The lifestyle and culture of the Dordogne valley attract both visitors and incomers from all over France, but also from many other countries, particularly Britain and Germany.Ĭourse The Dordogne at Argentat in Corrèze, part of the Limousin region The main season for tourism in the Valley of the Dordogne is from June to September, with July and August being high season. In Périgord, the valley widens further to encompass one of France's main gastronomic regions, with vineyards, poultry farms and truffle-rich woodlands. In the towns, which are major tourist attractions because of their history and architecture, the quaysides are lined with eating and drinking places. Camp sites and holiday homes have proliferated wherever the valley floor is wide enough to accommodate them.īelow Argentat and around Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne, the valley widens to accommodate fertile farmland, well-watered pasture and orchards. In several places the river is dammed to form long, deep lakes. The cliffs, steep banks, fast flowing water and high bridges attract both walkers and drivers.
#La dordogne river series#
The upper valley of the Dordogne is a series of deep gorges. The Dordogne is one of the few rivers in the world that exhibit the phenomenon of a tidal bore, known as a mascaret. It flows generally west about 500 kilometres (310 mi) through the Limousin and Périgord regions before flowing into the Gironde, its common estuary with the Garonne, at the Bec d'Ambès ("Ambès beak"), north of the city of Bordeaux. The river rises on the flanks of the Puy de Sancy at 1,885 metres (6,184 ft) above sea level in the mountains of Auvergne, from the confluence of two small torrents above the town of Le Mont-Dore: the Dore and the Dogne. The Dordogne and its watershed were designated Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO on July 11 2012. The Dordogne ( French pronunciation: ( listen) Occitan: Dordonha) is a river in south-central and southwest France. Or, if you had been on our recent France Today Travels Périgord Discovery Tour, you would have been one of very few lucky people permitted to see the original polychromic cave art in the spectacular Font-de-Gaume.45☂′29″N 0☃6′24″W / 45.04139°N 0.60667°W / 45.04139 -0.60667 The jewel in the crown is at Montignac, where the world-famous Lascaux cave paintings were discovered and where today you can visit the excellent new Lascaux 4 centre. Soaring over the Vézère valley with its dramatic cliffs and ancient cave dwellings aboard my own chopper, I am reminded why it is called the “valley of prehistory” – there are no fewer than 14 UNESCO World Heritage Sites to visit. A trip with Héliclub du Périgord or Montgolfiers du Périgord is a memorable way to reveal the grandeur of the landscape and to peek at some of the lovingly maintained private manoirs and châteaux hidden away in the forests. Photo credit: Chanet/ CRTAįor a bird’s-eye view of the “valley of a thousand châteaux” you need to take to the air, by balloon or helicopter. Lascaux IV, or the Centre International de l’Art Pariétal. Hood down for maximum fresh air (no air con here), you get used to the roaring of the little engine, the surprisingly comfy ride and the yacht-like heeling over on bends, and soon enough there’s a big smile on your face as the signposts guide you towards what is one of France’s most visited historical sites, Rocamadour. Starting upstream near the city of Brive-la-Gaillarde (handy to fly into from Paris or London), I have a few miles of rolling roads through the upland plateaux of the Causses, with their distinctive stone walls and stone shepherd huts, to get used to the sensation of driving the iconic 2CV. 24), that is only one part of the story of a river whose source is high up in the volcanic hills of the Auvergne and which weaves its way along the limestone canyons of Corrèze and the Lot, before meandering through the Dordogne Valley, where it enters the famous wine-growing estuary near Bordeaux. Photo credit: FotoliaĪlthough there is a département called Dordogne, (No.
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