Ochre cliffs above the Dordogne, castles facing each other, golden-stone villages and prehistoric caves: the Périgord Noir is very easy to discover in three days, without rushing.
The map shows the numbered stops in visiting order, with one colour per day. The line follows the roads where available; otherwise it joins the stops as the crow flies. Distances and times are approximate (by car, without traffic).
Sarlat-la-Canéda and its medieval lanes, then Domme, perched like a balcony over the valley, and La Roque-Gageac beside the water.
Driving for the day: about 19.9 km, or 26 min behind the wheel in total (excluding visits).
The town of Sarlat is a medieval town that reached its peak in the thirteenth century. The Carolingian abbey of Sarlat is the only one spared by the Vikings because it lay away from the Dordogne and its tributaries.
View full page →↓ 14.1 km · about 18 min by car to the next stop
Ringed by ramparts, the thirteenth-century bastide tells a tumultuous past illustrated by its fortified gates and towers that served as prisons.
View full page →↓ 5.9 km · about 8 min by car to the next stop
In the Middle Ages, La Roque-Gageac had 1,500 souls. At that time, the Dordogne supported the fishermen and gabariers of the port.
View full page →The castles of Beynac and Castelnaud, historic enemies facing each other on either side of the Dordogne, then the hanging gardens of Marqueyssac for the sunset.
Driving for the day: about 9.1 km, or 14 min behind the wheel in total (excluding visits).
It is probably from the course of the Dordogne that the fortress looks most impressive.
View full page →↓ 6.3 km · about 9 min by car to the next stop
Facing the Château de Beynac, whose implacable rival it was in the endless conflicts that punctuate the history of the Middle Ages.
View full page →↓ 2.8 km · about 5 min by car to the next stop
A classified site, the romantic and picturesque gardens of Marqueyssac offer more than 6 kilometres of shaded walks, lined with 150,000 hand-clipped century-old box trees, and enhanced by belvederes, rockeries, water trails and open-air theatres.
View full page →The Vézère valley, between Les Eyzies, the capital of prehistory, Saint-Léon-sur-Vézère and the Lascaux cave.
Driving for the day: about 26.9 km, or 31 min behind the wheel in total (excluding visits).
A village nestled at the foot of high troglodyte limestone cliffs, nicknamed the "world capital of prehistory" for the exceptional density of its Palaeolithic deposits.
View full page →↓ 14.7 km · about 16 min by car to the next stop
Inhabited since the dawn of time, the caves and caverns formed perfect natural shelters for our ancestors, the Cro-Magnon people.
View full page →↓ 12.2 km · about 15 min by car to the next stop
Located in the Dordogne near the village of Montignac-sur-Vézère, in the heart of the Périgord Noir, the Lascaux cave is the masterpiece of prehistoric art.
View full page →Sites are numbered in the recommended order. Book Lascaux and castle tickets in advance in high season, and check opening hours before you go.