On a pilgrim route, this ‘magical village’, spectacularly situated on a wooded hillside above a gorge, is one of the most romantic in south-west France.

In a remote spot above the Aveyron gorges, this well-preserved bastide village (population 250) was founded in the 13th century below a hilltop fortress, now a ruin. 

For one family, this hotel/restaurant was “the highlight of our holiday: the accommodation was excellent, the wine list better, the food better still”.

For over 150 years, five generations of Papillons have owned and run this former relais de poste. It stands by a humpbacked medieval bridge in an old village on the River Dourbie, in the western Cévennes.

Amid the “fabulous scenery” of the Pyrenean foothills, the Ferran family”s hotel is named after the seven watermills (molles = moulins) which once stood nearby. 

On the site of a former farm, the Chambon family”s famous restaurant-with-rooms started life as a hotel/café in 1886 when a stone bridge was built over the River Ouysse.

A reader whose flight was cancelled due to a strike was consoled by the discovery of this small hotel in a quiet, narrow street in the old city.

In the old centre of this former Cathar stronghold, this converted 13th-century château has “fabulous views” over surrounding countryside and bedrooms in two 17th-century buildings.

Cahors, in a famous wine region, has some characterless modern buildings but also some interesting old ones, eg, the fortified 14th-century Pont Valentré over the Lot. 

This “immaculate, tiny village, like a film set” stands high on an escarpment above the valleys of the Lot and the Truyère, north of Rodez.