Behind its 19th-century neoclassical façade, this château 15km east of Bergerac is a study in modish minimalism. Monochrome colour schemes including black-and-white sofas and artfully chosen antiques run throughout the rooms, most of which would look more at home in Paris than deep in the Dordogne. From the nine-hole golf course to the ravishing restaurant (dinner menus from €30), it's a royal retreat.
Château les Merles
The Dordogne
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
29.9 MILES
France’s most famous prehistoric cave paintings are at the Grotte de Lascaux, 2km southeast of Montignac. Naturally sealed and protected for millennia, it…
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20.19 MILES
This extraordinary cave contains the only original polychrome (as opposed to single-colour) paintings still open to the public. About 14,000 years ago,…
25.52 MILES
The massive ramparts and metre-thick crenellated walls of this quintessential medieval fortress (occupied by the English during the Hundred Years War)…
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20.46 MILES
Hidden in woodland 18km north of Les Eyzies, this tri-level cave is one of the most complex and rewarding to see in the Dordogne. Board an electric train…
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22.84 MILES
Part of the park that contains the Tour de Vésone, this sleek museum designed by French architect Jean Nouvel encompasses a 1st-century Roman domus …
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26.18 MILES
Horticulture fans won’t want to miss these famous manicured gardens, stretching along a rocky bluff overlooking the Dordogne Valley. Signposted paths lead…
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28.82 MILES
For an introductory French market experience, visit Sarlat’s heavily touristed Saturday market, which takes over the streets around Cathédrale St-Sacerdos…
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21.09 MILES
This narrow, very long cave 1.5km east of Font de Gaume was the first rediscovered in the valley, in 1901, and is renowned for its animal engravings. Look…
Nearby The Dordogne attractions
3.19 MILES
This château, with portions dating from as early as the 12th century, though much of it is in the later Italian Renaissance style, is fully kitted out…
7.28 MILES
Inside the 17th-century Maison Peyrarède, the displays span 3000 years of history and include a collection of ornate pipes.
7.35 MILES
Wonderfully musty displays of vintage winemaking equipment and scale models of local river boats.
12.24 MILES
This Unesco-listed 12th-century Cistercian abbey and its Gothic cloister hide in the forest just south of the Dordogne, along the River Bélingou.
14.06 MILES
Discovered in 2000 in a stone quarry, this cave system is packed with stalagtites and mineral deposits.
15.08 MILES
In high season, reserve ahead for a guided tour of this vast cave with sparkling stalactites. It has an aerial basket for viewing the cavern.
16.01 MILES
See wild boars being raised in semi-freedom on this farm just outside Mortemart. These porky cousins of the modern pig were once common across France, but…
17.11 MILES
About 8km west of Les Eyzies, near the hamlet of St-Cirq, this privately owned cave features several animal engravings dating from around 15,000 BC to 17…