Where to Stay and Eat in Dordogne

Where to rest and refuel as you explore the many pretty villages and historic sights of the Dordogne.

Accommodation

1. Ludik Resort

Here’s one way to get the kids (and the adults) off their screens. This hotel, restaurant and bar complex in Bergerac offers board game-themed hotel rooms, a bar with hundreds of different board games and a shop that stocks… you guessed it, board games. There’s also a swimming pool.

2. Moulin de la Jarousse

Here you can stay in treehouses. cabins with private hot tubs, cabins right on the water’s edge, an Indonesian-style village, a wooden nest in the trees, chalets and gites – all across 20 hectares of wooded countryside near Angoisse.

3. Château de Belet

This château, in Saint-Aquilin, near Périgueux, has eight spacious rooms, recently renovated and named after famous French artists. Guests will enjoy the château’s ancient ramparts, vast monolithic walls and the leafy grounds surrounding them. There’s an outdoor swimming pool as well as private chef and concierge service. Cooking classes are available.

4. Voilà Villas France

This British-run agency offers several gorgeous gites in the Dordogne including Joli Canard, a one-bedroom property with a patio and private garden in the village of Badefols-d’Ans. “The village church is a stone’s throw away so you can always rely on the chime of the bells,” say the agents. “It’s the only thing that will stop you from losing track of time.” The other property, Le Figuier, near Salagnac, is much bigger, with four bedrooms, a large garden, a boulodrome and a private heated salt-water swimming pool open from May to September. Pricesstart at €242 per night, up to €368 per night during peak season.

5. Domaine de Puybeton

These are some of the most beautiful, sumptuous cabins and treehouses you’re ever likely to come across. The Domaine de Puybeton, near Beaumontois, has six in all, but they’re more châteaux than anything Tarzan was likely to hang out in. Two float on a lake, while the other four are either on stilts or in the tree canopy. There are hot tubs, a swimming pool in the summer months, a spa and “décor imbued with exoticism”.

6. Le Golf de la Marterie

There are five wooden lodges and a restaurant available at this golf club in Saint-Félix-de-Reilhac, as well as a par-73, 18-hole course to play on. For non-golfers, there is a spa, with an indoor pool, aqua-gym, yoga and pilates.

7. Le Manoir d’Hautegente

Now here’s something totally original and totally relaxing. At this four-star hotel-restaurant in Coly- Saint-Amand you can book to have a massage while lying on a bed in the shallows of the river flowing past the hotel. “Lulled by the sound of water and the movement of leaves in the trees, treat yourself to a complete and unique sensory experience,” the owners suggest.

Restaurants

1. Oxalis

In charge of the kitchen at this Périgueux restaurant is Antoine Romagné, who trained at Michelin- starred establishments in Paris and Bordeaux. Only 29, he already has 10 years’ cooking experience under his belt. There are menus at €55 and €75.

2. Restaurant Eléonore

The rather chic restaurant at Hôtel Edward ler, in Monpazier, offers a gorgeous menu, including foie gras with Monbazillac wine. truffle-infused risotto, smoked trout, scallops, tempura king prawns and fillet of lamb. Booking is essential; the restaurant is closed on Wednesdays.

3. Saint-Cyprien

Saint-Cyprien has two newly renovated four-star hotel- restaurants on offer. L’Abbaye has 13 guest rooms plus a restaurant, an outdoor pool, a garden, a function room and private lounges. The Hôtel- Restaurant des Augustins, named after the Augustine monks who founded the village’s abbey in the 12th century, has 12 guest rooms with architecture inspired by the region’s tobacco-curing bams.

4. Château de la Bourlie

This 13th-century château near Urval has been in the same family for more than 800 years. The latest generation are Cyril de Commarque (a sculptor and painter) and Ortensia Visconti di Modrone (a writer) who have radically transformed the main house into a six-room residence with the most achingly stylish fumiture and interiors. The grounds include a swimming pool.

DORDOGNE ESSENTIALS

GETTING THERE

BY AIR

British Airways, Jet2. com and Ryanair fly to Bergerac Dordogne Périgord Airport from Birmingham, Bournemouth, Bristol, East Midlands, Leeds Bradford, Liverpool, London City, London Stansted, Manchester and Southampton. The airports of Bordeaux, Toulouse, Brive-la- Gaillarde and Limoges are not far outside the department.

BY TRAIN

Paris to Périgueux 4h 15min; Bordeaux to Perigueux 1 hr 15min.

BY CAR

Dordogne Paris to Périgueux 550km: Bordeaux to Périgueux 120km.

TOURIST INFORMATION

www.dordogne-perigord- tourisme.fr

From France Today Magazine