5-Day Private Dordogne Package: Cave Art, Villages & Castles

Today, make your way to Sarlat by your own means and check in at your centrally located hotel in Sarlat la Canéda.

Explore the exceptional beauty of Sarlat at your own pace.

Because modern history has largely passed it by, Sarlat has remained preserved and is one of the most representative towns of 14th century France.

Located in the heart of the Perigord Noir, the town possesses an outstanding number of buildings and houses dating from the 13th to 18th century. Take some time to stroll through the small narrow alleys and streets for personal discovery.

Night at your Hotel in Sarlat.

Breakfast at your Hotel.

9.20am Meet your guide at your hotel in Sarlat

9.30am Begin your private gourmet walking tour

The medieval town of Sarlat hosts one of the biggest and best food markets in the Dordogne. On this 2 hour tour, visit on market day to experience the town at its most atmospheric. Meet your English speaking local guide, expert in Dordogne Culinary specialties.

Start your visit of Sarlat Market

Walk towards the Market and begin your discovery of the best produce of the Dordogne region. Your first stop will have you taste a selection of local cheeses. The owners are passionate about their trade and have sourced locally the cheeses that they age themselves in a dedicated cellar. Taste a selection of different cheeses such as blue cheese, goat cheese, hew cheese or Rocamadour cheese.

Stroll through the medieval streets & market

After the tasting, follow your guide through the medieval streets of Sarlat. This walking tour allows your guide to point out all the local products of the season that arrive from all corners of the Dordogne. If you are lucky, it might be the season of strawberries, of which the Dordogne is famous for, and your guide will make sure that you have the opportunity to sample some.

Taste local duck specialties paired with wine

After this stroll through the markeet, reach a family run local delicacies shop. Here, we will stop to taste small toasts spread with patés or foie gras from either duck or goose. Then taste a Top rated Foie Gras from a local producer that has obtained many rewards at the Paris Exhibition.

Finish this tasting stop with a local cheese called Trappe d'Echourgnac. Trappist cheese is pressed, uncooked, fermented by retro-rubbing or by using the “morge” scrubbing technique. Then walnut liqueur is added. How much? And, then what? Well, that’s a secret never to be told! All this will be rinsed with a tasting of a White & Red Bergerac wine.

End with a total walnut experience

Back through the market to make our way to our final stop a traditional Périgord biscuit factory located in the heart of the town. Here it will be all about walnuts! See the manufacturing workshop and discover sweet and savory delicacies made for walnuts. Your tasting can include walnut pie, eclairs, cream or brownies but in no way will you miss the traditional walnut cake. 

Enjoy some free time for personal discovery and lunch (at own expense)

After your morning tour, feel free to walk around in the market on your own. If you are in Sarlat on a Saturday, the market is much larger and you can shop for clothing, jewelry or local arts & crafts. For lunch, dont hesitate to ask for suggestions or recommendations by your guide as the number of restaurants & snacks in Sarlat is quite impressive. 

In the afternoon, visit the village of Domme

Drive to the beautiful village of Domme. With its trapezoid city plan, Domme is a bastide, or a fortified medieval town, adapted to the surrounding terrain, and thus falling short of the rectangular city plan characteristic to bastides. The village is classified as one of the "Plus Beaux Villages de France" ("The Most Beautiful Villages of France").

In 1307, Knight Templars were imprisoned in Domme while during the Hundred Years' War, the bastide was coveted by the English who first took the town in 1347 and repeatedly changed rulers throughout the war until 1437 when it finally fell under French rule again. 

Visit La Roque-Gageac village, Boat ride on the River Dordogne

Then drive to La Roque Gageac and visit this charming small village. Follow a peaceful cruise on the the Dordogne River on board an authentic Gabarre to admire mighty castles that loom over the riverside. The Gabarres are traditional flat-bottomed boats that have been used for transporting goods along the Dordogne since the Middle Ages. 

A trip on one of the Gabarres offers a relaxing way to enjoy the sight of some of the many Dordogne chateaux and villages from the perspective of the river. Various sights and wildlife are pointed out to you as you meander slowly down the river as well as the history of the Gabarres. 

End the tour in the village of Beynac

Finally, reach Beynac to admire the village and the Castle. This Middle Ages construction, with its austere appearance, is perched on top of a limestone cliff, dominating the town and the north bank of the Dordogne River. The castle was built in the 12th century by the barons of Beynac (one of the four baronies of Périgord) to close the valley.

The sheer cliff face being sufficient to discourage any assault from that side, the defenses were built up on the plateau: double crenelated walls, double moats, one of which was a deepened natural ravine, double barbican. See architectural phenomenon, aided by nature, and discover more about the history of this unusual city during this private tour.

6.00pm drop off in Sarlat and night at your hotel.

Breakfast at your hotel.

8.50am Pick up by your guide at your hotel

9.00am Depart from Sarlat

Depart for the Unesco World Heritage Site of the Vézère Valley

Some 15,000 years B.C. unknown artists created breathtaking paintings, drawings and etchings inside caves of which the most extraordinary examples are found in the Dordogne area. During this day you will be introduced to this fascinating art and to the people who created it.

Guided visit of the National Prehistory Museum 

Established in July 2004, the museum houses some 18,000 pieces and a collection of six million artifacts. The museum’s collections were established as early as 1913, when indefatigable researcher Denis Peyrony convinced the French state to acquire the Château des Eyzies, built at the end of the 16th century, and to transform it into an excavation warehouse that could double up as a museum. 

Follow your guide and discover the main chapters of the Hominids’ development through an anthropological frieze and a brief reminder of Africa’s history, starting with the early Australopithecines. Many themes are explored, including the legendary “Lucy”, the small 3.5-million-year-old woman discovered in Ethiopia in 1974. You will then visit the permanent exhibit galleries that will plunge you into the mists of time, revealing seven sequences that cover the entire Paleolithic era through an “ideal historiography”.

Free time for lunch in a local restaurant (at own expense)

Enjoy some free time for lunch in Montignac or a village of the Dordogne region. Ask your guide for suggestions or  recommendations.

Visit Rouffignac Cave

Continue to Rouffignac Cave. This cave possesses original and authentic etchings and drawings. The Rouffignac cave was already mentioned in 1575 by François de Belleforest. In his ” Cosmographie universelle” he cites “paintings and animal traces”.

In the 19th century, the cave was known as a tourist attraction. Famous archaeologists like Henry Breuil, André Glory and Martel had visited the cave in the early 20th century, but it was only in 1956 when Louis-René Nougier and Romain Robert, two prehistorians from the Pyrenees, rediscovered and confirmed the cave art. 

Visit the International Center of Parietal Art - Lascaux IV

Finally, end the tour with the visit of brand new Lascaux IV cave – open since December 2016. For the first time, all of Lascaux is revealed. A complete new replica retraces the discovery of the famous decorated cave.

But that’s not the end of the adventure: the entire site inquires into the position that Lascaux occupies in cave art and its relation to contemporary creation. The opening of the International Center for Cave Art marks the beginning of a new adventure combining the emotion of ancestral art and an important technological achievement.

6.00pm drop off in Sarlat and night at your hotel.

Breakfast at your hotel.

8.50am Pick up at your hotel 

9.00am Depart from Sarlat

Rocamadour: A Castle set above a sanctuary set above a village

This morning, board the minivan and head to the nearby village of Rocamadour. Miraculous rock, collection of tales, legends and beliefs, sanctuary of the Black Virgin, pilgrimage site: the Village of Rocamadour is all of this at the same time.

The old medieval houses, the towers and fortifications, the oratories all tumble along the steep cliff that dominates the Alzou Canyon. The whole site is topped off by the castle and its dungeon as well as the seven sanctuaries. Your guide will certainly stop here for a breathtaking view of the whole site that make for fantastic photo opportunities.

Rocamadour is without a doubt one of the most beautiful villages of the area. Classified as a Unesco World Heritage site as it is located on the way to Santiago de Compostela (St James Way), the main attraction of the village lies in its sanctuaries especially that of Notre Dame that bears a statue of the Black Virgin. 

The visit of the village can be painful for those with walking problems but please note that there is a possibility of accessing the sanctuaries by lift (tickets not included in price). 

1.00pm drop off in Sarlat and night at your hotel.

Today is departure day. After your breakfast and check out from your hotel, it will be time to say goodbye to the Dordogne region of France.