Leaving Paris to change your life. A choice that has become commonplace as, year after year, more and more Parisians leave the capital to settle in the provinces. If some of them are radical and leave France, others seek to afford a property enjoying a nice living environment, while retaining the possibility of returning occasionally to Paris, to work or visit their family. family.
For those who do not permanently cut the cord, the accessibility of cities to settle in from the capital is an important parameter to take into account. To determine the municipalities eligible for our classification, we decided to focus on two railway axes: Paris-La Rochelle and Paris-Bordeaux, one of the most used in France with its various extensions (Hendaye, Toulouse, Tarbes, etc.). They are all located within a 20 km radius around stations accessible directly (without connection) from Paris Montparnasse, on these same sections.
Travel time from Paris, price per m², fiber connection rate, number of shops and doctors nearby, distance from the Atlantic coast*, share of green spaces… For this unique list, we have selected around thirty criteria, with different coefficients, depending on their degree of importance. These same coefficients can be adjusted according to your desires and needs.
The first in our ranking, well known to teleworkers
Vendôme (Loir-et-Cher), its medieval heritage and its historical monuments top this ranking. This city, which is home to just over 15,000 inhabitants, has a major advantage: it is accessible in just 42 minutes by train from Paris Montparnasse. “From 2020 to 2022, it was crazy in terms of sales,” summarizes Christophe Blot, head of the ACBI Vendôme real estate agency. We increased our turnover by +50% over this period.”
According to the real estate agent, the short distance by train from Paris is not the only factor that explains the appeal of the town. “Vendôme is a pretty town which has all the amenities,” explains Christophe Blot. “Above all, the price per m² is half the price in Tours, the nearest big city, which is 20 minutes away by train. Obviously, it attracts.”
“Vendôme has been 42 minutes by train from Paris for more than thirty years. Before, people mostly moved back and forth. But the normalization of teleworking during the health crisis has changed everything,” continues the real estate agent. The fiber connection rate, an essential fact for Parisians who wish to move to telework, is, according to our calculations, very high in Vendôme. It notably allows it to get ahead of the municipalities of Descartes and Vouvray (Indre-et-Loire), second and third respectively.
“After a spectacular increase in sales between 2020 and 2022, we returned in 2023 to pre-Covid figures,” recognizes Christophe Blot. But prices remain low compared to other cities on the TGV line and Vendôme remains a great opportunity.” The only very bad mark obtained by the city in our ranking: its distance from the coast. For those who would like to settle not far from the ocean, you will have to look at the towns further south.
Calm and the need for green spaces, “very important” criteria
The town of Bessines (Deux-Sèvres), fourth in our ranking, has assets to offer for those who want a more pronounced change of scenery. Located on the outskirts of Niort and included in the Marais Poitevin regional natural park, this village has around 2,000 inhabitants. Accessible in just under two hours by train, Bessines offers the possibility of reaching the Atlantic coast in less than an hour by car. The fiber connection rate is excellent and the price per m² is attractive.
Small villages like Bessines have been very popular since the health crisis. According to a study published in March 2023 by INSEE, the cities which have the highest “entry to exit ratio” (in other words, the cities which experience more installations than departures) are, in 2022, municipalities with less than 50,000 inhabitants. Results confirmed by our ranking: the first city to exceed this threshold, Niort, is in 22nd position. Poitiers and Tours, respectively 24th and 25th, follow suit.
How can we explain such an attraction for small towns? “Calm, nature, a cheaper cost of living and the need to have more space are often cited as very important criteria by Parisians who wish to leave the capital,” notes Adrien Pépin, author of the “Guide to leave Paris. And the price per m², a very important criterion for the French in this period of inflation, is almost systematically cheaper there than in the city.
The Landes and the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, significantly absent from the top of the ranking
It is precisely this essential criterion which excludes an entire region from the top places in our ranking: the south-west of New Aquitaine, and more particularly the Landes and the Pyrénées-Atlantiques. Bagnères-de-Bigorre, accessible from Lourdes station, obtains the best score of these two departments but only comes in 34th position. Cities like Bayonne, Biarritz or Saint-Jean-de-Luz are among the lowest ranked. For the municipalities in this area where the price per m² would be affordable, the distance by train from Paris as well as the ceiling price of a ticket (second class and without subscription) penalize them.
“In the Landes, it has become much too expensive since the Covid crisis and the massive arrival of Parisians, the majority of whom have come to work remotely,” estimates Sandra Stoll, head of the Terre des Landes real estate agency. . “We thought we were going to sink in 2020, but ultimately, it’s this year that we’re sinking. We are going to have to go on standby because we no longer have any buyers. Loans are no longer even granted to clients who have correct profiles, she regrets. The phone no longer rings. »
Our methodology
The municipalities present in this classification are located within a radius of approximately 20 km around stations accessible from Paris Montparnasse, on the southwest section (Brittany + Nantes excluded), aboard a TGV INOUI or an OUIGO and which can be reached directly (without connection) from the capital. In total, 204 municipalities were selected and 14 departments are concerned.
* Our software allows us to calculate the distance of selected municipalities to the Atlantic coast includes the Gironde estuary.
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