Discover Authentic France
Secrets of Dordogne
Coming summer 2028
Our home base is located in one of the Most Beautiful Villages of France, complete with gourmet restaurants, troglodyte buildings, and river views.
We'll have an optional event and dinner the night before the tour for anyone who's in town and just can't wait for the fun to start!
- Day 1: After loading up in our luxury van at our meeting spot in Bordeaux, we'll head to our first destination: a living abbey where nuns have been making cheese for over 150 years. We'll then enjoy lunch at a caviar farm on the way to our gorgeous manor house, which is our home for the next six nights.
- Day 2: We'll orient ourselves to our village home of the week and tour several of the nearby Most Beautiful Villages of France, including one that houses relics of the Knights Templar and another with a spectacular castle. After a picnic lunch at our manor, we'll enjoy a canoe ride down the Dordogne River.
- Day 3: This morning, we'll enjoy a gastronomic highlight of the week with a class at a local cooking school and lunch on their beautiful terrace. Our afternoon will continue as we tour the exquisite nearby "suspended gardens" that overlook the Dordogne River.
- Day 4: We'll spend the morning at the famous market in nearby town of Sarlat-la-Canéda with a formal tour and plenty to time to explore on our own. We'll have lunch at the market before enjoying a tasting a local distillery. We close the day with a special visit to a local night market to join the villagers for their weekly evening festival for dinner.
- Day 5: We'll spend the day immersed in Paleolithic history as we tour a cave and its original 17,000 year-old paintings in the morning. We'll dine against the backdrop of a prehistoric cliff-face at a Michelin restaurant for lunch before heading to another UNESCO heritage site in the afternoon.
- Day 6: Today, we'll head the other direction to a to a lesser-known part of the Valley for a special 3-km walk along the Dordogne River to another one of the Most Beautiful Villages of France and an incredible boat ride.
- Day 7: As we end our time together, we'll enjoy several more experiences on our way back to Bordeaux, including a stop in Saint-Émilion for a unique wine tasting and lunch.
-Tour length: Seven days/six nights
-Accommodation: Our lodging is a 200 year-old manor house that serves a homemade, gourmet breakfast every morning in the former ballroom. It is rated as 4-stars. Each room has a king-sized bed and the garden has an inviting pool.