France's most famous caves are almost all located in and around the historic region of Le Périgord (department Dordogne), particularly along the river Vézère. What makes them so special is that the caves do not so much show stalactite formations, but the images that prehistoric people left on the walls. As early as 25,000 BC, a people who probably hunted and wandered painted and carved animals such as mammoths, woolly rhinoceroses and horses on and out of the cave walls. They did not live in the caves themselves. These caves may have served as cult centres.
In terms of landscape, you start in the Périgord Vert, a vast, wooded landscape that is reminiscent of the Limousin in the north. You follow the course of the Vèzère river and the mighty Dordogne. As many caves and prehistoric sites you encounter along the Vézère, you encounter as many castles on your journey along the Dordogne. Towards Sarlat you dive into the Périgord Noir, a densely wooded hilly landscape full of fairytale ochre-coloured buildings. This part of the Périgord is very well known to the Dutch.
The French praise the climate here and in the last decade even the most dilapidated hovels have been sold for high prices - only to start a restored life as a second home.

This Périgord Caves ride starts in the Italian-style town of Brantôme-en-Périgord and ends in the market town of Sarlat-la-Canéda.

At Brantôme, the river Dronne splits for a moment, creating an island on which the heart of the abbey town lies. The abbey itself rises with its four-storey bell tower along the romantic banks of the Dronne. A Renaissance pavilion a little further away houses the local tourist organisation. Brantôme's abbey has benefited from the corrosive work that the river water once did in the rock masses behind the building. On the abbey square, you can see that the cave niches were used as annexes. One was decorated in the 16th century with a Last Judgement and a Crucifixion. In July and August, Brantôme is the setting for an international festival of classical dance. On the way to your next visit, you can fill up at the local Carrefour.

In the Dronne valley, Bourdeilles, together with Brantôme and Périgueux, is a highlight of the Périgord Vert. Bourdeilles' main attraction is the castle. Actually two castles, because next to the medieval, almost 40 m high keep, the Renaissance building forms a stark contrast. From the keep, the streets of Bourdeilles stretch out to a Gothic bridge and a converted water mill. A guided tour of the Renaissance castle takes you past 16th and 17th century furniture. Especially many Spanish pieces are on display. Nowhere in Périgord is such an abundance of richly carved furniture to be found.

In 1120, a group of hermits around a spring (the origin of the name Chancelade) organized themselves into a community, adopted the rule of Saint Augustine and founded the Chancelade Abbey. The abbey developed rapidly but was destroyed in the Hundred Years' War and the Wars of Religion. In 1998, a project was started to restore the abbey residence and to create a spiritual center open to all.
Today you can visit the abbey church, owned by the municipality.

Périgueux, your coffee stop, but also a city to visit. The largest shopping centre in Périgord Vert is also a cultural destination par excellence. Périgueux is located on the lsle. The ancient Gauls inhabited the same place. During the Middle Ages, two centres emerged on the river. One of them is the Cité de Vésone, of which some Gallo-Roman remains remain. The most remarkable fragment is the Tour de Vésone, not a military but a religious tower. The shortened domed church of St.-Etienne-de-la-Cité with its domes shows how church roofs were thought of during the Romanesque period in Périgord. The second centre of Pèrigueux, now with its buildings attached to the first, is located closer to the lsle. It houses a fascinating domed cathedral. This is the only domed church in France that, like the famous San Marco in Venice, was built on the basis of a Greek cross. North of the cathedral, narrow streets alternate with terrace squares. The archaeological museum on the Cours Tourny tells the history of Périgord. Here you will find special engraved bones from the Magdalenian (15,000-10,000 BC) and the skeleton of a Chancelade man. Much has also been preserved from Gallo-Roman Pèrigueux, such as mosaics.

Then you finally arrive at your first cave complex. Not far from the village of Rouffignac, you can explore one of the largest caves in the Périgord, the cave of the hundred mammoths. It is so big that an open train rides through it. Every now and then, the carriages stop to let you enjoy prehistoric paintings. Discovering the paintings is made difficult by the fact that the rock walls are covered in graffiti. The original images were made around 11,000 years BC. In addition to mammoths, you can also see woolly rhinoceroses and ibexes.

Anyone who goes back as far as 25,000 years in time must remember that not all traces of vanished cultures are equally clear. At Le Bugue lies the cave of BaraBahau and here the oldest traces of art can be seen. The contours of bears and ibexes, horses and aurochs are engraved in the stone. The scratching of the drawings was made easier by the softness of the rock face here. Like the cave of Lascaux, this large tunnel also owes its existence to a now vanished subterranean river.

Via Siorac-en-Périgord you drive to Alias-les-Mines and via a small road along the Dordogne you arrive at Les Milandes castle.
On the royal river Dordogne, as it makes its way through the Périgord, it is difficult to see a stretch of the river without a castle on or above one of its banks. The Château de Milandes is one of the most fairytale-like on the Dordogne. It was built at the end of the 15th century, at a time when the Gothic style was entering its last, most active phase. The beautiful funerary chapel at the château is considered the most beautiful in the Périgord.
This chapel shows a flamboyant Gothic style. Milandes became famous for a famous owner who created a refuge for adopted children here in the 1930s: Josephine Baker, the American dancer and singer. Her main influence is the luxurious appearance of the bathrooms.

The Château de Castelnaud dominates the Dordogne valley, opposite the Château de Beynac on the other side of the river. Built on a rocky spur, it offers a magnificent panoramic view over the Dordogne valley.
It was founded in the 12th century and belonged to the Cathar lord Bernard de Casnac. In 1214, during the Albigensian Crusade, it was taken by Simon de Monfort and extended with a keep and a curtain wall.
During your visit, you will see life-size reconstructions of medieval war machines (mangonel, trebuchet, pierrière, bricole) and a large collection of weapons and armour: since 1985, the Château de Castelnaud has been home to the Museum of War in the Middle Ages. The self-guided tour includes lots of signage, interactive terminals and models. The development of fortification and siege techniques is also covered in a slide show, films and video games.

Then it is time for a lunch stop in La RoqueGageac. The characteristic elongated village consists mainly of a main street with beautiful houses that are built in front of the high rock face. It has some picturesque streets. There is also a kind of village square. In the Middle Ages it was fortified with ramparts. It was also the country seat for the bishops of Sarlat-la-Canéda. There are many possibilities to have lunch here.

On the way to Sarlat you will pass the bastide village of Domme. Bastides are old fortresses that have a strategic location. These fortresses were walled cities and often the walls or parts of them are still present. Another characteristic of a bastide is that it has a regular street pattern of straight streets, which means that the blocks of houses are in squares. This was not always possible in Domme because it was built on a hill and a rocky cliff. In this case, the landscape did not allow such a strict layout. There are entrance gates in the walls of a bastide village, which is also the case in Domme. Often there are only remnants left, if anything remains at all. In Domme, the gates are still in very good condition. It belongs to “Les Plus Beaux Villages de France”.
The central place of the village is the village square. In many places the church is the centre of the village square. In Domme this is not the case, where the seventeenth century market hall is the central place. The reason for this is that the market hall had two functions. The market was held here and it is the entrance to the caves of Domme that lie under the village. In times of war this cave was an extra hiding place for the inhabitants of Domme. There is also water in the cave, very important in times of war. You can admire the stalactites (stalagmites and stalactites) under the guidance of a guide. There are also visible bones of bison and mammoths.

You are approaching the end point of this trip: Sarlat-la-Canéda, or Sarlat for short. It is the market town of the Périgord Noir, where the 'black diamond' or truffle is found. When the sun shines, the medieval town turns into a fairy tale of yellow-ochre stone. The most beautiful buildings are on the Rue des Consuls, such as the Hótel Selve de Plamon at number 10. One of the museums is very child-friendly, numerous moving miniatures have been given a place here on the Rue de la République. Just outside the centre is a museum with numerous aquariums, which show fish species from the Dordogne. Here you will undoubtedly find a place to evaluate the route while enjoying a glass of wine or a beer.