Dordogne River Walk

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Our trip to the Dordogne was very enjoyable. The hotels had been well chosen and the routes between them were varied and contained a good level of challenge. We appreciated the app, which was easy to use and stopped us getting lost!

Deborah Starrs, 20 Aug 2024

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The trip was excellent - amazing walking with a fantastically accurate GPS powered app, incredible views and food. The itinery was well thought through providing beautiful walks and the opportunity for rest days where needed. Would recommend.

Holly Whelan, 21 Jul 2024

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Overall a really enjoyable holiday.

Heather Lewis, 14 Jun 2024

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Please do take note when someone says they have vertigo problems. I do appreciate it is difficult for someone who does not have that problem to see any difficulty.

We were very happy with 99% of the holiday and our interactions with your staff.

John Martin, 8 Sep 2023

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Once again another fantastic holiday! Amazing organisation, great support throughout. Just one hotel let the whole experience down a little,but this could be due to local culture/personality differences. All meals inlcuded were FABULOUS! Would definatley travel with you again, but would be GREAT if you could take AMEX please. We really trust you to make great selections and trip notes, which goes a long way for us as we are super busy and would not have time to plan all this ouselves. We have really built up a trust with you now after travelling with you 5 times myself!

Susan Holt, 6 Aug 2023

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Locations, accommodaton, food and general organisation were excellent. 2 of the days were hard/long.

GLOVER, 16 May 2023

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The walking was fine but a bit too much on lanes/roads for us personally. That said I appreciate that this was as much to do with the area chosen as anything else and also the fact that we had to get from A to B. The hotels were all very different and without exception fun to stay in. The only downside was the limited choice/unchanging menus at two of them (already corresponded about). The maps didn't arrive until after we'd left for the holiday and were awaiting our arrival home. Luckily my husband had managed to buy copies as they proved essential at times, although the walking notes were on the whole, very good.

Ms Stileman, 11 Sep 2022

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The itinerary and the walking distances were good but, unfortunately, I happened to book my trip to coincide with the worst French heatwave for a number of years. By making early starts and benefitting from the coolest parts of the day I managed to complete the entire route. Had the water been a little less extreme the route would have been easily achievable. On the whole the hotels were very good and the accommodation in Carsac and St Vincent de Cosse was absolutely stunning. The hotel in Souillac was a little more functional but perfectly adequate. Souillac has suffered badly as a result of the Covid pandemic and it needs renovation. However, while there and although it was a rest day, I planned my own walk, doing a loop in the hills to the south of the town. This comes highly recommended as I've never seen so many butterflies except in a butterfly house. There must have been at least twenty species almost literally competing for air space. I will be booking with Headwater again.

Dr Adams, 10 Jun 2022

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This was our third walking holiday with Headwater and lived up to expectations. The walking was lovely, although the second one was quite challenging! All the hotels were comfortable and the last two were luxurious, but all had wonderful food. France is not an easy place to be if you are gluten free, as one of our party is, but the last two hotels were particularly good. Taxis too, are scarce and very expensive, if you wish to go out on your rest days. However, the reps (Janet and Andrew) were very helpful and we all had a lovely holiday, and would certainly use Headwater again.

Mr Sykes, 9 Aug 2019

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Very enjoyable walks with excellent notes. We are experienced walkers but even we struggled with very high temperatures on Day 4. We were offered the opportunity to swap one day’s walk to canoeing; this is an example of Janet and Andrew ( the reps) going out of their way to tailor our holiday to suit both us and the weather conditions. We thoroughly enjoyed the canoeing and it added a new dimension to our holiday! The hotels were very high quality as we have come to expect with Headwater ( our ninth holiday with you). The only exception was La Terrace in Meyronne where the menu was limited and was the same on both evenings. It gave the impression that we were less important guests and didn’t add to the ambience.

Mr Allen, 2 Jul 2019

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Wonderful walking in picturesque varied countryside with many historical features. Ample shade. Hotels luxurious and/or extremely comfortable with delicious food.

Mr Hewson, 4 Sep 2018

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Wonderful trip! Everything was so well set up for- transfers, trip notes etc. The walks themselves were stunning, and it was amazing to jump into the pool at the end of the day. A great way to see the Dordogne and experience a different part of France.

Mr Ekers, 25 Aug 2018

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Very well planned and organised by knowledgable and helpful staff. Route notes generally accurate and helpful, although the wording can at times be confusing and imprecise as can some of the distances between way marks. The degree of difficulty on some days is under estimated and had we not been as fit as we are,we may have struggled with some of the climbs.. The local reps were superb, always charming, helpful, patient and totally reliable. Nothing was ever too much trouble for them. All of the hotels were excellent and two in particular were superb, both in terms of the cuisine and the rooms that we were accommodated in. However, in two hotels the menu did not change from day to day, and therefore, as non meat eaters we were limited to having the same meals on consecutive evenings; particularly as there were no vegetarian options and only one type of fish (which my wife does not like) available. The walk routes were glorious, beautiful scenery, varied terrain, and wonderful spring flowers (particularly many and varied orchids).

Mrs Loaring, 13 May 2018

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The holiday is an excellent combination of interesting, good length walks, fine hotels and great food. The lack of restaurant facilities at the Renoir was more than made up for by the quality of the food at the nearby Bistro L'Octroi. The finest food was undoubtedly at the Hotel Les Glycines but all were very satisfactory. There was plenty to do on all the rest days and we would particularly recommend visiting to Marqueyssac Gardens in Beynac, the museums dedicated to the amazing pre-historic finds around Les Eyzies, and lounging by the pool at the Laborderie.

Mr Mepham, 11 May 2017

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The booking process was simple and supportive. The holiday exceeded expectation; not something I have said before. The accommodation was superb, food wonderful, welcome huge and help available when required.

Mrs Clark, 3 Aug 2016

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We had two varied weeks in France, interspersed with the 8 day walking holiday. I think we have come to the conclusion that staying based in one hotel (i.e. Kandersteg) is probably better for us than walking from hotel to hotel. We missed having a car on our 'rest' days in order to explore the surroundings. We also found 23kms rather too much for us! We got lost a couple of times following the instructions - better signposting in Switzerland! However, the food, wine and the beautiful countryside was much appreciated. Not often one walks only hearing birdsong and nothing else!



Thanks Headwater for all your arrangements.

Mrs Triger, 12 Jun 2016

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Good varied walking, with clear directions. But we were pleased the weather was not hot because, aged about 70, we found the walking days quite full. Timing was as predicted though torrential rain had turned some of the tracks into an obstacle course.

Hotels were excellent, all very special in different ways. Chateau de Monrecours is magnificent, feels very expensive, with a talented chef and friendly helpful Maitre d'.

Monrecours and Les Glycines provided special menus for Headwater, Meysett and Laborderie scored by saying 'here are all our menus, have what you like'!

Nearly all staff spoke very good English.

Mr Normand, 11 Jun 2016

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We enjoyed it and had a lot of fun, but it could have been even better with a few tweaks. Some of the walking notes certainly need reviewing as we wanted to enjoy the walking, not stand scratching our heads wondering if we had the right path. An explanation of the GR markers would have been really useful as we had to find out what they meant by trial and error. Also there were markets or events on some days that it would have been nice to know and arrange our days off to coincide with.

As regards hotels the Monrecour was superb, the labourderie very good and the Meysset OK. Les Glycinees we found varied. The location was great, the room ok. The food at the hotel varied from some of the best ever eaten to some of the worst. Our picnic sandwich was inedible. Generally it did not have the same feel as the other hotels. Also tea or coffee making in all hotels would be appreciated.

Mr Hamilton-Viall, 8 May 2016

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Lovely locations. There is so much choice of what to do on your spare days.

Although the walks are not too strenuous you do need to have enough food and water with you as there are few places on route where you can stock-up.

Do take your time following route instructions as markers are not always immediately obvious and can become difficult to see or disappear entirely.





Mr Blunt, 2 Sep 2015

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This was our second holiday with Headwater and again we had an excellent holiday. It was very well organised and the walking notes were easy to follow. The holiday certainly lived up to its name of being a gastronomic walking tour - the food was delicious throughout and all four hotels were very friendly.

The walking was pleasant but suffered a little in comparison to our first hoiday with Headwater (Umbria) as the Dordogne is a busier area than Umbria.

Our top tip would be to visit Le font de Gaume when staying in Les Eyzies - there are a limited number of tickets issued each day and 52 of these go on sale each morning at 9.30am. The receptionist at the hotel suggested we shoud be there by 7.30am, as September isn't peak season and as she predicted we weren't the first, we joined the very orderly queque as nos 11 and 12; it was a magical experience seeing original paintings that are 14,000 years old.

We came home feeling very relaxed and ready to book another Headwater holiday.



Mrs Carrington-Bro, 29 Aug 2015

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Well organised and did what it said on the can!

Mr Powell, 23 Jun 2015

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Beautiful region of France. Didn't see a soul whilst walking and the hotels were quiet which suited us! Representative was very friendly and helpful.

Mr Strong, 23 May 2015

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On this itinerary the length and gradient of the walks are not so suitable for the over 65s - we experienced them as three-boots rather than 2 on account of our age.

Your notes are very well written, congratulations. We never went wrong and rarely used the maps.

The menus on this gastronomic holiday were surprisingly limited - should have guessed they would be though. There was one evening when we could not face the foie gras and duck again so crept out for a cheap Italian despite having paid for the gastronomic bore. We cannot blame Headwater for this, please note.

Throughout the service was very good. The landscape and local attractions were outstanding. The routes were creatively chosen. Thanks!

Mrs May, 30 Jun 2014

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Wonderful countryside for walking and great walks - with a spectacular meal at the end of every day.

Mr Hall, 15 May 2014

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The Dordogne is a very good area for a holiday, with plenty to see and do in all weathers. The Headwater walking holiday is a very good introduction to the many varied facets of the region - geography, towns and villages, food and places of interest. We enjoyed experiencing different styles of hotel - they all have their own individuality - and all looked after us extremely well. The walking notes were faultless and the maps some of the best I've encountered on the nine Headwater holidays I've taken. The rep was very informative and helpful and although we required only the routine service we were confident that if exceptional circumstances arose they would be dealt with professionally.

Mr Ingram, 16 Sep 2013

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The Dordogne is a great area for walking with fantastic views and places to visit such as Chateau and cave/rock attractions. Mostly small hamlets along the route and limited facilities for refreshments so a picnic was essential. The walks were very strenuous in places with steep climbs and descents along stony paths. It was the toughest series of walks that we had undertaken (we live in Norfolk but have walked up Snowdon and other hills!) but we did it. Food at hotels in Beynac and Tamnies in particular was substantial and excellent but the walking helped burn off the calories. We flew from Norwich to Toulouse via Amsterdam and it was nice to be home within 40 mins of touching down in Norwich. Headwater helped us find a route to the Dordogne which didn't involve a long trip to and from London and didn't break the bank either.

Mr Stebbing, 13 Sep 2013

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There should be more information on the routes available early in the process. We had a 23 km walk, which was fine for us but it was not clear that there were any walks of this length and it could cause problems for some guests.

Mrs Cornelissen, 3 Sep 2013

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We thoroughly enjoyed our walking holiday in the Dordogne. Accommodation and food were for the most part excellent. Walking notes were detailed and accurate. Our rep. was helpful and very informative.

Ms Barton, 31 Jul 2013

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The accommodation was excellent, it was great having meals already arranged so no need to go in search after a long walk. Walking was as described in the brochure and route notes very good with a couple of minor hiccups. Our rep Claire was 1st class and made some helpful suggestions which added to the enjoyment of the holiday. All in all we had a great holiday and would definitely recommend it.

Mr Petch, 21 Jul 2013