Gîtes and Villas near Sarlat

Sarlat-la-Canéda sits in the heart of the Dordogne, a town built from honey-coloured stone and alive with Saturday market chatter. The medieval centre is one of the best-preserved in France, a tangle of cobbled lanes and Renaissance townhouses where roofs crowd overhead and every corner feels like stepping onto a film set. It's busy in high summer, but the architecture and food markets justify the crowds.

The countryside around Sarlat is why most people book self-catering here: prehistoric cave art, clifftop castles, and formal gardens strung along the Dordogne valley. Staying nearby means you can visit the big-ticket sites early or late, avoiding coach parties, and spend afternoons exploring smaller bastide villages or canoeing beneath the castles.

About Sarlat

Sarlat grew wealthy in the Middle Ages as a trading hub, and the old quarter shows it. The Lanterne des Morts, a curious 12th-century tower, stands in the cemetery garden behind the cathedral; nearby, Place de la Liberté fills with stalls every Wednesday and Saturday, selling walnut oil, foie gras, strawberries, and rounds of Cabécou goat's cheese. The town's Renaissance mansions were built by magistrates and merchants — carved doorways, mullioned windows, steep slate roofs — and the whole historic core has been protected since the 1960s.

Beyond the town itself, the Périgord Noir (Black Périgord) takes its name from the dark oak forests that blanket the limestone plateaux. This is one of the densest concentrations of prehistoric sites in Europe, with the Vézère valley to the north sheltering rock shelters and painted caves used by humans 17,000 years ago. The Dordogne river loops south and west of Sarlat, its cliffs topped by feudal castles built during the Hundred Years' War when this was the frontier between English-held Guyenne and the French kingdom. Renting a gîte in the area gives you a base to explore at your own pace, with decent supermarkets in Sarlat for stocking up and quiet roads for cycling or driving between sites.

Things to do near Sarlat

The Lascaux International Center of Parietal Art is a replica of the famous painted caves, closed to protect the originals; the reproductions are extraordinary, showing bison, horses, and aurochs in ochre and charcoal across vaulted limestone. La Roque St. Christophe is a five-tier troglodyte cliff settlement carved into the rock face above the Vézère, inhabited from the Stone Age through to the Renaissance.

Three major castles command the Dordogne valley. Château de Beynac clings to a sheer cliff on the north bank, all vertical stone and narrow staircases, with views over the river bends. Castelnaud-la-Chapelle Castle faces Beynac from the opposite bank and now houses a medieval warfare museum with working trebuchets. Château des Milandes is gentler, a Renaissance château famous as the home of Josephine Baker, the American-born entertainer and civil rights activist, with falconry displays in the gardens.

The Marqueyssac Gardens spread across a hilltop spur above the Dordogne, 150,000 box trees clipped into rounded sculptures, with six kilometres of walking paths and a belvedere overlooking the valley. The Gardens of Eyrignac Manor are more formal: French parterres, hornbeam alleys, and topiary in whites and greens. For families, Le Parc du Bournat recreates a 1900s Périgord village with craft demonstrations and fairground rides.

Food & drink

The Dordogne is duck and walnut country. Foie gras, confit, magret — if it's made from duck, you'll find it on menus and market stalls. Walnuts appear in salads, oils, cakes (gâteau aux noix), and the liqueur eau de noix. Périgord truffles (the black winter sort) are harvested November to March, sold at the Sarlat truffle market and shaved over scrambled eggs in season. Cabécou is the local goat's cheese, small discs sold fresh or aged, often wrapped in chestnut leaves.

Sarlat's Saturday market is the main event, filling Place de la Liberté and spilling into surrounding streets — arrive early for the best produce. Bergerac and Cahors are the nearest AOC wine regions; you'll see Bergerac Rouge and Monbazillac dessert wines on local wine lists. The town has a good range of restaurants and charcuteries for picnic supplies, though those planning self-catering will want to stock up at the E.Leclerc on the edge of town before heading out to more rural gîtes.

Getting there

Bergerac airport is 56 kilometres west, served by Ryanair from several UK airports; it's a straightforward hour's drive through rolling farmland. Limoges airport, 108 kilometres north, is the other budget option. From Paris, reckon on a full day's travel: Eurostar to Paris Gare du Nord, then a fast train south to Bordeaux or Limoges and a hire car for the final leg, or a direct TGV to Bordeaux-Saint-Jean and a drive of around two and a half hours. Ferry passengers from Saint-Malo face a long but scenic drive — 486 kilometres south through Brittany, the Loire, and Poitou-Charentes, best broken with an overnight stop. Driving from Calais or Eurotunnel is about 750 kilometres and seven hours on autoroutes, reasonable for a fortnight's stay.