Useful Links
Travelling to the Dordogne
One of the virtues of the Dordogne is its easy accessibility, by road, sea and rail.
Ryanair fly to Bergerac from London Stansted, East Midlands and Liverpool.
Flybe fly to Bergerac from Birmingham, Edinburgh, Exeter, Leeds Bradford and Southampton.
British Airways fly to Bordeaux from London Gatwick.
Air France fly to Bordeaux from London Heathrow and Dublin.
Easyjet fly to Bordeaux from London Luton.
With Eurostar you can take a train from London to Lille, then change to a TGV which brings you to Angoulême, an hour's drive north from Ribérac.
Alternatively, if you're driving down to the Dordogne, you can cross the Channel in a variety of ways. Eurotunnel enables you to place your car on the train and avoid any danger of seasickness.
P&O Ferries will take you from Dover to Calais. Norfolk Line also operates out of Dover, and will take you to Dunkerque. Brittany Ferries has a variety of routes: from Portsmouth to any of Caen, Cherbourg or St. Malo, and from Plymouth to Roscoff. Speedferries take you from Dover to Boulogne. It's worth shopping around on the Internet to find the best deal.
Car Hire
The best deal at Bergerac airport is probably with Buggs Carhire. Avis, Europcar and Hertz all have offices at Bergerac and Bordeaux airports as well as at or just outside Angoulême station.
Tourist Information
Since the Dordogne is a major tourist attraction, there's quite a wealth of information on the Internet about the area. The best starting point is the site of the Conseil Général de la Dordogne, which includes a portal to a whole variety of other sites related to the Department. Yes, I'm afraid they're largely in French, but that's what they speak out here! This is a way of finding the main tourism site for information about the region.
The town of Ribérac may be sleepy, but it has its own English text website, which will tell you more about the area.
Where to Stay
The most luxurious chambre d'hote accommodation in the area has to be at Château Le Mas de Montet, set in the depths of the countryside between Ribérac and Aubeterre. Open all year round, it is English-run and provides luxurious accommodation that may make you forget about house-hunting!
La Vieille Maison at Saint Paul-Lizonne, a few minutes' away from Ribérac, has recently changed hands and provides reasonably priced accommodation in a charming setting.
We can also recommend the following bed and breakfast accommodation:
La Petite Clavelie: just outside Ribérac, this attractive old farmhouse and outbuildings have been converted into charming accommodation, offering a warm welcome all year round.
Pauliac can be found in magnificent rolling hills to the north of Ribérac. Jane and John Edwards run cooking and painting courses as well as providing comfortable accommodation.
Next door to us, in the centre of Ribérac, you can stay in style in Ribérac's grandest house. At No. 5, Place du Général de Gaulle Marie-Florence Mazurier offers the choice of a spacious suite of two rooms and bathroom on the first floor, or, on the floor above, a large bedroom with ensuite shower-room, with open views onto the squares.
For peace and calm beside the river, you can't beat Le Moulin de Larcy, where three apartments have been constructed in an old mill, surrounded by the flowing waters of the Dronne.
At her townhouse at 7, Place de la Mairie, Verteillac, Susie James provides stylish accommodation in one of the area's most popular villages. No website, but she can be contacted by phone or fax on 00 33 (0)5 53908700.