Simply Canvas, Lot-et-Garonne
This luxury safari camp in Saint Jean de Duras, near Bergerac, is run by a Buddhist couple and has beds with mosquito nets, wooden deck floors and Indian carved wooden screens. Stay here for a true glamping experience: no cooking beans around the campfire, shared toilets or noisy neighbours. Instead, you will have dinner served five nights a week, use of a private bathroom with fluffy towels and hear only the occasional moo from the neighbouring cows. Relax in hammocks and follow nearby hiking routes, or join in with regular yoga for kids sessions and family cooking week.
Tents cost £460 a week sleeping two or £540 a week sleeping four, simplycanvas.eu
Le Monde des Ecrivains, Gironde
Find that elusive thread of inspiration here, underneath ancient oak trees in a purpose-built writer's cabin in the wood. This unique hut, in the old hamlet of Girard, less than an hour west of Bordeaux, is exclusively for the use of guests staying in the nearby 1971 Airstream Sovereign caravan. Spend your days writing with the windows flung open so you can watch the deer and hawks from the hut, then relax in the caravan's 1940s club chairs and watch DVDs in the evening. Internet, printer, paper and ink are all provided, as is a welcome basket of red and white wine, cheese, bread and saucisson. Guests can also make the most of the organic vegetable garden. Screenwriter Paul Abbot, of Shameless fame, describes it as a transforming experience and says: "If you can't write here, you can't write anywhere."
Caravan £950 for one person a week or £1,002 for two, lemondedesecrivains.com
Moulin de la Jarousse, Dordogne
Treehouses have been around for a while – but not like this. Among the oak trees in Périgord, in Dordogne, you will find log cabins more suited to the Canadian wilderness, but with wraparound balconies and views for miles. Alongside them are oversized round wooden baubles, billed as love nests in the trees, and a scarlet tent, suspended from a branch and accessible only by rope ladder. The project was inspired by childhood memories and has an irrepressible spirit. Whether you are staying as a couple or a family there is plenty to do, from kayaking and karate lessons to karaoke and swimming in an indoor, heated pool.
Treehouses from £82 a night sleeping two or from £116 sleeping five, chalets-en-perigord.com
Le Framissima Nature, Landes
If you want a larger complex with entertainment for children, look no further than Le Framissima Nature in Soustons, Landes. Camping cabins are arranged in a pine forest between the sea and a lake, and no cars are allowed on site. There are kids' clubs, a creche, a water park, playgrounds and watersports, and if you have less than three days' sunshine during your holiday, they give you your money back.
Bungalows sleeping four cost from £193 a week, camping-nature-soustons.com
La Pomme Perdue, Pyrénées-Atlantiques
These two yurts in the foothills of the Pyrénées, 20 minutes from Biarritz, are named after the orchard in which they sit. The site is quiet and surrounded by wildflowers in summer, and thanks to a lack of light pollution, you can lie in your kingsize bed at night and look up at the stars through the circular window in the roof. Spend your days walking in the mountains, enjoying the beaches of the Atlantic coast or exploring nearby Basque villages.
Yurts from £395 a week sleeping up to two adults and two children, lapommeperdue.com
