The Dordogne

The Dordogne in the South West of France is without doubt the nicest and most divers region of France, and even the world.
Nowhere can you travel through more than 450000 years of visible history is such a small area.
Prehistoric caves, shelters and dwellings, Roman and Celtic architecture, Castles, Forts,Medieval towns and villages, Bastides, ancient monasteries etc, and all set in the stunning Dordogne landscape.

The Dordogne named after the river running through it, is locally known as the " Perigord " which is divided into four : The "Périgord Verte" (Green Périgord) with its main town of Nontron, consists of verdant valleys in a region crossed by many rivers and streams. The "Périgord Blanc" (White Périgord) situated around the regions capital of Périgueux, is a region of limestone plateaux, wide valleys and meadows. The "Périgord Pourpre" (Purple Périgord) with its capital of Bergerac (the home of Cyrano), is a wine region. The "Périgord Noir" (Black Périgord) surrounding its capital of Sarlat, overlooks the valleys of the Vézère and the Dordogne, where the woods of Oak and Pine give it its name.

The Dordogne Valley, has more than 1000 Castles, and extremely picturesque medieval towns & Villages.

The Vézère valley contains 147 prehistoric sites dating from the Paleolithic and 25 decorated caves. It is particularly interesting from an ethnological and anthropological, as well as an aesthetic point of view because of its cave paintings, especially those of the Lascaux Cave, whose discovery in 1940 was of great importance for the history of prehistoric art.