Walking in the Dordogne: 8 Best Walks, From Sarlat to Rocamadour

Walking in the Dordogne covers two different places, and they suit different kinds of walking holiday. One is the Périgord Noir around Sarlat, with castles facing each other across the river. The other is the Dordogne valley in the Lot, about an hour upstream by road, with cliff villages such as Rocamadour and Loubressac.

This guide picks the eight best walks across both, in one of the most varied regions for walking in France. The first is our self-guided walking week in the Lot; the other seven you can walk on your own from a village base.

The essentials:

• Where: the Périgord Noir around Sarlat, and the Dordogne valley between Beaulieu and Rocamadour.

• What: river paths, loops over the meanders, canyon walks and village-to-village days.

• Difficulty: 5 to 21 km a day, with 180 to 510 m of elevation gain.

• When: May, June and September; April to October for the walking week.

Why Go Walking in the Dordogne

The river cuts through limestone plateaus called causses, so most walks climb from the water to a cliff-top village and back down. Most day walks gain 200 to 300 m, and the villages are close enough to link on foot. In 2012 the whole Dordogne basin became a UNESCO biosphere reserve, the largest in France.

The density of places to see is the other reason. The Dordogne département alone has ten Plus Beaux Villages de France, and the valley in the Lot and Corrèze has eight more. A short walking day still passes two or three of them, with a castle, a cave or a market on the way.

Two Dordognes: The Périgord and the Lot Valley

The Dordogne is a river and a département, and the two are not the same place. The département is the old Périgord, split into four colours; the Périgord Noir, named for its dark oak woods, is the walking country around Sarlat, Beynac, Domme and Les Eyzies. Sarlat is about 55 km by road from Rocamadour.

Upstream, the river runs through the Lot and the Corrèze, which the local tourist office sells as the Vallée de la Dordogne. This is Beaulieu, Carennac, Autoire and Rocamadour. The Périgord suits short loops from one base, while the Lot valley is better for walking from village to village with your luggage moved ahead.

The 8 Best Walks in the Dordogne

The list starts with our walking week in the Lot valley, with its route and day-by-day stages. Walks 2 to 8 are day walks, with the distance, the time and the 2026 fee where there is one.

1. The Dordogne Valley: Beaulieu to Rocamadour

• Walking: 101.5 km over eight days of 8.5 to 21 km

• Elevation gain: 2,440 m in total, 510 m on the hardest day

• Route: Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne, Loubressac, Autoire, Carennac, Meyronne, Lacave, Rocamadour

• Grade: 3 out of 5 for fitness, 2 out of 5 for terrain

• Season: April to October

Our ten-day Dordogne Walking Tour is an inn-to-inn walk down the valley in the Lot. You start in Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne and finish at L'Hospitalet above Rocamadour, and your luggage moves between the hotels while you walk.

The route follows the river at first, then climbs onto the causse for Loubressac and Autoire. Most days are 10 to 14 km, and the one long day, 21 km from Carennac to Meyronne, has only 500 m of elevation gain.

Two nights in Loubressac give you the Autoire loop without moving hotels. The last two days are the best of the week: down into Rocamadour from above the canyon, then out along the pilgrim path to L'Hospitalet.

The price covers nine nights in hotels and guesthouses with breakfast, the luggage transfers, a digital guidebook, the GPS app and support during the trip. The tourist tax is paid locally.

The next two walks, the Cirque d'Autoire and the Alzou canyon, are in the same part of the valley. Both are easy to walk on their own from Loubressac or Rocamadour.

2. The Cirque d'Autoire and Its Waterfall

• Loop: Circuit de la reculée d'Autoire, 5.6 km, 2 hours 30, 239 m of elevation gain

• Start: the fountain in Autoire; the waterfall alone is 1.2 km from the car park

• Parking: €2 a day in the village car park

• Our tour: day 4 of the walking week, see entry 1

Autoire is a Plus Beaux Village at the foot of a limestone cirque, a dead-end valley closed by cliffs. The official loop climbs past the waterfall to the Château des Anglais, a fortified rock shelter from the Hundred Years' War, and back along the cliff top.

The ground is steep in places, and the path is not for wet or windy days, when the Lot warns of falling rock. Swimming under the waterfall is banned, as the cirque is a protected natural area.

3. The Alzou Canyon to Rocamadour

• Loop: Le Canyon de l'Alzou, 12.4 km, about 4 hours, graded medium

• Start: the Moulin de Lafajadou below Rocamadour

• Highlights: four old mills, the 216 steps of the Grand Escalier, the seven chapels

• Lifts: €4.40 return on the inclined lift, closed 16 November 2026 to 7 February 2027

Below Rocamadour, the Causses du Quercy park's Alzou canyon loop follows the valley floor under Rocamadour, past four mills and through box woodland. The stream is often dry, so the walking is easy underfoot.

Rocamadour itself sits 120 m above the canyon. Pilgrims have climbed to its Black Virgin since the 12th century, and walking in from the canyon beats arriving by car: nearly 1.5 million people visit a year, most of them by road.

4. Beynac to Castelnaud

• Loop: the Carassonnes circuit from Beynac, 7.5 km, 2 hours 10, 305 m of elevation gain

• Linear walk: Beynac to Cénac by the Castelnaud bridge and La Roque-Gageac, 12 km, 3 hours

• Castles: Castelnaud €13.60, Beynac €12.50 for adults in 2026

• Start: Parking du Crouzet in Beynac, yellow waymarks

Beynac and Castelnaud face each other across the river, and in the Hundred Years' War they were on opposite sides: Beynac with France, Castelnaud with England. The Carassonnes loop climbs into the woods behind Beynac and comes back down to the village.

The longer walk follows the riverbank from Beynac past the Castelnaud bridge to La Roque-Gageac and Cénac. The tourist office suggests coming back by canoe, which turns a one-way walk into a full day on the river.

5. La Roque-Gageac and Domme

• Walk: La Roque-Gageac to Cénac on the riverside path, then 2 km up to Domme by the Porte Delbos

• The fort: a 12th-century troglodyte fort reached by a stair cut into the cliff, €7 for adults

• Domme: a bastide founded in 1281, 150 m above the river

• Also here: the Jardins de Marqueyssac, more than 6 km of paths, €12.90

La Roque-Gageac is one of the Plus Beaux Villages de France, a single row of houses squeezed between the river and a cliff. The path upstream to Cénac stays flat, and the climb comes at the end.

Domme was founded by Philip III in 1281 on a clifftop called the Barre. Its three gates survive, and in the Porte des Tours the Templars held there from 1307 to 1318 left their graffiti on the walls.

6. The Cingle de Montfort, Vitrac

• Loop: the Montfort circuit from Vitrac, 7.7 km, 2 hours 15, 239 m of elevation gain

• Grade: easy, on marked local paths

• The castle: privately owned and not open to visitors

• Getting there: Vitrac is about 7 km south of Sarlat

A cingle is a tight loop of the river, and the one at Montfort sits just below Sarlat. The Montfort circuit leaves Vitrac, climbs to the viewpoint over the meander and returns along the valley.

The castle is seen from outside only, and the view is the point of the walk. The tourist office grades it easy, and it is the gentlest loop on this list after the greenway.

7. The Sarlat Greenway

• Distance: about 25 km from Sarlat to Cazoulès, walk any section and turn back

• Surface: paved all the way, on the bed of the old railway

• Start: the Madrazès roundabout in Sarlat

• Users: walkers and cyclists only; dogs on a lead

Sarlat's voie verte follows the old railway east from Sarlat to Cazoulès and crosses the Dordogne on the way. It is closed to cars, so the only traffic is bikes.

This is the walk for a rest day or a wet one, flat and paved, with no mud and no route finding. A few kilometres out and back from Sarlat is enough for a morning.

8. Les Eyzies and the Vézère Valley

• Loop: Boucle de Gorge d'Enfer (no. 12), 9 km, 3 hours 20, 200 m of elevation gain

• Start: the Vézère car park in Les Eyzies, yellow waymarks

• UNESCO: 15 prehistoric sites listed in 1979

• Font-de-Gaume cave: €13, booked online only, closed Saturdays

The Vézère joins the Dordogne west of Sarlat, and its valley has 25 decorated caves and rock shelters. The Gorge d'Enfer loop passes the Gorge d'Enfer shelter and the cave houses at Le Peuch.

Les Eyzies is small, with the National Museum of Prehistory (€6) built into the cliff. Book Font-de-Gaume before you arrive, as tickets are not sold on site and the minimum age is 7.

Where to Base Yourself

For the Périgord walks, Sarlat is the easy choice. It has the trains, the Wednesday and Saturday markets, and the tourist office's claim to the highest density of listed buildings in France. Walks 4 to 8 all start within about 30 minutes' drive.

To walk from the door, stay in Beynac, La Roque-Gageac or Domme. There is no official golden triangle, but the name usually means this stretch of river, between Beynac, Castelnaud, La Roque-Gageac and Domme. For the Lot side, Carennac and Rocamadour work best, and our walking week stays in both.

When to Walk in the Dordogne

May, June and September are the best months, warm but not hot, with the villages open and the paths quiet. July and August bring the crowds more than the heat, so start early and arrive in Rocamadour before 10am.

Eat and Drink Along the Way

Every market town on these walks has its day: Sarlat on Wednesday and Saturday mornings, and a Thursday evening organic market in summer. A picnic from the market is the usual walker's lunch, and the local food is the reason to finish early in a village.

These four are the ones to look out for between Sarlat and Rocamadour.

Getting There Without a Car

Eurostar reaches Paris in about 2 hours 16 minutes. From Paris Austerlitz, the Intercités trains to Toulouse stop at Brive and Souillac, and a local line runs from Brive to Rocamadour-Padirac in about 40 minutes. Book the Paris trains early for summer weekends.

Rocamadour station is 5 km from the village, and buses 876 and 877 run four times a day for €2. For Beaulieu, the nearest station is Bretenoux-Biars on the Brive to Aurillac line.

For Sarlat, take the direct train from Bordeaux, about 2 hours 30. From Souillac, bus 335 runs to Sarlat. Ryanair flies from London Stansted to Brive on Mondays and Fridays from March to October 2026.

Bergerac airport has more UK flights, from Stansted, Bristol, Liverpool, Edinburgh and London City. There is no bus from Bergerac to Sarlat, so take the local bus to Bergerac station and the train from there. On our Dordogne walking week, the tour notes give the train times to Beaulieu.

How Much It Costs

Most of these walks are free, and the Montfort and Alzou loops cost nothing at all. The costs are the sights along the way:

Our walking week includes hotels and guesthouses with breakfast, the luggage transfers, a digital guidebook, the GPS app and support during the trip. Dinners, lunches, entry fees and the tourist tax are extra. Single rooms are available on request.

What to Pack

Trail shoes or light walking boots with a good grip cover every walk here. The limestone is smooth on the canyon floors and steep around Autoire, and grip matters more than ankle support on those descents. Walking poles help on the long day to Meyronne.

Pack a sun hat and at least 1.5 litres of water, as the causse has little shade. A light layer is worth carrying for the caves, which stay at 13°C in Padirac. On the Beynac to Cénac walk, a dry bag keeps your things safe for the canoe back.

Ready to Walk the Dordogne?

Our self-guided walking holidays in France include the Dordogne valley from Beaulieu to Rocamadour, from April to October. The week includes:

• Hotels and guesthouses with breakfast every night

• Luggage transfers between the hotels

• A digital guidebook and GPS navigation app

• Support during the trip