Road Trip Through Southwest France
A south west france road trip runs from the Loire down through Bordeaux, along the Atlantic coast to Biarritz, and back. Most people know that route well. What gets missed is the inland section through the Charente and Dordogne, the quieter, older version of the same journey running parallel to the coast. This itinerary covers […]
A Weekend Trip to Saint-Émilion with Kids: The Honest Family Guide
A trip to Saint-Émilion with children is genuinely doable, and this guide covers exactly how to do it well from a base in the Charente or Dordogne. The short version: book the underground church tour first, ignore the cobblestone panic, and pick your winery carefully. You picture yourself at a sun-drenched chateau, glass of Merlot […]
The Best Things to Do in the Dordogne with Kids (Including Toddlers)
Yes, the Dordogne is genuinely brilliant for families. It has mediaeval châteaux you can climb inside, rivers calm enough for a five-year-old to paddle, prehistoric caves that make children go very quiet, and enough open countryside and forested hillside to exhaust the kind of energy that builds up over a school year. It works across […]
Swimming in the Dordogne and Dronne: Where It’s Safe, Where It’s Best
Yes, you can swim in the Dordogne. The river holds UNESCO biosphere status and is consistently rated among the cleanest in the country. Swimming in the Dordogne is safe, free at most spots, and in several places genuinely supervised through the summer months. But the river is not uniform, and knowing which stretches to choose […]
Castles in the Dordogne: Which Ones Are Worth Your Time
The Dordogne has more castles than most people realise and fewer worth a full afternoon than the tourist maps suggest. The region counts roughly a thousand listed historic structures. The best castles in the Dordogne, Beynac, Castelnaud, Biron, Commarque, Hautefort, and Milandes are genuinely worth the drive. The rest vary enormously, and knowing which is […]
Best Time to Visit South West France with Kids? Complete Guide 2026
Late May through June and September into early October are the best times to visit southwest France with kids. These shoulder-season months usually bring warm weather, open attractions, and fewer crowds than the height of summer. If you have to travel in July or August, that can still work well. Southwest France handles the summer […]
The Grotte de Villars: Original Prehistoric Cave Paintings Most Tourists Never Find
Most people visiting the Dordogne with an interest in prehistoric art head south, toward Les Eyzies and the Vézère Valley, where the famous sites cluster. That is a reasonable instinct. Lascaux is there, Font-de-Gaume is there, and the valley has been a centre of prehistoric discovery for well over a century. But in the northern […]
Périgueux in a Day: What to See If You Only Have a Few Hours
Périgueux does not shout. It is the capital of the Dordogne and has been a significant settlement for over two thousand years, but it carries this history without making a spectacle of it. Walk into the old town from a car park on the edge of the centre, and within five minutes you are standing […]
The Friday Market in Ribérac: Is It Worth the Trip?
It depends on what you are looking for. If you want the kind of French market that feels genuinely local rather than arranged for visitors, with producers who have driven in from the surrounding countryside, conversations happening across stalls, and the whole town briefly transformed into something considerably livelier than its usual self, then yes, […]
Canoeing the Dronne River: What to Expect and Where to Start
The Dronne is not the kind of river that announces itself. It does not have rapids or drama or the sort of scenery that ends up on postcards. What it has is something quieter and, for many people, considerably better: clear, slow water through unspoilt valley meadows, poplar trees leaning over both banks, and the […]