dossier

Day 2: Sarlat to Beynac  20km/12mi/5.5hr
Sarlat has the highest concentration of mediaeval, Renaissance and 17C façades of any town in France and its richly ornamented stone buildings are protected by law. You feel like a time-traveller as you wander the narrow mediaeval streets peeping through archways into ancient courtyards. One of the best markets in the country is held here each Saturday, selling gourmet regional produce fresh from the farms. When it’s time to leave, it’s down through wooded glades to Montfort with its much besieged castle and a famously spectacular view high over the loop of the Dordogne. All the fortified châteaux were rival frontline strongholds in the Hundred Years’ War. It’s then on to the pretty riverside hamlet of Vitrac where we meet you and take you to Beynac for your next two nights.

Day 3: At Beynac
Beynac is built on narrow terraces leading gradually to the top of a dramatic limestone crag overhanging the Dordogne. A steep footpath lined with C15-C17 stone houses takes you up to the castle where there’s a breathtaking panorama taking in the serpentine sweep of the river and the spectacular C13 hilltop château. Or you can go swimming, fishing, canoeing or take a trip in a flat-bottomed boat and view five châteaux from the water.

Day 4: Vitrac to Les Eyzies  21km/13mi/5.5hr
From Beynac you start off following the course of the Dordogne River along riverside paths, meandering through fields of maize, then climb up into the lively town of St Cyprien and via well marked paths through shaded woodland to your hotel set in lovely private gardens just outside Les Eyzies.

Day 5: At Les Eyzies
Les Eyzies – an archaeologist’s paradise – lies at the base of steep limestone cliffs crowned with evergreen oaks and junipers. The rock is riddled with caves and shelters inhabited by Stone Age man tens of thousands of years ago and the town is world-famous as the ‘capital of prehistory’. A trip to the National Museum of Prehistory will put the rest of the day’s sightseeing into context. The Grotte de Font de Gaume contains multi-coloured paintings of animals and a remarkable frieze of bison. On the other side of the river is a museum dedicated to pot-holing and the Grotte du Grand Roc, which has
beautifully-lit stalactites and stalagmites.

Day 6: Les Eyzies to Tamnies  20km/12mi/5hr
Leave Les Eyzies taking the GR6 path through sleepy hamlets and shady wooded valleys. First stop in the Roc de Cazelle - a troglodyte cave complex excavated in the cliffs and inhabited from prehistoric to mediaeval times (and even, allegedly, as recently as 1966!). Next visit the Abri du Cap Blanc - the only remaining frieze of prehistoric sculptures in the world to be open to the public. Then it’s on through woodland to the hilltop village of Tamniès for a refreshing dip in the pool.

Day 7: At Tamnies
The pretty flower-filled village of Tamniès looks down on the Vallée de la Beune. There is an interesting C12 church housing an amazing multi-coloured wooden crucifix. Not far from here is the C16 Château de Puy Martin, perched on a hill and renowned for its lush furnishings and tapestries. We provide full walking notes for a local circular walk, alternatively there’s a sandy lake beach where you can swim if you fancy a change from the hotel pool.

Day 8: Tamnies to Sarlat  15km/9mi/4hr
Your walk from Marquay back to Sarlat takes you through woodland and up through the  hills - great views of the surrounding valleys - and through the sleepy village of Campagnac  with its lovely château. Then you’re on the outskirts of Sarlat, ready to savour its mediaeval delights again.

Day 9: Return home
Leave Sarlat after breakfast.