Holiday rentals and lettings in Dordogne

Table of Contents

• At a glance: What should you know about renting a holiday letting in the Dordogne?
• Holiday lettings in the Dordogne: find your perfect retreat
• Exploring the Dordogne: our top recommendations
• Activities: What are the top things to do and see in the Dordogne?

• Gîtes, cottages and stone houses: Most lettings are converted farm buildings and village houses across Périgord Noir, Pourpre, Blanc and Vert, usually with a garden, parking and often a pool.
• Base yourself by the rivers: Sarlat-la-Canéda suits first-timers, the Vézère valley suits cave-hunters and Bergerac puts vineyards on your doorstep.
• Guests rate the welcome: Our highest-scoring Dordogne stays sit above 9.8+, with hosts praised for local tips, quiet settings and spotless self-catering kitchens.
• Spring and September win: May, June and September bring warm days without the July and August crowds, while much of the region winds down in winter.
• Caves, castles and canoes: Plan around Lascaux IV, the clifftop castles at Beynac and Castelnaud, Saturday market in Sarlat and a paddle down the river.

The Dordogne rents out its own building stock: honey-coloured stone farmhouses, restored barns, dovecote gîtes and village houses with shuttered windows, most of them let whole and self-catering. Larger groups tend to book villas in the Dordogne, while couples and smaller families lean towards Dordogne cottages or town-centre apartments in the Dordogne within walking distance of a market square. Whichever you choose, the following amenities come up again and again.

• A private or shared pool, common in Dordogne houses with a pool
• Enclosed gardens and shaded terraces for long lunches
• Free Wi-Fi and off-street parking, essential in rural hamlets
• Hot tubs in converted barns and pigeonniers
• Pet-friendly rules, so the dog can come along

Book early for July and August, when whole-house lettings go first.

What are the best areas to stay in the Dordogne?

Most first-time visitors settle in Périgord Noir, the wooded south-east where the castles, caves and river bends cluster together. The table below details regions for specific interests:

What do our guests say?

Reviews for the Dordogne rarely dwell on the buildings alone. Guests write about waking to mist over the valley, hosts leaving walnut cake or a bottle of Bergerac on the table, and how easy it is to reach three castles in a morning. Ratings above 9.5+ are common here, and the comments that push them there usually mention cleanliness, quiet and genuinely useful local advice.

Here are our top-rated holiday lettings from the past year:

1. Cozy Garden Apartment with Parking near Salignac-Eyvigues - 9.9+: A garden-side letting for four in Paulin, deep in Périgord Noir, praised by families for its waterfront setting and easy parking.
2. Les Chambres De La Voie Verte - 9.9+: A pet-friendly self-catering cottage at Carsac-Aillac near Sarlat, with breakfast included and a Star Host who knows every back road.
3. Bonheur en Perigord - 9.8+: A four-person gîte at Bassillac et Auberoche in Périgord Blanc, with a garden, valley views and Périgueux ten minutes away.

The Dordogne sits in south-west France, inland from Bordeaux, where four Périgords meet along the Dordogne and Vézère rivers.

✈️What is the best way to get to the Dordogne?

There is no single best route from the UK, but almost every option ends the same way: with a hire car. Here are the most common ways to get to the region:

• Plane: Bergerac Dordogne Périgord airport takes seasonal flights from several UK airports between spring and autumn, and lands you inside the region. Outside that season, fly to Bordeaux-Mérignac, roughly a two-hour drive from Sarlat-la-Canéda, or Limoges, about an hour and a half from the northern Périgord. Hire a car at the terminal, as bus links to the villages are thin.
• Train: Take the Eurostar to Paris, then a TGV to Bordeaux Saint-Jean in around two hours. From there regional trains run to Bergerac, Périgueux and Sarlat-la-Canéda, though services are infrequent and slow. It is a comfortable way to arrive, but you will still want a car once you are here.
• Car: From Calais it is a long day, roughly ten hours on the A10 and A20 via Tours and Limoges, so many families break the journey overnight. Once in the Périgord the roads are narrow and winding, which is exactly why having your own vehicle makes the difference between seeing two villages and seeing ten.

🥗Where to eat in the Dordogne?

According to Google Maps data and reviews, Kasalong is the best rated restaurant in the Dordogne. Below is a table showing the top 5 highly-rated restaurants hand-picked by our travel experts.

⭐Our guests' recommendation: Our guest traveller Emma Wilson recommends the Hercule Poireau in the Dordogne: tucked into a vaulted cellar in old Périgueux, it does duck, walnuts and Bergerac wine without any fuss, and books up fast at the weekend.

☀️When is the best time to visit?

Come in late spring or September if you can. May, June and September bring warm, settled days, open attractions and roads you can actually enjoy driving, while July and August are hot and busy with French holidaymakers. Winter is quiet and green, but many restaurants, châteaux and canoe bases close.

Spring (April to June)

• Best for: Walkers, garden visitors and anyone who wants the castles to themselves.
• Weather: Mild and changeable early on, reliably warm by June with long light evenings.
• Atmosphere: Markets are back in full swing and the valley is at its greenest.

Summer (July and August)

• Best for: Families who want canoeing, river swimming and night markets.
• Weather: Hot, often above 30°C, with cool mornings down by the water.
• Atmosphere: Lively and crowded, with French holidaymakers filling every village square.

Autumn and winter (September to March)

• Best for: Food lovers chasing walnuts, mushrooms and the winter truffle markets.
• Weather: Warm, golden days in September, then cool, damp and often foggy from November.
• Atmosphere: Peaceful in autumn and genuinely sleepy in winter, when many places shut.

⭐Our Hosts' recommendation: Our Dordogne local expert, the team of Bonheur en Perigord recommends coming to visit the quieter northern Périgord before heading south. They point guests towards Brantôme's abbey and river loop, the walnut mills around Bassillac, and an early start at the caves so you reach Sarlat-la-Canéda for a late lunch rather than queueing at midday. You can read more about local tips on the team's page.

1. Step inside Lascaux IV
2. Shop Sarlat's Saturday market
3. Paddle the Dordogne river
4. Climb to Beynac and Castelnaud
5. Taste truffles, walnuts and Bergerac wine

1. Step inside Lascaux IV

   The original cave at Montignac closed in 1963, but Lascaux IV reproduces it in full, painting for painting, in a building cut into the hillside. Book a timed slot, then carry on to Font-de-Gaume near Les Eyzies, one of the very few decorated caves where you still see original prehistoric pigment. Tickets there are limited and released in advance, so plan it before you travel rather than on the day.

2. Shop Sarlat's Saturday market

   Sarlat-la-Canéda has one of the densest concentrations of listed buildings in Europe, and on Saturday its lanes fill with stalls selling walnut oil, cabécou cheese, strawberries and foie gras. Go early, eat as you walk, then duck into the covered market in the old church when the crowds build. Smaller weekly markets at Le Bugue, Issigeac and Saint-Cyprien are quieter if you would rather browse than queue.

3. Paddle the Dordogne river

   Canoe bases at Vitrac, Cénac and Carsac hire boats and drive you upstream, leaving you to drift back past cliffs, sandbanks and castles. The classic run passes below La Roque-Gageac, its houses pressed against the rock face, and on towards Domme on its clifftop. Many riverside campsites in the Dordogne sit within walking distance of the landing stages. It takes two to three hours, the current does most of the work, and it is the single best way to understand how the valley fits together.

4. Climb to Beynac and Castelnaud

   Two fortresses glare at each other across the river, a habit left over from the Hundred Years' War. Beynac-et-Cazenac is the more austere, with bare halls and a terrace above the water, while Castelnaud-la-Chapelle houses a siege-warfare museum that children tend to love. Finish at Les Milandes, once home to Josephine Baker, or at the box gardens of Marqueyssac for the view back over both.

5. Taste truffles, walnuts and Bergerac wine

   Périgord cooking runs on black truffle, walnuts, duck and cep mushrooms. Winter truffle markets at Sarlat and Sainte-Alvère are the real thing, walnut mills sell oil pressed on site, and the vineyards around Bergerac pour everything from crisp whites to sweet Monbazillac. If you want to compare it with the bigger names downstream, the villas in Bordeaux put those cellars within reach.