Property/Homebuying
Dreaming of a rustic farmhouse or medieval chateau, a glitzy beachside apartment or a culture-soaked city bolthole darling? Or maybe you dream of a life on the slopes and an alpine chalet surrounded by the most glamorous ski resorts in Europe. Whatever you aspire to the Flybe network can take you there with services to Europe’s most in-demand second home destinations and gateways to the developing property markets of Central Europe.Brits in search of sun, sand, sea and sangria round the pool head for the sun-drenched Spanish Costas, our number one destinations of choice for a permanent or holiday home in the sun. The shores of the Costa Blanca and the Costa del Sol (serviced by Alicante and Malaga respectively) remain ever popular but new destinations offering a more authentic slice of Spanish life include the regions around the old Moorish town of Murcia and Almeria as well as the northern Costa Blanca.
France offers a huge variety of choice whether your shangri-la involves soaking up the sun or living the rural idyll buried deep in the French countryside. These days a Breton home is top of the list with coast and country properties accessible via Brest or Rennes. For beaches lapped by the Med fly to Perpignan to buy. Access the glamour of Paris from Charles de Gaulle with a city apartment boasting views and culture to consider relocating for. Enjoy the enduring rural charm of a home in the Dordogne via Bergerac or Bordeaux. Or head for a home promising adventures in the Pyrenees or the Alps via Toulouse, Bergerac and Bordeaux or Chambery respectively. Alternatively, indulge in cities of culture with properties near any one of Flybe’s ten French destinations
The beaches and golf courses of the Algarve are irresistible in Portugal, accessible via Faro. Many developments along the coast offer villas with both on-tap. For old-time charm, hunt for a finca (old Portuguese farmhouse) near lush orange groves or the mountains off the coast.
Head for Switzerland and fly into Geneva for easy access to the alpine scenery and glam resorts of the Alps. To enjoy the après-ski in some of the country’s most glamorous ski resorts many in pursuit of second homes opt for property in the Valais, whose border with France and Italy ensures some fantastic gastronomic influences.
Austria provides holiday home choices including the country’s architectural, musical and cultural stars of Saltzberg and Vienna. Saltzburg is also a gateway to the ski chalets of the Tyrol and to the booming new property markets of Eastern Europe.
Closer to home, property in the Emerald Isle is still proving to be a pot of gold. Property anywhere along the south coast (known as the Irish Riviera) is extremely popular with the villages of West Cork where many second-homers are heading. The party-city of Dublin is the choice of those with mega-bucks while midland Ireland is the most affordable.
In Scotland, property in and around Edinburgh is still irresistible for those seeking the friendliness and culture of a city hosting one of the most exciting arts festivals in the world. Glasgow, meanwhile, is currently experiencing a buy-to-let boom.
If you want a second home beside the seaside in Britain, Southampton provides access to the beaches of the south coast with one of the country’s best found at West Wittering in West Sussex.