Bergerac wines
The south-west of France is well known for its wines – perhaps above all for the red wines produced in the Bordeaux / Medoc / Saint-Emilion regions. A little to the east of these world-famous wine regions in the Dordogne department around Bergerac there are also some well known wines produced which deserve your attention. [...]
Mussidan
Mussidan is a sizable town in the (less visited) north-west of the Dordogne region, north of Bergerac. Escaping from the impact of tourism is perhaps a good thing for a town – but tourism also brings with it facilities, and money for maintenance. Perhaps the best way to describe Mussidan is that it has escaped [...]
South of Sarlat
Sarlat, ‘unofficial’ capital of the Dordogne department and tourist magnet because of its extraordinary number of medieval buildings, is in the centre of a very attractive region. This is not news! Most visitors to the region around Sarlat venture along the Dordogne River to see the villages and castles, and head up the Vezere Valley [...]
Sardy gardens
For most people, when we think of gardens in the Dordogne we think of the formal gardens in the French style, with carefully trimmed box hedges and meticulously planned layouts. There are several of these to enjoy, including the very well known (and popular) gardens at Marqueyssac and Chateau Hautefort. For something a little different, [...]
Aubeterre-sur-Dronne
Aubeterre sur Dronne is a remarkable village about 20 km west of Riberac. The most fascinating thing about it is its underground church, the Eglise souterraine Saint Jean. This has been hewn out of the rock and is 20 metres high at its highest point. It is the tallest of its kind in the world [...]
Bergerac, gateway to the Perigord
Bergerac is found in the region of south-west france known as Purple Perigord – Perigord is the ‘ancient’ name for the region that now largely includes the Dordogne, and ‘purple’ for the wines grown in the region. It is a lively active town that often gets overlooked as visitors head to the quaint villages and [...]
Dordogne village architecture
The Dordogne region has numerous buildings that are immediately recognisable, such as Chateau Beynac or Chateau des Milandes – great impressive medieval castles standing aloft on rocky clifftops that have come to represent the region, along with the picture-postcard-pretty villages that dot the region. But these are perhaps not the memories that you will take [...]
Monpazier – bastide town
Monpazier is a small town (OK, village) to the south of the Dordogne region, and south of Domme. A little removed from the main highlights that follow the Dordogne river, Monpazier is none the less firmly on the tourist circuit – and if you are visiting the Dordogne it should be on yours! The region [...]
Cingle de Tremolat
The Dordogne region is well known for its scenery, its castles and its beautiful medieval villages, and rightly so. There are many places where you are close to the Dordogne river, and plenty of opportunities to canoe along with the flow, passed villages and castles. There are also a couple of places where you can [...]
Issigeac
A few years ago, the village of issigeac was not very well known, and even now it lies some way off the ‘tourist trail’ in the Dordogne department. Although it is in the Dordogne, Issigeac is about 25km south of the river, and the ‘big sites’ such as Sarlat and Domme, and a little further [...]