Our Perigord Noir cultural discovery tour route ...
At Salignac, place of your holidays, you will discover the outside of the castle build between the XIIth and XIIIth century, classified as a historic monument and today closed to visitors. Not far from there, at a few kilometers from Sarlat, you’ll stop for the most beautiful walk through the pathways of the Gardens of the Eyrignac manor. These gardens both gather classicism of the french gardens and the XVIIIth century Renaissance spirit gardens fancy.
Then, you’ll discover the marvelous heritage of Sarlat, the european town which possesses the largest number of classified monuments on a so small place.
Going down towards the valley of the Dordogne, you will come to the foot of a royal bastide (fortified village) at Domme, overhanging the river and a sheer cliff, it has brooded there since 1281. Moving ahead, you’ll meet La Roque Gageac village with its traditional houses nestling against the cliff. From there, you can take a trip on a river barge called gabares boast, to appreciate the landscape from the riverside.
Another exceptional view over the valley can be experienced during a stroll in the Hanging Gardens of Marqueyssac in Vezac. Another few kilometers will take you to a place unique in France : from each river bank, two majestic medieval castles face and defy each other, filled with the memories of the Hundred Years War. On the right bank, the Château de Beynac, dating from XIIth century, and on the left bank, the Château de Castelnaud, rebuilt in the XVth century and housing a fascinating museum of war in the Middle Ages. The commune also boasts another castle, Milandes, with a more peaceful past, is renowned for having belonged to Joséphine Baker.
You could now go further on and visit Les Eyzies de Tayac, crossing through St-Cyprien, and discover this high spot of prehistory, with decorated caves of Le Roc de Cazelle, the prehistoric layers, the Cap Blanc sculptures and the National Museum of prehistory.
A few kilometers to the south following the Vézère river to visit Le Bugue village, the Perigord Noir aquarium, Le Bournat village and the Proumeyssac chasm.
Coming up the Vézère flow, at Les Eyzies village, you’ll follow the way leading to the Commarque castle, and you’ll visit the ruins of a fortified village with its knights towers and its houses carved into rock. The secret site, which has inspired Julien Green, Ridley Scott and Robert Merle, is at last accessible.
Halfway between Les Eyzies and Montignac-Lascaux, at at Peyzac-Le-Moustier, in the heart of the Vallée de la Vézère, listed world heritage by UNESCO, La Roque Saint-Christophe cliff is a refugee by the People of the Cliff thousands of years ago.
Starting upstream, to Montignac, you’ll necessarily visit the Lascaux II caves, the total replica of the Lascaux cave, from now on, closed to the public visites sine 1963.
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Free touristic booklets can be found in our Dordogne self catering gite and on demand.
