We Spent 3 Days in Dordogne and Changed Our Minds About France

Most Americans who visit France stick to Paris, the French Riviera and maybe Provence. After five years of living here, we wanted to show you somewhere different. In this video we spend 3 days in Dordogne, a region most North Americans have never heard of, with cliff villages, huge caves, medieval towns and some of the best food of our trip. It is for anyone looking for a quieter, more authentic side of France.

Our stops

  • Rocamadour: a 1,000-year-old village clinging to the cliffs, with a church that looks like it is hanging in the air. Off-season, we almost had it to ourselves.
  • Gouffre de Padirac: a 100-meter-deep natural chasm where you take a flat-bottomed boat along an underground river. The Grand Dome reaches 94 meters high, and English headsets are available.
  • Sarlat: a golden-stone medieval town where we wandered the streets, visited the covered market and tasted summer and winter truffles.
  • Lascaux 4: an exact, high-tech replica of the famous prehistoric cave paintings, visited with an English-speaking guide.
  • Les Eyzies: the National Museum of Prehistory, a perfect follow-up to Lascaux.
  • Brantôme: an island town on the Dronne River, known as the Venice of the Périgord, with its abbey and troglodyte caves.

What we ate and where we slept

This is duck country, and we had foie gras, goose and magret at prices far below the Riviera. Our last night ended with a seven-course surprise menu at a Michelin-starred restaurant on a terrace in Brantôme. We slept at the Plaza Madeleine in Sarlat, and in Montignac a room with a private terrace was 299 euros when we filmed, less than a three-star hotel in Nice.

Tips and our verdict

You can drive from Paris in six to seven hours, but we suggest taking the train to Bordeaux or Toulouse and renting a car from there. Book Padirac and Lascaux ahead in summer. Our verdict: the Riviera is fun, but the Dordogne has depth, history and nature, and it feels far less crowded.

We hope this inspires your own trip to the Dordogne. You will find more of our France travel tips and guides on our website.