If you can make it to Limeuil, the confluence of the Dordogne and Vézère offers great views of the two beautifully meandering across the floodplains in different directions.Īs the river enters the Gironde region, it receives the Isle at Libourne before flowing north-west to join the Garonne. The crowds fall behind past Château de Beynac and although the cloud-topping sights become fewer, the scenery remains just as gorgeous. However the river widens and the current eases in this section, making it much more suitable for first-timers, families and photographers looking for the perfect shot of provincial France.Īt Souillac, the river begins to wind round in s-shaped loops before being greeted by medieval fortresses and fantastic quayside villages sprinkled with cafés and restaurants like La Roque Gageac and Beynac-et-Cazenac. During this fairly short stretch it passes through four of Frances most beautiful villages and is close to the Dordogne. The highlight of this river is probably the stretch from Tremolat to la Roque Gageac. Higher up the valley, the river runs faster through the gorges and is ideal for experienced or daredevil canoeists. The Dordogne River is of course one of the reasons that the Dordogne department is one of the most popular holiday destinations in France. Many of these wines have a very limited market, as they were never able to get past the Bordeaux. Plenty of beaches like those in Meyronne or Gluges often entice passers-by with their calm waters and vertiginous cliffs to stop off for a picnic or a snooze under the sun. Beyond Bordeaux, there is a large and various world of wines in the Atlantic region if France. The stretch between Saint-Sozy and Souillac flows past (or below) three gorgeous châteaux: Lanzac, Belcastel and La Treyne. Today, tourists can embark on replicas for an hour-long cruise at various places along the river, including Argentat and Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne.įor booking and information please contact the Tourist Office on +33 5 65 33 22 00. It would typically take around six days to descend the river between Argentat and Bordeaux , navigating through Beaulieu, Souillac, Beynac, Bergerac…and over two weeks to return upstream with animals (or men) often pulling the boats with ropes from the river banks. The boats would transport materials like wood and slate as well as salt and wine produced in nearby vineyards. It crosses 5 departments (Puy-de-Dôme, Corrèze, Lot, Dordogne and Gironde) and 3 regions (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Occitanie and Nouvelle-Aquitaine) before it flows into the Gironde near Bordeaux. Although the Dordogne’s river trade and use of gabares soared in the 18th and 19th centuries, these traditional flat-bottomed boats were operated as early as the Middle Ages. Referred to as La Dordogne in French, the Dordogne River is a 300.2 miles-long river that flows in the south-central and southwestern parts of France. The Dordogne is a river in the central part of Southern France. It also served to connect populations living higher up the river in Auvergne and Limousin with those lower down in Bergerac and Bordeaux. Once a bustling commercial axe for the valley, the river was the most direct and safest way of circulating goods.
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