Booking self catering in Europe

[Cuwins]

Does anyone have any recommendations for websites for booking self catering cottages etc in Europe- could be France, Italy, Spain, Holland etc? Obviously there is air BnB but any companies that people would recommend?

We use Vrbo for years now.
We went to Germany, Spain, France so far.

I've used Airbnb, VRBO and gîtes de France for this summer's main holiday, all very easy & ability to filter for your 'essentials' like price, pool, aircon etc

In some countries, for example Austria, the local tourist offices have an accommodation service where approved properties can be booked (and there's no booking fee).

You usually find a lot more on VRBO and the fees are lower then air bnb

Also use VRBO

Another one for VRBO - secure payment system

Well we've always used Booking.com and now I'm wondering why we've never used VRBO, as it seems to be the platform of choice on here.

Will make a note to look there next time we need a holiday apartment. Never used AirBnb as it used to be the case that you didn't know exactly where the property was and we like something to be in walking distance to restaurants, beach, supermarket etc and the 1 km radius wasn't always precise enough for that.

Vrbo is good and tends to be the main one I use. Airbnb ok but always feels less secure.
Oliver's travels is also very good, tend to be a little more expensive but their Customer service is great.
If you have a specific area in mind sometimes there are regional sites, for example: Ionion Island Holidays for the Ionion islands.

Often a property is on multiple sites, if you find one you like google it as it can be cheaper, or have lower charges or lets you use a credit card on another platform.

We’ve only used AirB&B a few times but it’s always been clear exactly where our property was. I know what you mean though - there is sometimes a circle and it says that exact address will be advised on booking, and I’ve seen that on Vrbo too. I’m not sure why they do that as I would never book anything without being able to see it exactly where it is , and ‘walk’ round a bit on street view.

One thing I would say to be mindful of is that sometimes local agencies can advertise using a wider platform such as Vrbo and terms & conditions don’t always tally. We’ve just returned from a villa we booked via Vrbo, but which is managed by Novosol who charge additional cleaning costs on arrival,
not mentioned on the Vrbo booking .

You could try Vrbo, Booking.com (holiday homes section), Interhome, or Novasol — they all have a good range of self-catering cottages across France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands, often with more established property management than Airbnb.
If you're travelling with pets, it’s also worth checking the pet-friendly filters — just like when choosing a reliable boarding cattery, reviews and clear policies make all the difference for peace of mind.

For France you could look at Gites de France.

Always used booking.com or trivago which sends you to whatever agent or direct site they use. Sometimes I’ve found them via google even

I’ve had good experiences in Italy with agriturismo.it but it’s rural farm stay accommodation, just filter in the area and what you want like air conditioning, swimming pool, bbq, dishwasher, etc.
The kids had some great activities like lambing, milking the cows and making cheese.