Discover castles, stunning walks and go canoeing in Dordogne Valley in France
AT just over 4,700 yards you would expect Souillac Golf and Country Club’s course in the beautiful Dordogne Valley to be a doddle.
Sorry, but you need to raise those expectations.
It winds through an ancient oak forest with a host of elevated tees and greens that put a real premium on accuracy.
Thankfully, the fairways are pretty generous, and the climbs are rewarded with some stunning views across the unspoilt countryside the Dordogne region is so famous for.
One or two sections of the course are particularly steep, such as the stretch from the par three 12th — a spectacular downhill tee shot — to the testing 13th and 14th holes.
Buggies are available for the faint-hearted, but if you’ve got the stamina for it, walking the course is tremendously rewarding.
Four nights’ half-board including unlimited golf at the Souillac Golf & Country Club is from £285pp. Breakfast will be delivered to the chalet and dinner taken in the restaurant. For details, see
OUT & ABOUT: You can plan your stay with the help of tourist site
Another course worth checking out is the one at Brive, although be warned — it features water on almost every hole.
Brive is also the principal town of the region, and home to the airport we flew into from Stansted.
That left us just a ten-minute drive to reach our base for the week.
By booking early, we were able to snap up Ryanair flights for a ridiculous £10 each way.
That meant it was more expensive to take our own clubs with us than it was to fly to France and back.
We’d already been pleased with a bargain before we’d even left the country.
DON'T BE PUTT OFF
With an early morning flight, we stayed at the Ramada Hotel near Stansted, which offered accommodation and six nights car parking for under £100.
Of course, the sights, smells and sounds of the Dordogne are free for everyone to soak up. And Souillac really is a perfect base to strike out from for non-golfers.
The famous medieval town of Sarlat is only 25 minutes away, but it is definitely worth taking a more roundabout route and stopping off in Collonges-la-Rouge.
It is known for its red sandstone buildings, and regarded as one of the most beautiful villages in France.
Another great way to explore is to hire a canoe or kayak, and take to the Dordogne itself.
But for me, the sight-seeing highlight was a visit to Rocamadour, which is not technically in Dordogne, even though it features in most of the local guide books and pamphlets.
Rocamadour became famous for the “sacred city” at the heart of the village, which is carved precariously into a cliffside.
It is a breath-taking sight, even before you climb the 200-plus steps to reach the labyrinth of churches, and the famous Black Madonna, which has attracted pilgrims — and tourists — for more than 12 centuries.
You have to negotiate a winding walkway to reach the ramparts from that point, though they are accessible by road, and there is also a lift to the sacred city.
Rocamadour, now welcoming more than 1.5million visitors a year, has become the third most popular attraction in France, behind only Paris and Mont St Michel.
It is such a giddy and glorious experience that for once we decided to blow the budget, and stop off for dinner at Pont de L’Ouysse, one of the four Michelin-starred restaurants dotted around the Dordogne.
It is on the banks of the Ouysse, one of the Dorodogne’s tributaries, and the Pont — or bridge — refers to a stone-built crossing that was almost completely destroyed when the water reached record levels many years ago.
It was not the only thing swept away by the power and charm of the region.