All tours on this holiday have now departed. Future departure dates will be confirmed in due course.
Gorgeous river scenery along the majestic Dordogne
Medieval villages that cling to steep cliffsides
Charming regional towns – Bergerac and Perigueux are a delight
Great wine – with a tasting at Chateau Monbazillac, famed for its dessert wine
Spectacular monasteries – Rocamadour is awe-inspiring
Prehistory – cave paintings and dwellings
Probably the most beautiful river in France, the Dordogne winds majestically through a magnificent tableau of medieval hill villages, craggy hillsides, vineyards and towns full of character. This wonderful tour, based in the “capital of prehistory” Les Eyzies, offers a wonderful and contrasting itinerary that shows off the best that this quintessentially French region has to offer.
Day 1: Travel by Eurostar from St Pancras to Paris and onwards to Brive by SNCF.
On arrival, transfer by coach (approx. 1 hour from Brive) to Les Eyzies and Hotel des Roches.
Day 2: Full day tour to Beynac, La Roque-Gageac and Domme – all members of “Les Plus Beaux Villages de France” association.
Located on the banks of the Dordogne, Beynac‘s 14th century fortress towers over the village from its spectacular cliff top perch. Sitting at the foot of sheer cliffs right on the river, the light stone houses of La Roque-Gageac reflect peacefully on the water. The medieval fortified town of Domme sits on a rocky outcrop above the river offering fascinating history and glorious views. This evening there will be a welcome dinner at a local restaurant.
Day 3: Full day tour to Périgueux, Bergerac and Monbazillac.
The ancient city of Périgueux has Gallic and Roman roots - the excellent Vesunna Gallo-Roman Museum will tell you more, but today it is also a gastronomic city, where, on market day, you can pick up all sorts of delicious regional specialities. The compact city of Bergerac has a charming mix of Renaissance and medieval architecture and perfectly quaint streets to stroll. Nearby Chateau Monbazillac produces some of the region’s best wine – there’ll be a guided tour and wine-tasting during our visit.
Day 4: Full day to relax and explore Les Eyzies at your leisure.
In 1868 several skeletons of Cro- Magnons (the first early modern humans) were unearthed in Les Eyzies. In fact, the town is at the centre of a whole series of archaeological sites allowing it to earn the name of ‘capital of Prehistory’. The National Museum of Prehistory is an interesting visit.
Day 5: Full day tour to Sarlat and Rocamadour.
Sarlat-la-Canéda has an unmissable old town full of 15th and 16th century houses in an attractively uniform honey-coloured stone. The area, almost without equal in the whole of France, has been protected by law since 1962. Rocamadour has a fascinating history - after the discovery in 1166 of the undecayed body of St Amadour in an ancient cave made it an important centre of pilgrimage. The views thanks to its spectacular position above the Alzou Valley aren’t bad either!
Day 6: Full day tour to Les Eyzies, Lascaux 4 and Rouffignac.
Today our visits will follow a theme – Prehistoric man. The base for the tour, Les Eyzies, is said to be the ‘capital of pre-history’ and hosts the National Museum of Prehistory. Lascaux 4 offers a superb replica of the cave halls of the Lascaux, where the Palaeolithic cave paintings are estimated to be 17,300 years old. The visit will lead you through the facsimile wall paintings using new state of the art technology, objects, light and sound effects to recreate the areas past and allowing for a more authentic atmosphere. The Rouffignac cave contains 250 engravings and cave paintings from the Upper Palaeolithic era. This evening there will be a farewell dinner at a local restaurant.
Day 7: Transfer back to Brive station to catch the return SNCF train to Paris. At Paris, board the return Eurostar service to St Pancras.
NB: Exact order of itinerary may vary according to local conditions and tour manager's discretion.
Please note the maximum group size on this tour is 35 passengers.
INCLUDED
NOT INCLUDED
PLEASE NOTE: As with most trains, passengers are responsible for carrying baggage onto and off the train. Baggage can be stored on overhead shelves or at the entrance to the carriages.Trollies are available at St Pancras and Paris, but bags do need to be carried on to the platform.
Travel Editions recommends a luggage delivery service called thebaggageman, where your suitcase can be picked up from your home before departure and delivered straight to your hotel; therefore removing the worry about carrying your cases onto and off the trains. Please click here for more information and we have arranged a 10% discount exclusive to Travel Editions clients off the thebaggageman service. Tel: 01844 264890
Les Roches Hotel, Les Eyzies
The three-star Les Roches Hotel is located in the heart of the Perigord Noir in Les Eyzies and offers a bar, swimming pool and gardens, and comfortable bedrooms with private bath/shower, TV, telephone, safe and hairdryer.
Les Roches Hotel Website
OUR VIEW ON THE HOTEL
Family-owned, friendly hotel in the ideal location to explore the Dordogne. Meals on the second and last nights are taken at a local restaurant with the remaining nights free for personal exploration. Lovely garden and pool for summer departures and Les Eyzies an attractive base for an evening stroll and dinner.
Pre-tour accommodation is available at the Premier Inn, London Kings Cross St Pancras, about a 5 minutes walk from St Pancras International, at an approximate rate fo £120 per room. Bookings can be made direct with the hotel on 0871 527 8672 or visit their website.
Review by who travelled 13-September-2018
Lovely location. Helpful staff and tour manager was very considerate and concerned as I was ill most of the time.. Angouleme is a poor rail station and a long way from Les-Eyies.
Review by Garne who travelled 13-September-2018
Excellent tour manager.
Review by who travelled 13-September-2018
The holiday was just as expected and very enjoyable. Our tour manager, Karen, was friendly, knowledgeable, efficient and informative. It was good, that because of the number of guests, we had spare seats on the coach and did not feel crowded. We would certainly travel with you again.
Review by Butlin who travelled 13-September-2018
Review by who travelled 13-September-2018
Superb driver, Lauren, calm , skilful and pleasant. Karen was the perfect tour guide and other local guides also good. The hotel was lovely, unpretentious but comfortable and the owners were most friendly and helpful.
Review by martell who travelled 03-May-2025
Tour manager first class.
Review by Diggle who travelled 03-May-2025
All excellent. With a large number of "older" people on your tours, you need to get the hotels to be well-eqipped to cater for them, viz grab handles in bath or anti-slip mats in the baths. All noticeably absent from the Hotel des Roche (?spelling) on this trip to the Dordogne.
Review by Daniels who travelled 13-September-2018
The tour manager, Karen, was excellent and had good knowledge of all the places we visited
Review by Mr Philip Hammond who travelled 18-August-2016
I really enjoyed this holiday in such a lovely part of the country. Our Tour Manager was Karen who gave us good, clear interesting information and looked after us very well. The maps made each town and village easy to visit.
Review by Miss Wendy Twitchett who travelled 18-August-2016
Very enjoyable trip. Karen was a brilliant tour manager who coped well with occasional problems. The accommodation was charming and suited the tour. My only gripe was that that it was a bit too jam packed trying to fit a lot into the limited days. Perhaps fewer trips with longer at each destination?
Review by Mr Donald Vine who travelled 18-August-2016
We had a wonderful holiday. The trips were interesting & varied, & the boat trip along the Dordogne was a particular highlight. We feel the restaurant didn't cope well with specific requirements for the 1st included meal but dinner on the last night was a huge improvement thanks to the intervention of our Tour Manager. This was the 3rd time we have had Karen as Tour Manager & she was marvellous as ever. Breakfast was just about adequate & the hotel bedrooms were rather basic but this was more than compensated by the public rooms & outside spaces which were delightful. We had a lovely bunch of fellow travellers & this proved to be one of our favourite trips with Travel Editions.
Review by Mr Andrew King who travelled 18-August-2016
The transfer to and from Angouleme was excessive before/ after a long day's travelling. The fact that no mention of a 2 hour coach trip was made in the information on-line was a mistake I think. I don't think I would have chosen the trip had I known that. Karen's info was brilliant - detailed but not "wordy"
Review by Mrs Jean Wren who travelled 18-August-2016
Travel Editions feedback:
Thank you for your comments and unfortunately we have no choice over the length of the transfer to the hotel, which we clearly state in both the brochure and on the itinerary section on our website.
Excellent tour, my only comment would be the late decision that the tour was actually going ahead. However I do fully accept that this was down to numbers.
Review by Mr David Saunders who travelled 18-August-2016
Review by Mr Eric Dawson who travelled 08-October-2015
Karen our tour guide was excellent in every way. Everything ran very smoothly, she kept us very well informed, was available when required and was very considerate when any one needed assistance. Also our very skilful Travel Editions driver could not have been bettered.
Review by Mrs Jean Murphy who travelled 17-September-2015
A very good trip with a top-notch TM Perhaps a bit too much time in the coach but lots of interesting things to see and do Highlights trip on the River Dordogne Rocamadour and caves at Ruffignac Hotel good though rooms a little small but staff v good breakfast OK included dinners good especially one on last night overall impression V good and recommended
Review by Mr Michael Liberman who travelled 17-September-2015
Review by Mrs Sarah Bamforth who travelled 17-September-2015
Third tour with Travel Editions and thoroughly enjoyed it. Karen Blackwell is an excellent Tour Guide. We didn't have enough time at some of the venues but we knew what to expect. Overall good value for the price and looking forward to another trip next year.
Review by Mr Brian Young who travelled 17-September-2015
Karen Blackwell was excellent,as always. Our driver, Laurent, was also excellent. Perhaps longer in Perigueux and a shorter time in Bergerac would be better as there is much more to see in the former..
Review by Mr John Roberts who travelled 17-September-2015
Excellent tour manager giving care to detail and ensuring everybody was comfortable.Good combination of interesting sights and viewing the countryside.Fellow travellers all very pleasant people.
Review by Mrs Olive Lindstrand who travelled 25-June-2015
Review by Mr Andrew Beadle who travelled 18-September-2014
As a person with mobility problems I found Karen very understanding and helpful. Also Laurent our driver was excellent and helpful at each stop getting out my mobility walker. For me ,taking my son and family was a great asset as Mike could lift luggage and one of them could wheel my case.thank you for having them on this holiday which enabled me to explore an area I had longed to visit. If I wanted to take a further holiday would it be a company possibility for me to pay for a person like Karen our courier to accompany me being responsible only for my wellbeing?
Review by Mrs Brenda Serre who travelled 18-September-2014
An excellent Tour combining Pre-history, Gallo-Roman & Mediaeval architecture and beautiful scenery. Les Eyzies was an ideal touring base and the Des Roches hotel was comfortable and welcoming.
Review by Mrs Sylvia Reid who travelled 18-September-2014
We very much enjoyed this holiday our first one with Travel Editions. We would especially like to mention our careful and polite driver Laurent and also the very friendly and attentive Tour Manager Karen. We will definitely be thinking of having another holiday with the company in the future, and would recommend to others.
Review by Mrs Elizabeth Springett who travelled 18-September-2014
Excellent holiday, Karen was an excellent tour manager. Hotel was very good and comfortable and the trips were outstanding. There was a lot of travelling which did not suit everyone in the group, but for me it was fine. I travelled on my own but the group was very friendly gelled together very well. The good weather helped to make it a very good holiday.
Review by Mr David Burchell who travelled 18-September-2014
Another excellent holiday Gill and the driver were a fine team.
Review by Mr B Perrett who travelled 04-September-2014
Our tour leader, Gill, was fantastic, so informative and enthusiastic. The tour visited a good selection of the top places of interest in the Dordogne. It was a definite advantage to be pre-booked onto tours and to travel by coach to places of interest. Also September is a good time to go now all the schools are back and the roads are quieter.Top marks. We will definitely consider another Travel Editions holiday but would probably 'book our luggage' through as traversing stairs between platforms proved to be very taxing.
Review by Mrs Jennifer Gittins who travelled 04-September-2014
I have already filled in a form but wish to say again how excellent , gill, our tour guide was. One point I would like to make that it should be very firmly stated that all clients should be able to carry their own luggage. Many of the members of the group were unable to do this and at times this made life uncomfortable for other people as they felt guilty if they did not help! We loved the tour and would like to travel with you again thank you, Pauline and Laurie
Review by Mrs Pauline Brown who travelled 04-September-2014
Travel Editions feedback:
Thank you for your comments and we were pleased to learn you enjoyed the tour. We do make large reference to clients being able to handle their own luggage on page 4 of our brochure and reconfirm this to anyone we speak to on the phone but unfortunately people sometimes under estimate the amount of luagge handling on our rail holidays
We will certainly visit France with Travel Editions in 2015.
Review by Mr Philip Powell who travelled 04-September-2014
Karen = excellent tour manager.Superb coach and driver. Timings and places visited were perfect. Hotel Des Roches very pleasant, well managed, friendly staff, spotlessly clean. Our best tour yet with you
Review by Mr Derek Waddington who travelled 21-August-2014
Tour Manager had obviously done her homework and was a mine of information. Plenty of room on the excursion coach Excursions well thought out
Review by Mr Michael Dean who travelled 21-August-2014
Karen the tour manager was excellent. She had a lot to put up with on the day of the French rail strike. The hotel was very friendly and tidy, the rooms were very basic. The toilet was not for the claustrophobic, the smallest loo I've ever been in! The shower was hot and powerful but uncontrollable - could do with a fixing on the wall. We had a great time and the group all got on extremely well. Our first time with Travel Editions but we may use you again and would certainly recommend to others.
Review by Mr Stephen Slater who travelled 19-June-2014
Travel Editions feedback:
Thank you for your comments and praise for Karen as it has been a very difficult few weeks with the French rail strike. Pleased w enjoyed the tour overall.
Outward travel hampered by French rail workers strike.Karen Blackwell was magnificent.prebooked meals at restaurant were nothing special.
Review by Mrs Arabelle Dean who travelled 19-June-2014
Tour Manager Karen: Brilliant 11 out of 10 Considering the French Trains were on strike, the travelling went very well, We would have preferred to have had air conditioning in the hotel room, rather than a fan.
Review by Mr Hugh Norman who travelled 19-June-2014
