius lauded the fruit of the bountiful vine. Today Saint Emilion is one of the four world renowned Bordeaux wine regions, and produces some of the very finest wine in the world.

The town was named after the monk Émilion, a travelling confessor, who settled in a hermitage carved into the rock there in the 8th century. It was the monks who followed him that started up the commercial wine production in the area.

Saint-Émilion is one of the principal red wine areas of Bordeaux along with the Médoc, Graves and Pomerol. The first formal classification in Saint-Émilion was made in 1955. When you stay in self-catering St Emilion holiday cottages you’ll want to allow time to visit some of the numerous chateux in the area for a sample of this famous wine! Here, the most famous chateaux are Château Ausone and Château Cheval Blanc.

Highlights to see when you visit St Emilion include: the church and its cloister, the Cordeliers monastery and cloister, the Chateau du Roy, the 13th century bell tower,  the underground pottery museum, located in a 12th century quarry and with pottery spanning the period from Roman times to today.

Travelling to your holiday rental gite or cottage in Saint Emilion, France; The nearest airport is Bordeaux which welcome flights from all over the UK with bmi baby, British Airways, easyJet, Air France, Ryanair, Flybe and Aer Lingus. Bordeaux train station – Gare St Jean -  offers regular services to Paris in just 3 ½ hours. You can reach Bordeaux by car from the north (taking the A10 highway or N10), south (taking the A63 highway), and east. A beltway goes around the city. St Emilion is easily located from here.