following the dordogne river

We spent a week or so in the Dordogne area 10 years ago and LOVED it. La Roque Gageac, Domme, Sarlat, Castelnaud. We loved all of them. Cool caves at La Roque. Try to find info on the internet. We stayed in Domme and did day trips. Great foie gras - locally made. Cool castles and beautiful countryside. We would definitely go back. Donna

You might want to broaden your question a bit since it could be making folks scratch their heads. The headwaters are up in the Massif Central, but it doesn't get very interesting unitl it crosses the A20 near Souillac. You can drive from Argentat (a bit further east) to where it joins the Garrone (hugging the river bank on the back roads) in a little over five hours (about a hundred and fifty miles). I walked it once as far downstream as Libourne - - with all the bends and a few tangents, it couldn't have been but about two hundred miles. It took a week and a couple or three days and I did a lot of goofing off - - that's about as leisurely as you can get. I'm not quite sure how you could use up three weeks in the valley. You could have a ball with that much time in the whole Perigord.

Ed, You walked? You could have taken a canoe! :)

You will need a car for sure and a wish to slow down and absorb the beauty. Visit the caves for primitive art, see the museum Prehistoric in Les Eyzies, walk the great small villages. Many are incl in the book the Most Beautiful villlages of France. Visit Castles overlooking the Dordogne and take a kayak ride down this peaceful river. Stay in Beynac w/ the Fleuries (Residence Versailles) for a great breakfast, views and hospitality.

3 weeks is more than plenty to just follow the river. there are a lot of prehistoric caves and settlements in that area with a car you can visit many of them, mostly are carved out of rocks on the mountain side, pretty cool stuff. there are a lot of hill top villages or small towns not exactly along the river, but it's well worth driving to. they're all pretty close actually, but the road is narrow and if you hit a market day along the way you can stop by for food and wine. just wonder around you'll find plenty interesting stuff to do, it's a great area with a car and map.

thanks so much for all the info...itenerary set