Holiday let or long-term let: which to choose on the French Riviera?

Data collected on 2 October 2026. There is no single answer. On the Côte d’Azur, a home let by the night usually earns more than a year-round tenancy when it runs normally, and less when it starts badly. It also takes more work, wears differently, and brings most of its income in summer. A long-term let earns less, but steadily, and you no longer have the use of the home. The right choice turns on three things: what you want from the home, what the town allows, and where it stands. The figures below come from our estimator; they are ranges, not a promise.

Which of the two earns more?

Take a one-bedroom flat of 40 m² in five towns. The estimator gives three levels for a holiday let: cautious (a first season, few reviews), realistic (the middle of comparable homes) and top of the market (a home with excellent reviews and strong demand). For the same town, it also estimates what a furnished long-term let would bring.

In all five towns, the realistic case beats the long-term let: from 1.3 times in Villeneuve-Loubet to 1.6 times in Nice. In all five, too, the cautious case falls below it. That is the first lesson: a holiday let does not win every time; it wins when the home is well kept, well presented and well reviewed. Cannes has the widest gap between the three levels: its realistic case has 164 nights let in the year, at €146 on average, where Nice has 266 at €97.

How are the two figures worked out?

Here is the Villeneuve-Loubet example. As a holiday let, the realistic case has 243 nights let at €85 on average, or about €20,630 of rental income. The estimator takes off the platforms’ fees, counted at 18.8% and charged on the cleaning fee as well (€95 per stay, paid by the guests): about €4,750. Then our commission of 20%, VAT included: about €3,180. That leaves €12,700.

As a long-term let, the estimator starts from the 2025 advertised rent published by the French state for the town: €23.10 per m² for a small flat. It takes off 13% for charges and adds 10% for a furnished home, which gives about €880 a month for 40 m², then allows for 5% vacancy: €10,100 a year.

Neither figure is what you are left with at the end. Tax and insurance are deducted on neither side. In a holiday let, electricity, water and internet stay with you, as do repairs; a long-term tenant pays for what they use. And if you hand a long-term let to a letting agent, their fees are not counted either.

Does the income arrive evenly?

No, and that is the real difference. In the same example, the holiday-let net runs from about €580 in January to €1,780 in July. The four months from June to September bring 47% of the year’s income. The long-term let gives the equivalent of €840 every month, vacancy included. From November to March, five months in a row, the realistic holiday let brings in less than that rent; it catches up from April to October.

If the home is paying off a loan, look at the quiet months as closely as the total. And bear in mind that the long-term sum only allows for 5% vacancy: an unpaid rent is not in it.

Do you want to use the home yourself?

This is often what settles it. With a holiday let, you block your dates and the rest of the calendar is let. Those weeks have a cost, which the estimator deducts, and it is not the same in August as in November: July and August alone bring 27% of the year’s income. With a long-term let, the flat is the tenant’s home: you no longer stay there, and taking it back means following the terms of the tenancy.

How much work, and how much wear?

A home let by the night needs constant attention: listings, prices to keep up, messages, arrivals and departures, cleaning and linen between stays, incidents to deal with. You can do it yourself, if you live nearby and have the time. You can hand it over: with us, that is 20% of rental income, VAT included, already deducted in the figures above, with free set-up, and cleaning and linen paid by the guests. The details are on the pricing page.

The wear is different. With a holiday let there are many comings and goings, but the home is cleaned and checked between stays: what gets damaged is seen quickly. It takes furniture and linen that last, and a budget to replace them. With a long-term let there is one occupant, little to do, and an inventory when they leave: you find out the state of the home later.

Does the town leave you the choice?

Not always, and it should be checked before any sum. According to our guide to the 2026 rules, a main residence may be let as a tourist rental up to 120 days per calendar year, and Villeneuve-Loubet and Antibes have lowered that ceiling to 90 days (for Antibes, the guide asks you to confirm it with the town hall); Nice, which did so on 1 January 2026, returned to 120 days on 1 September 2026. For a second home, towns that have introduced it require a change-of-use authorisation; in Villeneuve-Loubet it is required from the first day of letting. The building’s co-ownership rules can also close the door.

The figures in the table assume a home let all year: under a day ceiling, they are out of reach. A long-term tenancy has rules of its own, and the tax on each option is a separate question. All of this is checked with the town hall, a lettings professional and an accountant: we do not give legal or tax advice. The place to start: the 2026 rules, town by town.

So, which should you choose?

A holiday let makes sense if you want to keep using the home, if it is well placed for holidaymakers, if the town and the building allow it, and if uneven income from month to month does not trouble you. A long-term let makes sense if you never stay there, if you need the same amount every month, if the home is far from the sea, or if the rules restrict short stays. We tell owners when that is the case: a home that would do better on a long-term let has nothing to gain by coming to us.

For your own home, the estimator gives both figures from your address, in a minute. The property study, which is free, goes over them on site. What we look at before committing is on the owners page.

Further reading: how much a studio in Antibes earns · estimate your income · Antibes and Juan-les-Pins, district by district.