Dordogne

The Dordogne is far inland, and the Atlantic is about three hours' drive away. Swimming here means the rivers. Through the summer the Dordogne and the Vézère have shallow gravel banks below villages such as Beynac, La Roque-Gageac and Saint-Léon-sur-Vézère, where families paddle and swim between passing canoes. Small lakes such as Rouffiac and Gurson have supervised bathing areas with sandy shores.

The water is warm enough from late June to early September, but currents vary, and after rain the rivers run high and brown. Swimming is a pleasant part of a summer afternoon here, not the reason for the trip. Many visitors simply use the pool at their rented house.

This is one of France's great regional larders, and eating is a large part of any stay. The cooking is built on duck and goose: confit, magret, foie gras and potatoes fried in duck fat. Walnuts, cèpes and, in winter, black truffles from the Périgord Noir add to it. The weekly markets are the best of it, above all Sarlat's Saturday market in the old town and Périgueux's markets around the cathedral. Winter brings truffle and foie gras markets.

Around Bergerac, the vineyards make reds, dry whites and the sweet whites of Monbazillac and Saussignac, and many estates welcome tastings. Restaurants run from farm-inn set menus to a handful of serious tables, but the repertoire is narrow. After a week of duck, there is little else on offer, and international cooking is scarce outside Périgueux and Bergerac.

The Vézère valley, between Montignac and Les Eyzies, is one of the richest prehistoric landscapes on earth. It holds the Lascaux replica, the original painted cave of Font-de-Gaume, carved rock shelters, troglodyte sites such as La Roque Saint-Christophe, and the National Museum of Prehistory, set into the cliff at Les Eyzies. Visits to the original caves are limited, so book them well ahead.

The Middle Ages are just as present. Sarlat has one of the best-kept golden-stone old towns in France. The Dordogne valley is lined with castles facing each other across the river, among them Beynac, Castelnaud and Les Milandes. The south has bastide towns such as Monpazier, and Périgueux has its domed cathedral of Saint-Front. A base near Sarlat puts most of this within half an hour.

Evenings here mean a long dinner on a terrace, and then bed. Villages are silent by eleven. Périgueux and Bergerac have a few bars, but nothing that adds up to a night out. The liveliest summer evenings are the village night markets and fêtes, with communal tables, local food and a dance floor in the square. They are charming, but they are not nightlife.

This is gentle, lived-in country: wide rivers under pale limestone cliffs, oak and chestnut woods, and walnut orchards. The classic way to see it is by canoe. You paddle a stretch of the Dordogne past La Roque-Gageac and the castles of Beynac and Castelnaud, or the quieter, greener Vézère, and a minibus brings you back. Waymarked footpaths and quiet lanes suit walkers and cyclists, and a greenway follows the old railway near Sarlat. Hot-air balloons rise over the valley on calm summer mornings.

The hanging gardens of Marqueyssac look down on the river from a cliff. The north, around Brantôme and the Périgord Vert, is wetter and more wooded. Spring and early autumn are the best seasons for walking. There are no mountains or wild country here, and nothing that would draw a serious hiker.

Wherever you stay, there is another fine village within half an hour. Domme sits on its clifftop, Saint-Amand-de-Coly has its fortified abbey, and Brantôme lies on its river island in the north. Just beyond the region's eastern edge, Rocamadour's pilgrimage town climbs a cliff about an hour from Sarlat. The Lot valley adds Saint-Cirq-Lapopie and Cahors with its medieval bridge, and Collonges-la-Rouge is built of red sandstone.

From the Bergerac side, the wine village of Saint-Émilion is about an hour west, and Bordeaux's grand eighteenth-century centre is reachable for a full day. In practice, most visitors fill a week touring villages, castles and markets. This list covers outings beyond the main heritage sites.

This is a classic summer vacation for families, especially with children of school age. Canoe trips on the Dordogne are gentle enough for older children. Castelnaud's castle fires replica siege engines and lets children try on armour. The caves and the reconstructed prehistoric sites around Les Eyzies bring the history to life, and tree-top adventure parks, river beaches and farms are scattered through the valleys. Large campsites and gîtes with pools are set up around children.

The pace is easy and the countryside is safe. The downsides are the drives between sights, heat in July and August, and the many steps and cliff paths in the castles and troglodyte sites, which make pushchairs hard work. Toddlers have less to do than eight-to-fourteen-year-olds.

You need a car. Trains reach Périgueux, Bergerac and Sarlat, but buses into the villages and valleys are sparse, and the caves, castles and markets are scattered across the countryside. Driving is otherwise easy. The roads are good and quiet for most of the year, and the main sights are rarely more than an hour apart.

The pressure comes in July and August. The narrow riverside road through La Roque-Gageac and Beynac backs up, and parking at Sarlat on market day and at the popular castles fills early. Once parked, the old towns are compact and walkable, though often steep. Cycling between nearby villages works well outside the hottest weeks.

Shopping here means food and markets. Visitors fill the car boot with foie gras, duck confit in jars, walnut oil, walnut liqueur and Bergerac wines bought at the estates. The open-air markets of Sarlat, Périgueux, Issigeac and Ribérac are the place to buy them. Summer brings brocantes and antiques fairs to many villages, and there are potters and other craft workshops scattered through the valleys.

Beyond that, there is little. Sarlat's streets are lined with shops selling the same regional products, and Périgueux has an ordinary town-centre high street. There is no fashion or design shopping to speak of.

Prices are those of rural France: neither cheap nor expensive. The good-value side is the lunchtime set menus in village restaurants, market produce, wine bought from the grower, and plenty of campsites and simple gîtes. In July and August, rented houses with pools near Sarlat and along the Dordogne are in high demand and priced accordingly. Visiting the caves, castles and gardens, and hiring canoes, adds up over a week, particularly for a family. June and September offer the same countryside for noticeably less.

Live performance here is a summer affair. Sarlat's long-running theatre festival fills the old town's squares in late July. Périgueux hosts an international mime and street-theatre festival in summer, and the Festival du Périgord Noir puts classical concerts into Romanesque churches and abbeys from summer into autumn. Bergerac and the villages add open-air concerts and music in the markets.

Outside the summer season there is little to attend beyond the modest theatres of Périgueux and Bergerac. There is no opera or resident orchestra, and no regular live-music scene.

There are no thermal baths here and no bathing tradition, and spas are limited to a few château and country-house hotels. The Dordogne's restorative side lies in its pace. Long lunches, afternoons by a pool in a stone farmhouse, quiet riverside villages in the evening and empty lanes outside high summer make it an easy place to slow down. That is most true in the Périgord Vert to the north and in late spring and September. In August, the crowds around Sarlat and the river castles work against it.