Dordogne, France
Getting there
In August 2025 we visited Dordogne in France.
We started our journey with a 3pm taxi to Sheffield station followed by a comfortable 2 hour train journey with EMR (£120 return with a family & friends railcard) to London St Pancras.
At St Pancras we transferred to a Thameslink train which took 45 minutes to reach the Gatwick Airport station at the South terminal. From there, we took the short airport shuttle train to the North terminal. We stayed the night at Premier Inn Gatwick (North), arriving at the hotel at around 6pm.
The following morning, we had a leisurely breakfast and then walked across the road to the airport to catch our 12pm flight with EasyJet to Bordeaux (£800).
Breaking up the journey overnight with a hotel stay at the airport was the right decision. While it extended the overall travel time it was less tiring and meant we had plenty of time in the morning to have breakfast and do the bag drop and security at the airport without feeling rushed.
If we lived in London, this wouldn’t be necessary, but as Sheffield isn’t currently served by an airport it is more onerous for us to get to an airport and catch a flight.
The flight landed at Bordeaux at around 3pm where we had pre-booked a hire car with Sixt, via EasyJet as an add on to the flights (£350). There was a long queue at Sixt but the customer service was good and they had us on our way as quickly as they could manage.
From Bordeaux airport it was a 2 hour drive to our accommodation via a fast toll motorway. We arrived at our accommodation at around 6pm, tired but relieved that all the connections and segments of our journey had come together smoothly as planned.
Accommodation
We stayed for a week at Maison de la Grotte - a self-catering gitè located in the Perigord Nord area, about 30 miles east of Bergerac. The nearest town of Le Bugue, situated on the Vèzère river, was about a 20 minute drive.
The gîte sat quiet in the hush of Mauzens-et-Miremont, a secluded hamlet set among undulating hills with scattered farmhouses of old stone. The surrounding fields burned with ochre and umber, the result of a searing summer of relentless sun and little rain.
Alison and André, our hosts, were gracious and generous. They seemed genuinely glad to share their corner of the world, offering gentle guidance on how best to explore the villages and valleys that surrounded us. Living just next door, they were close enough to be present when needed, yet always kept a respectful distance, allowing space and stillness to shape the rhythm of our days.
We booked this 2 bed gite with pool, garden and orchard via Airbnb (£200 per night) but we now know it can be booked directly here:
https://www.maisondelagrotte.com
Our star rating: 5
Our cost rating: 4
Le Bugue
The nearest town of Le Bugue provided local amenities including a supermarket, bank, cafes and shops.
On Tuesdays, the town came alive with its weekly market, when the square and main street brimmed with colour and chatter. Stalls spilled out onto the cobbles, heavy with fresh produce, pottery and jewellery - a celebration of local craft.
Come Tuesday evening, Le Bugue transforms once more for its weekly night market, one of the many Marchés Gourmands that spring up across the region during the long, golden stretch of summer.
Long wooden tables and benches are set out beneath the open sky, inviting locals and visitors alike to gather side by side.
Stalls begin to fire up their grills, sending out the scents of sizzling meat, wood-fired pizzas, and bubbling pans of garlic-laced potatoes.
This is a communal feast - a celebration of food, community, and the joy of summer nights.
From around six, people begin to arrive with plates, cutlery and tablecloths. By seven, the first plates are filled, wine is poured, and meals are shared.
Saint Leon
We visited the village of Saint Leon (full name Saint Leon Sur Vèzère).
It is a member of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France (one of 176 most beautiful villages in France).
The village was undeniably pretty, with cottages that seemed to tumble down the narrow medieval alleyways.
A few craft shops lined the quiet streets, offering handmade pottery, wooden furniture, and jewellery. Somewhat unexpectedly, there was also a small video game shop, specialising in retro consoles.
At its centre stood a 12th-century church, and just across from it, a tiny crêperie (Des Crêpes au 9) serving freshly made crêpes, their warm, buttery scent drifting out into the street.
Les Ezyies
Bigger in scale, but also beautiful and picturesque is Les Eyzies (full name Les Eyzies-de-Tayac-Sireuil), a small town in the Périgord Noir area.
Les Eyzies is famous for its rock formations and prehistoric rock drawings found in the numerous caves and archeological sites dotted around the area. Early examples of homosapiens were found in one of these caves and many are World Heritage Sites.
We enjoyed dinner at Mentalo, a pizza restaurant on the outskirts of the town, which came recommended by our hosts. We also liked the Wheat Grain boulangerie (bakery) where we picked up croissants for breakfast one morning.
Canoeing the Dordogne River
Canoeing is a popular activity in the Dordogne area, thanks to the river that gives the region its namesake. Canoeing outlets line the river bank offering rentals of various length (in terms of kilometres and time duration). Canoeing is also available on the Vézére river.
We opted for a 9km course departing from La Roque-Gageac and paid €60 euros (about £50) for a four person canoe. The canoe company provided us with lifejackets, maps and instructions for pick up, and a waterproof container for our belongings.
https://www.canoesdordogne.fr/
We chose this course to see the villages of La Roque-Gageac, Beynac-et-Cazenac, and Les Milandes and their impressive hilltop chateaux from the river. We landed the canoe at Les Milandes where a minibus was waiting to take us back to our car at La Roque Gageac.
When we arrived in France, temperatures were topping 40 degrees, there were wildfires less than 100km away. After a couple of days the heat broke with dramatic thunderstorms. So by the time it came to our canoe trip, temperatures were thankfully lower, and the cloudy cooler weather meant the river was less crowded.
We’ve kayaked and canoed before and it’s an activity we all enjoy as a family. This canoe trip was really fun, our kids breaking the peaceful and quiet surroundings with their laughter, shouts of ‘bonjour’ to passing tourist boats, and echoing cries as we navigated our way under stone bridges.
We could have taken a more leisurely pace and stopped for a picnic and a swim at the side of the river (there was an option to take a later minibus back) but we wanted to spend the afternoon elsewhere so we pressed on and covered the 9km in 2 hours.
If we were to return to this area in future we would happily stay in one of the beautiful villages lining the river, spending our days canoeing, eating crepes, and attempting to speak French to the ducks.
Sarlat
After our canoeing trip we drove to Sarlat-la-Canéda. Sarlat is a town famous for its well preserved architecture and markets. It is incredibly popular with tourists and busy during peak season in August.
Having already experienced the crowded market at Le Bugue we decided not to visit Sarlat on market day (Wednesdays and Saturdays) and instead decided to go on a Thursday. The town was still busy and parking was a challenge but we did find a spot in the car park at Place des Cordeliers just 5 minutes walk from the town centre.
We enjoyed a decent lunch at Chez Manija, an Indian restaurant and then wandered around the town browsing the shops, dodging the crowds, and taking photos of the buildings and medieval streets.
We thoroughly enjoyed our holiday in France, a trip designed mainly for rest, with just a touch of history and culture woven in.
The gîte ticked every box: a lovely pool, peaceful seclusion, and beautiful surroundings that invited us to slow down and simply be.
When we did manage to coax the kids from the water, the nearby historic towns offered just the right amount of interest, enough to spark curiosity without ever feeling rushed or overdone.
