Other main towns: Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire, Decize, Château-Chinon
Nièvre is a rural department in the centre of France, located in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region, with a contrast between the countryside around the Loire river, which runs along the western boundary, and the high hills of the Morvan plateau in the east.
The countryside is marked by gentle hills, woods and lots of rivers and greenery.
The population of the department is falling, mainly due to changes in agriculture but also because of economic shifts, which have hit some small manufacturing businesses established in the area.
In 2021, the population fell below 200,000 for the first time, according to the national statistics agency Insee, which also highlighted that most people moving from Nièvre go to neighbouring departments.
To compensate, there is a continuing drive to develop tourism, which in Morvan accounts for more than 6% of the working population.
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Famously the department is home to the motor racing track Nevers Magny-Cours where the French Grand Prix was held between 1991 and 2008. At the time, the sound of the V12 motors were heard as far as 40km away.
Recently much public debate has been over plans to install 60 photovoltaic power plants on farms in the department, seen by some farmers as an important source of revenue and others as blots on the landscape and a tourism killer.
The main road in the department, the A77, starts at the prefecture Nevers in the west of the department and runs north, taking just under three hours to reach Paris.
For trains, the mainline between Paris and Clermont-Ferrand stops at Nevers and should reach the capital in 2hrs30, although delays and underinvestment on the line have made it a political hot potato.
Running from Nevers eastwards, a TER line goes to Lyon in 3hrs50, while in the north a TER line from Corbigny links with lines running north towards Paris.
Holiday-home idyll
Nièvre has long been a favourite place for Parisians to have holiday homes, and Insee figures for 2017, the latest available, show 14% of houses are second homes – in some small, rural communes half the properties are second homes.
For people looking for rural houses at low prices and who are not afraid of doing some work themselves, Nièvre has lots of potential.
For under €50,000, there are usually a lot of large, old stone farmhouses, with not-too-bad roofs and decent-sized land around them.
Under €50,000
The farmhouse in Garchy
It will need some cleaning before it is possible to camp in the old stone-built farmhouse dating from 1869 in the commune of Garchy near the famous vineyards of Pouilly-sur-Loire, and the roof needs some work, but for €33,500 you will have 100m2 of living space with an attached – roofless – barn where one wall will need to be rebuilt.
Or you could live in the 40m2 separate house, with a roof described as “correct” as you do the big work, bringing old stones back to life.
There are two vaulted cellars under the house and 2,000m2 of land, with the option to buy neighbouring 3,300 m2 plots where it should be possible to build. See: parlezmoidimmo.fr Ref: 448802525
Under €150,000
This property includes two independent stone-built housesseloger.com
For €142,500 you can buy two stone-built houses on the same plot of land in what is described as a calm hamlet in the woods of La Chapelle-Saint-André in the north of the department.
Built in 1792, the main house has been renovated and has three bedrooms, with a total living space of around 125m2.
It features a new conservatory, with heating, running down one side of the building.
The second house is smaller, around 70m2, and has one large 24m2 bedroom.
Each house has its own electricity, water meter and septic tank, so it is possible to live in one and rent out the other, if desired. See: seloger.com, search for La Chapelle-Saint-André
€700,000 and above
The €700,000 property located between Puisaye and MorvanPatrice Besse
Situated between Puisaye and Morvan, this five-hectare property has a 17th-Century chateau at its heart, with a lounge, billiards room, dining room and kitchen on the ground floor and six bedrooms with two bathrooms above.
The billiards room has murals, possibly dating from when the chateau was built. The bathrooms are incorporated into the towers.
There is also a two-bedroom groundkeeper's cottage and a large barn divided into stables, a log store and garage. The buildings are in an enclosed garden of a hectare, mainly lawn. The rest of the land is pasture. See: patrice-besse.com Ref 660363
