A holiday home near Veules-les-Roses

Veules-les-Roses is listed among the Most Beautiful Villages of France (Plus Beaux Villages de France), and that label draws crowds into a short valley with narrow lanes. At busy times, the walk along the river goes at a shuffle and the car becomes a headache. At quiet times, the same village is easy to wander, and that is the one you come for.

Staying 30 minutes away changes your approach. You are not tied to a date set weeks in advance: you pick a weekday rather than the weekend, early morning or late afternoon rather than the middle of the day, a sunny day after a rainy one spent by the wood stove. And if the first visit was too short, you go back.

Two pointers help you time it. Wednesday morning is market day: perfect if that is what you want, less so if you are after quiet lanes. In July and August, the free "Lire à la plage" reading hut opens from 11 am to 7 pm: arriving around 10 am leaves time to follow the river before sitting down with a book facing the sea.

The tip that saves the most time: do not try to drive into the centre. From the D925, take the Route des Abattoirs to the Falaises car park. It is free, you arrive with a view over the village, and the centre is a 5-minute walk. Put it into the satnav before you leave the house, rather than the village centre.

If it is full, there are four other free car parks: du Canon, des Chasses-Marées, des Sources and des Cressonnières. Look them up on a map the evening before, from the sofa: they are far easier to find when you know where you are going than when you are circling the village with a queue of cars behind you.

If there are eleven of you, go in two cars rather than four. The house has room for up to 4 on the property, but in Veules, every car fewer is one less space to find. The two carloads can also split up at the end of the day: one goes home with the youngest, the other carries on to Saint-Valery.

The Veules is only 1,149 metres long, which makes it the shortest river in France. A waymarked trail follows it past mills, watercress beds and villas. Its modest length makes it a walk children can manage, one you can do in the morning and then again differently in the afternoon, stopping where you went by too quickly.

Our advice: plan the walk so you reach the sea last. The beach, all pebbles and hemmed in by two cliffs, is better for a rest than a long walk, and it rewards the stroll. Water shoes are still useful for swimming, and as everywhere on the coast, keep your distance from the foot of the cliffs. To compare it with the other beaches within reach of the house, see our guide to the best beaches on the Alabaster Coast.

For lunch, there are two options. Either Les P'tits Galets, in the former Grand Hôtel des Bains 50 metres from the sea, open every day all year round. Or a picnic made at the house in the morning. The rest of our tips on the village, car parks and reading hut included, are on our page about things to do around the house.

Veules combines very well with its two neighbours. The order we suggest starts with the furthest village and ends with the one closest to the house, so the drive home at the end of the day is the shortest. Times are measured from the house.

To choose the day for the loop, think about markets: Tuesday in Sotteville, Wednesday in Veules, Friday in Saint-Valery, all in the morning. Pick your day according to the market you want to see, or the one you would rather avoid. Our Saint-Valery-en-Caux page covers what the last stop has in store.

That is the whole point of a holiday home near Veules-les-Roses, 30 minutes away, rather than in the heart of the village: in the evening, you come back to a house where everyone has a room and nobody is looking for a parking space. After a day of walking and steps, the bright Cosy bedroom with its double bed awaits whoever did the driving, while the children disappear into the bunk room.

To be honest, 30 minutes is not next door. If Veules is the reason for your trip, bear in mind that Veulettes-sur-Mer beach, 10 minutes away, will be your everyday beach, and Veules the outing for one or two days in the week. That is actually the best way to enjoy it, in small doses and at times you choose.

Outside high season, 2 nights are enough for the three-village loop and a market morning. In high season, the house is let by the week, with a 7-night minimum. Availability is shown by Idylliq, and for a week in July or August, it is best to book early.