One of the best ways to experience this stunning part of France is by grabbing some paddles and canoeing the Dordogne. Prehistory Welcome Center Free, helpful intro to region's important prehistoric sites, in Les Eyzies. The Dordogne River flows west through the South West of France, snaking through the soaring cliffs dotted by ancient châteaux and some of the most beautiful villages in France in the Périgord Noir. ▲ La Roque St-Christophe Terraced cliff dwellings where prehistoric people lived. ▲ Abri du Cap Blanc 14,000-year-old carvings that use natural contours of cave to add dimension, but no cave paintings. ▲ National Museum of Prehistory More than 18,000 well-displayed artifacts in Les Eyzies - offering good background information for patient students. ▲▲ Grotte du Pech Merle Vivid cave art of mammoths, bison, and horses, plus Cro-Magnon footprint, about an hour south of the Dordogne in the Lot River Valley. ▲▲ Grottes de Cougnac Oldest paintings (30,000 years) open to public, showing rust-and-black ibex, mammoths, giant deer, and a few humans, on a tour more focused on cave geology than art. ▲▲ Grotte de Rouffignac Etchings and paintings of prehistoric creatures, such as mammoths, in a large cave accessed by a little train. ▲▲ International Center for Cave Art at Lascaux Exact replica of the world's most famous cave paintings, and interactive center on cave art. Indeed, it is one of the most profuse regions in France in terms of listed historical monuments. ▲▲▲ Grotte de Font-de-Gaume Last prehistoric multicolored paintings open to public, with strict limits on the daily number of visitors. The Dordogne is also known as the valley of 1001 castles. Montfort Castle-topped village with a small pedestrian zone. ▲ St-Emilion Prosperous little town devoted to Bordeaux wine on the western edge of the region. ▲ Eastern Dordogne Remote and less visited area, highlighted by spectacular hill towns and the pilgrimage village of Rocamadour. ▲▲ Lot River Valley Overlooked but beautiful valley, home to dramatically situated villages like St-Cirq-Lapopie. ▲▲ Domme Busy little cliff-capping town with a stunning view over the Dordogne River Valley. ▲▲ Château de Castelnaud Number-two castle in the region (after Beynac's) that still packs a powerful medieval punch. ▲▲▲ Sarlat-la-Canéda Regional market town with a seductive tangle of cobblestone streets peppered with beautiful buildings and traffic-free lanes. ▲▲▲ Oradour-sur-Glane Ruined village machine-gunned and burned by Nazi SS troops in 1944 and now preserved as a war memorial. ▲▲▲ Cro-Magnon Caves Prehistoric caves famous throughout the world for their art (see below). ▲▲▲ Beynac The Dordogne River Valley's other must-see sepia-tone village, and home to one of the most imposing castles in France. These are traditionally known as the Perigord and split. ▲▲▲ La Roque-Gageac Essential and exceedingly cute town (and good home base) that looks as if it had been sculpted out of the rock between the Dordogne River and the cliffs above. The Dordogne region in France is famous for its beautiful and historically important little villages and hamlets, that are scattered all over its hilly countryside. The Dordogne region can be seen as needing at least four visits to see the four different areas.
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