annelyon57

Hi. l have been trying to plan a walking holiday in the Dordogne in 2023 and not go through a self guide company. I am finding it hard to find maps to see if this is possible. I would love some advice on how to plan this. We will start from Bergerac and end in Les Eyzies. Hopefully this itinerary will be a nice selection of villages in that area. We plan to head to Bordeaux from there then back to Paris.
Hopefully someone out there might be able to help.

annhig

Hi Annelyon, and welcome to fodors!

This isn't something I've done myself but a bit of surfing the net found this website which looks like a good place to start.

https://ilovewalkinginfrance.com/lon...ing-in-france/

Good luck!

kerouac

Here are the main GR (grande randonnée) trails that go through Dordogne: Les GR et GR des Pays - Comité FFRandonnée Dordogne (ffrandonnee.fr)

MmePerdu

While I haven't walked in the Dorgogne, I have done 2 long walks in France, the first from chateau to chateau in the Loire, beginning at Chambord, ending in Chinon & the 2nd along the Burgundy Canal which as you can imagine is easier to plan, follow the canal. There are at least 2 basic ways to plan a long walk, one is to follow an established long-distance path (Grandes Randonnées - GRs), the other which I chose given it was the chateaux that interested me, plot your way on a variety of paths. So it seems it's the second approach that would interest you. While doing that would include all the places you want to see, it's a more complicated way to plan and you may find that one of the established GR's will also give you what you want, similar if not exactly the same.

Either way you'll need maps. What you want are the Cartes Randonnée Série Bleue 1:25'000 maps by the IGN (Institut Geographique National), the walker's maps.

Here is a key for all the maps, to locate the ones you need:
https://maps.walkingclub.org.uk/ign-france/top-25-bleu/

Stanford's in London is a reliable source I've used:
https://www.stanfords.co.uk/Advanced...C3%A9rie+bleue

You may find a source more local to you online. I believe IGN offers the maps in online form on their website though I prefer paper maps, especially for planning.

There are some wonderful books on walking in France though maybe you don't need to get into it all at this point.

Also, have a look at Melinda Lusmore's website, a wealth of knowledge on the subject & a lovely Australian woman who is happy to answer questions & give guidance: https://ilovewalkinginfrance.com/

BritishCaicos

I’ve spent lot of time on the Dordogne river - it’s my favourite river in the world. We have a house 10k. South of the river near Saint Émilion.

I’m not sure about your plan, there are plenty of pretty villages after Lalinde in the Mid Dordogne but the area is very heavily wooded and doesn’t offer great views for much of the time.

Of the villages/ towns near the river, we love Monbazillac, Issigeac, Beaumont, Lalinde (canal walks) , Tremolat, Paunat, Saint Alvere and Limeuil

How many days do you have ?
What sort of accommodation are you looking for ?
Are you looking for ancient footpaths ? Canal paths ? Very small roads ?

My advice would be to head the other way and look at the area between Bergerac and Bordeaux.

Maybe look at the Facebook group - Découvrir la Gironde et son estuaire which consists of many members who are keen walkers and cyclists in thr Bordeaux area - the picture are just stunning.

MmePerdu

I don't believe the OP has mentioned the season in which they plan to walk, but when deciding on a route in potentially hot weather, "heavily wooded" can have distinct advantages over "great views."

annelyon57

Hi, we plan to walk in either May or October…still deciding. Thankyou for all the replies. We have walked quite a bit in the UK, Spain, Japan & Holland. We are finding the planning in France a bit hard to coordinate. The walk in France will be about 10 days and include some villages we have read about so wanted to try to connect them by walking. We won’t have a car. I am sure it will all work out.

SeeDee

Just an outline of our walking trip in the Dordogne, done in early July. We used the services of One Foot Abroad to arrange the accommodation and luggage transfers but with a year to make arrangements, it would be perfectly possible to do oneself. Our start point was Sarlat-la Caneda which we reached by train, starting from Bordeaux; our hotel was le Couleuvrine near the town centre which we stayed in to two nights prior to departure and one night at the end of our walk.
Day One: Sarlat - Chateau de Montfort - Vitrac - Domme. Overnight in Hotel de l'Esplanade.
Day Two: Domme - Cenac - Castelnaud la Chapelle - Chateau de Marqueyssac - Beynac-et Cazenac.
Stayed in the tiny Hotel Pontet.
Day Three: B-e-C - Chateau des Milandes (by taxi) - Allas-les-Mines - St Cyprien - overnight in the countryside at Domaine de la Rhonie.
Day Four: DdlR - Les Eyzies-de-Tayac, staying at the Moulin de la Beune.
Day Five: LesEyzies - Sireuil - Chateau de Commarque - Marquay. Overnight at Hotel Bien- Etre aux Cypres,
Day Six: Marquay - Sarlat. Honesty demands that we admit to accepting the generosity of our fabulous hosts Claude and Mario and availed of their offer of a lift in their car to Sarlat........

A few navigational hitches along the way but then we are not particularly seasoned hikers. Some of the walk followed the GR64.
I have a detailed daily report on the trip on file but I am not familiar with personal messaging protocols on Fodors.
Happy to send by e-mail if you can let me have your e-mail address.

annelyon57

Wow thank you so much. My email is [email protected]
Would love to read your trip report.

Christina

Anne, I suggest you remove your email address from this public forum. You can put your settings so someone can message you on here and then you could tell them privately.

annelyon57

[QUOTE=annelyon57;17393090]Wow thank you so much. I have sent you a PM.

commeci

annelyon,
The website below allows you to download 45 maps of detailed walking routes in different parts of the Dordogne. You could get the maps of the areas that interest you and link up the walking routes across these maps, where this is possible. The website with this information is in French (the English version is different) but the maps themselves have English translations (for the legends etc.). Scroll down to get the index map allowing you to click on the walking maps you want. From a very quick look, and based on the places that you say interest you, I think you would probably need the following maps: Bergerac #41, Issigeac #40, Beaumont #32, Le Buisson de Cadouin #04, Les Eyzies #07.
Note: I tried to post the above info with a link but got an automated reply from Fodors saying that I cannot post a URL until I have posted 10 times ! ... But if you put the following words into google you will get the webpage: dordogne perigord tourisme cote pratique documentation nos plans guides randonnee pedestre equestre vtt

annelyon57

Thankyou so much. I’ve had a look and those maps look perfect. Looks like our plan is coming together. Whoo hoo!

hermanwatson4952

i would like to see your trip report. We are thinking of walking in early November. [email protected]
Herman Watson