Walking Dordogne

Walking Dordogne offers a wide range of exciting and unique tours in the Dordogne and Vezere Valley. We are constantly adding new trips to our already extensive list.
In May of 2010 Walking Dordogne will be launching a new trip for mountain bikers ( and hikers in a later stage ) We are in the middle of connecting a vast network of trails that will cover the whole Dordogne, giving the riders to reach all the main attractions using off road tracks and trails and remote and rural roads.
Walking Dordogne is looking for Dordogne accommodation owners who would like to add their property to be listed as an option to stay while exploring the Dordogne on Mountain bike and Foot.
Walking Dordogne will not benefit financially from any accommodation offered. All we are hoping to achive is to add a list of accommodation to link to the Trails. We welcome the more remote and rural accommodation, but it is definitely not a “must”
If you have accommodation in the Dordogne and can accommodate mountain bikers (and their bikes in a secure setting) and / or hikers then please contact us with your details and we will get in touch with you.. Or if you know someone with accommodation in the Dordogne, please forward them this link, I’m sure they will thank you for it.

Thank you

The Walking Dordogne Team

We have had a huge interest in our excellent self put together Dordogne Mountain Biking Trails such as

• The Devils Play Ground
• Satan’s Fury
• Devils Backbone
• Valley of Revenge
• Hells Gorge

We have just launched a NEW web site / page to make it easier for Mountain Bikers to find our Dordogne Mountain Biking Trails on the internet.

We are also very excited to be putting together TWO Dordogne Epic Trails together, an “Epic” trail is an “All Day” Trail, that usually takes at least 7-8 hours to ride, the 2 Epic Trails we are putting together will be unique, exciting, and vey scenic .. Interested??.. Keep your eyes on this space for more info.

Our new page is ” www.mountainbikingdordogne.com

** Special thanks to RIP3D for allowing us to use the “Moon Logo”

We are very happy to announce that we have now added a “Video Blog”  of our tours and trips. We are working hard to add videos to the blog.

Check it out … VIDEO BLOG

We are thrilled with the launch of our latest Dordogne Off Road Biking Adventure “Devils Playground”

Devils Playground is a  2-3 hour strenuous loop (can be extended or shortened) with some brutal up’s and downs. Takkle the “Devils Backbone” try and get past the “Seven Brothers” scream down “Satans Fury” and get out of “Hells Gorge” in one piece!!.. Are you up for this?.. Would you like to become one of the elite?

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AjovdPjLug

Don’t just visit the Dordogne … EXPERIENCE IT !!!

We are pleased to announce that Walking Dordogne has now joined the “YouTube” generation.
A few of our trips and tours have been posted, and more will be added in the near future.

It will now be possible to subscribe to our channel, and get notified as soon as we add new content.

We would like to thank the “Duke of Dordogne” for putting in so much time and effort in adding Walking Dordogne to among other sites, YouTube.

Just click on the YouTube below and take a YouTube tour of Walking Dordogne.

 Due to the very high volume of interest in our trips, and the fact that our groups are small, we have to turn down lots of people because we are fully booked, we are now going to start offering “ Self Guided hikes in the Vezere, Beaune and Dordogne Valley ”

During the winter months we will be mapping out 5 extremely interesting hikes, taking you to the most scenic, interesting and unknown highlights of the Valleys. Caves, Trogladytes, Shelters, Ruins, Forts, Castles and lots more.

The hikes will be loops of about 30km each, but the option to combine hikes can make them much longer, or a lot shorter.
We will supply you with a detailed map, and a GPS with all the hikes marked, incl. places of interest, places to eat, accommodation (if needed), and everything else you will need.

We strongly believe in small groups, and we guarentee that we will not send more than 5 people on a hike at the same time.

More Info will be posted soon.
   

Self Guided Hikes with Walking Dordogne

Why do we have the most unique, and exciting trips and tours?. It’s because YOU decide what you would like to do or visit. Again we have listened to our customers, and thanks to all your feedback we have created yet another unique experience. I say experience, because it is just that, it’s not a trip or a tour, we are giving you the chance to experience what it was like to be a Cro Magnon about 35.000 years ago.

You will spend 3 days and 2 nights living as a Cro Magnon, you will sleep in (a) real prehistoric cave(s), you will be dressed in clothes made of hide and fur just like a real Cro Magnon, you will fish using a traditional (made by yourself ) fishing harpoon, you will have to find and prepare your food with tools made by yourself, you will be taught how to make your own fire, and how to survive using the same methods our ancestors used 1000′s of years ago.
You will hunt** and gather food as a team. This is the closest you will ever get to basics, and you will be talking about this experience for the rest of your life… Guaranteed !!

More Info: 

• You will be stripped of ALL modern day mod cons, and will start the experience with only the Cro Magnon  clothes we supply you with.
• Your “home” for 3 days and 2 nights will be in caves situated in 30 Hectares of (private) rugged land
• Your “Guide” will teach you everything you will need to know, and more, on how to “become” and survive as a Cro Magnon
• You will hunt, fish  and gather food, but the hunting will be symbolic, NO real animals will be killed, all the animals will be fake, but you will still have to  find and hunt them, and you will be supplied with the real stuff ( venison, wild boar, rabbit and pigeon)  depending on what fake animals you kill. The fish however will be real, but limited to one fish per person per day.
• You will be taught everything about our ancestors the Cro Magnon, and why and how they settled in this region, and putting an end to the Neanderthal existence.

This experience is ideal for the whole family, but we have put a minimum age of 12 for the kids. The groups will be a minimum of 4 and a maximum of 8.
I’m afraid this experience is not suitable for vegetarians.

This experience will be for September and October 2008, and as of 2009 it will  be April, May, June,September and October

As of 26 April 2008 Walking Dordogne will be adding an amazing 190 km canoe trip down the Vezere River.
The trip will start at the Central Massief, near Clermont-Ferrant where the waters running off the mountains form the Vezere river.
We will follow the river for 190 km and pass through the following “Departments” and “Towns & Villages”

• Corrèze: Pérols-sur-Vézère, Bugeat, Uzerche, Vigeois, Brive-la-Gaillarde
• Dordogne: Montignac, Terrasson-Lavilledieu, Les Eyzies-de-Tayac-Sireuil, Le Bugue , Limeuil

The trip will take 5 days, and the nights will be spent “Wild Camping” on Islands and along side the river.
The groups will be min. 2 and max 6 people.

The trip will run from 26 April -30 June and 01 September – October 26.  ( No trips in July and August )

More info visit our web site www.walkingdordogne.com or contact us .

We have been very busy putting together new and exciting trips  and have put together 2 (more coming soon) amazing and unforgettable overnight horse treks, with the choice to bivac or stay at a hotel.
The treks will take you to some of the nicest places this area has to offer, and some of the areas best kept secrets. You will enjoy about 5 hours of horse riding a day. These treks are 2 days 1 night. Our 2 treks are..

* Grotte de Rouffignac
Rouffignac is one of the longest and most ramifide caves with palaeolithic paintings. Total length of all the chambers and galleries in three levels is about 10 km’s.

* Grotte de Bara Bahau
Hollowed out by a vanished underground river and dominating the Vézère valley, the Bara-Bahau Cave was first inhabited by bears, which left many traces of their occupation. Then man in turn took possession 17,000 years ago, turning the cave into a shelter with an inner chamber and sanctuary.

Price for this once in a lifetime Dordogne adventure is just 190 Euro!!!  This includes picnics and accommodation. This price does not include. dinner at the accommodation. Add an extra 50 Euro if you choose to stay at a hotel.

Well yet another year has past us by, and we are looking forward to an exciting 2008.

Due to the fact that Walking Dordogne has recently been mentioned in a few well known guide books and published on a few web sites, means the interest and bookings have gone through the roof, and we are already fully booked for May and only have a few places available for June. September and October are filling up as well.

July and August gets very… VERY  busy in this region, and we can no longer guarentee the same experience  you would get from our tours if booked outside these two months, for this reason we are no longer taking bookings for TOURS in July & August. However we will be offering day trips in the Vezere Valley (see valley of the Neaderthal) and Horse riding, sorry no canoeing, cycling or scenic tours in July or August.     

Lots of people contact us and ask us why we do not take larger groups?..  We strongly believe that taking small groups is one of the things that makes us so populer, our groups are never larger than 5 people 4 + guide (under certain circumstances we will take larger groups if they book as a group). By taking small groups  you can bond with your group, decisions are easy to make,the tours have a more personal touch, and we will be able to call you by your real name (very difficult to do with groups of 20+)  Not to mention that we take our groups to and into caves, ledges, shelters etc. Our groups really experience something unique, and that experience would be lost in a large group.