Closer to home

The closest village to the property is St Severin, (2kms) which is convenient for baker, butcher, bank, post office, Spar, pharmacy, bars, cafe and an restaurant. There is a small Thursday market there as there are markets in most of the towns.

There are also a wealth of pretty villages and towns to visit but here is a taster list of the most popular:

Aubeterre sur Dronne – officially one of France’s prettiest villages, with a monolithic church and a lovely square for drinks or dinner. There is also a river beach on the river with a children’s play area.

Chalais – a market town with its busy market on a Monday morning. It also has a larger supermarket and many little speciality shops. The Chateau is also now open for visitors.

St Aulaye – another pretty village on the river with a river beach children’s play area, café and water slides and tennis courts.

Ribérac – large market town with lots of local shops, including the large supermarkets. There are free music evenings in the square Tuesday nights in July and August. Largest market in the Dorodogne is held there every Friday morning.

Brantôme – very pretty, described as the “Venice of the Perigord”. A beautiful Abbey to visit with caves as well. Also with good canoeing along a gentle stretch of river or taking a boat trip in the season.

Bourdeilles – has a chateau to visit with a couple of cafes and restaurants. Canoeing also possible at Bourdeilles.

Bergerac – apart from the wine interest, the old town is full of lovely medieval buildings, and boat trips can be taken on the river Dordogne.

Further afield

St Emilion is approximately 1 hour away and is a world heritage site. It is famous for the wine and Euorpe’s largest monolithic church. It is also a very pretty cobbled hilly town. There is a bus which can take you on a trip around all the local vineyards and chateaux.

Le Puits is also ideally centrally located between the cities of Angoulême and Périgueux, both charming in their own right:

Angoulême, about 50 mins drive away. A very pretty city sitting proud on the top of a hill, and is surrounded by the old ramparts still. This is a very pretty walk with spectacular views and houses the international renowned “vintage car rally weekend” every September where they race around the ramparts. There are good shops and an international range of eating houses. Angoulême is also famous for its “comic museum, ” and has many cartoon drawings painted on the buildings and on the outskirts is a very large swimming pool and skating rink complex called “Nautilis”. This houses 6 swimming pools, inside and out, for pleasure and fitness and is open all the year around.

Périgueux about 50 mins drive away has a lovely medieval centre and cathedral and is also full of good shops and interesting little pedestrian back streets. Lots of pavement cafes and boat trips available on the river. You can also take a guided walk around the ramparts in the season.

One and half hours to the coast with beautiful beaches is Royan.
Also 2 hours to La Rochelle and Arcachon which are popular seaside towns. Fantastic seafood restaurants in both locations.
Slightly further afield, Cognac, Sarlat and the famous Lascaux caves.

See the links page for more info.

There will be plenty of leaflets and maps in the house to help you make the best of your holiday.