Chateau Perigord

Château Perigord is located in the Dordogne region, just under half an hour north-west of Bergerac. It’s set in a thirteen-hectare estate featuring meadows, trees and a brook with a little bridge crossing over it. There are several miles of walking trails around and beyond the estate by the brook and canal. The surrounding countryside is wonderful, filled with rolling hills and forests.

It’s around 1.5km to the little village with a great little supermarket, small but well-stocked with locally sourced cheese and meat. You’ll find a number of restaurants you can drive to within around ten to fifteen minutes by car, the nearest being a hotel with a very good restaurant serving fresh and seasonal food. Look out for a particularly good restaurant in nearby Queyssac, around 9km away, a hidden gem where you need to book ahead (as much as two weeks in advance in the summer).

Larger supermarkets and other shops can be found in Vergt as well as towards Bergerac (the owners recommend the Intermarche Hyper in Creysse, Bergerac, for its excellent fish, meat and cheese counters).

Spend time exploring the local area and visiting traditional French villages and hamlets such as Beauregard-et-Bassac, Villamblard, Issac and Jaure, all charming places made more beautiful by their lovely surroundings. The Château de Montréal and its gardens are also worth visiting in the summer, only a 20-minute drive away, perhaps combine it with a trip to Mussidan on market day on a Saturday.

This is a great area for keen walkers and cyclists with many paths and trails through the Dordogne landscapes. You can hire canoes to sail along the Isle river in Mussidan or head to the Parc de Loisirs at Neufont in the summer months for supervised swimming off the lakeside beach, kayaking, pedalos, a toboggan ride and fishing.

The historic town of Bergerac can be easily reached by car. It’s a glorious place to spend the day, whether wandering around the old town with its beautiful buildings, picturesque shops and excellent restaurants or sampling wines in the famous Maisons de Vins. Saint-Émilion, around an hour away, is another must for wine-lovers and the vineyards of Bordeaux are just a little further with the magnificent city just 90 minutes by car.

To the north, the small yet delightful city of Périgueux, the capital of the Dordogne region, should be visited for its stunning medieval architecture, amazing cuisine and wonderful markets. The Byzantine cathedral is a UNESCO World Heritage site and the city also features buildings dating back to Roman times.

The Dordogne river, to the south, has so many pretty villages to explore such as Trémolat and lovely Limeuil, where the Vézère river leads into the Dordogne. Further east, some of the region’s most famous towns and villages can be reached in just over an hour such as Castelnaud-la-Chapelle, Domme and Sarlat-la-Canéda.

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The pace of life in the Dordogne is languid, laid back and positively infectious. Relax in bucolic beauty as you drift along the Dordogne River, or wander among the forests and hillside of the Périgord Natural Park.

The foodie scene too, is a relaxed affair. Take your time over your lazy lunches of local duck, black truffles and goats cheese. If you’re feeling energetic, you can even hunt for them yourself. The wine here is second to none, with infamous grapes like Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Chenin Blanc all having a huge presence here.

The Dordogne is also brimming with history. Castles and chateaux are scattered throughout the region, among the enchanting medieval villages. History of an altogether more ancient sort can also be explored in the incredible prehistoric cave drawings of Lascaux and Grotte de Rouffignac.

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