10 Tips To Visit The Dordogne Valley, France

We are in Dordogne and you know what that means – photo update time.

It’s our very first time visiting and now that we’re here, we honestly don’t know what took us so long to visit. Seriously, everyone (back at home) we’ve been speaking to about this area keeps going on about how beautiful the area is and how much they love it.

I have no idea why no one had told me all of this before we visited! To spare you the same experience, here are 10 things you need to know about visiting the stunning Dordogne Valley in France.

We’re gonna be quite busy over the next couple of days so I’m gonna be relying on Snapchat a lot more. If you’re even remotely interested in visiting the Dordogne Valley, come drop by (our username is HandLuggageOnly) and see what it’s like! 🙂

1.) There’s heaps of History to explore

The buildings here are old! Like really old and steeped in a lot of history! This of course leads me on to my next point…

2.) It’s absolutely beautiful to stroll around

Like seriously, every little corner you turn is an unexpected and rather delightful surprise. Even the local village things are just run-of-the-mill and pretty spectacular.

3.) Try the regional cuisine

The food is pretty great here too! Turns out the region is known for its gastronomy! Gastro-holiday anyone?

4.) The weather is actually quite good!

Granted, today was a cloudier day than normal (with sunshine popping its head out every so often), but the temperature meant that, despite the clouds, this is still t-shirt and shorts weather (which is a lot more than I can say for London!)

5.) Explore the castles

There are almost 1,000 castles here, meaning your dreams of living in a castle or perhaps even staying in one overnight are bound to come true.

6.) There are so many UNESCO sights to see

There are more UNESCO World Heritage sites than you can shake a stick at!

7.) It’s a friendly region

The people are very friendly here. The laidback charm of the region means that people here are more likely to stick around to have a conversation with you, point you in the right direction if you’re lost or even help you find the best restaurant nearest to you!

8.) Visit the villages

This is the kind of place where you’d wanna get lost in the cobbled streets of its many beautiful villages.

9.) Fly to a regional airport

The best airports to fly into for the region are Brive or Bergerac.

10.) Explore the wider west of France

The Dordogne Valley is located in the South West of France… which probably explains the warm weather here.

It’s safe to say we’ve been very impressed with this part of France so far! It’s definitely been a brilliant eye-opener, and we look forward to finding out more about the region.

Here are the rest of the photos! 😉