The Vézère valley alone holds fifteen UNESCO-listed sites and twenty-five decorated caves — Lascaux's horses and aurochs are 17,000 years old, and the replica at Lascaux IV exists because human breath was destroying the original. Above the rivers sit Beynac, Castelnaud and Marqueyssac, castles that faced each other across the Hundred Years' War, and Sarlat's golden-stone old town, which survived because it was too poor to modernise. La Roque-Gageac is built into the cliff itself. It is also duck, walnut, truffle and Bergerac wine country.
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Headline places
What you come to Dordogne Valley for.
- Lascaux IV A full facsimile of the painted cave — the original is closed for good
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The Vézère Valley Fifteen UNESCO sites and twenty-five decorated caves in one valley -
Château de Beynac 150 m above the Dordogne, facing the castle it fought for 200 years -
La Roque-Gageac A single row of houses pressed between the cliff and the river -
Jardins de Marqueyssac 150,000 hand-clipped box shrubs on a spur above the Dordogne -
The Sanctuary of Rocamadour Seven chapels up 216 steps that pilgrims once climbed on their knees -
Pont Valentré A fortified bridge with three towers, finished in 1378
Cities & bases
Where to sleep inside the area.
The regions this area crosses
Tourism areas and administrative regions are different geographies — both are true, and both are browsable here.
