Twelve regions, one extraordinary corner of France
Southwest France covers twelve regions and several lifetimes of places to explore. We plan itineraries across all of them.
Foix, Ariège
Monflanquin market, Lot-et-Garonne
Monpazier, Dordogne
The southwest is not one place. It’s the Périgord limestone and the Basque slate, the Bordeaux neoclassical and the Gers hilltop, the Atlantic pine coast and the Pyrenean valley. We build itineraries across all twelve regions: single-region trips for those who want to go deep, and multi-region journeys for those who want to understand the range of what the southwest contains.
Dordogne & Périgord
Bastide villages and prehistoric valleys
Sarlat, Monpazier, Issigeac, Beynac, Domme, Les Eyzies, Belvès: medieval villages of golden limestone set between walnut orchards and river cliffs. The Vézère valley contains the highest concentration of prehistoric cave art in the world. Wednesday and Saturday markets are among the finest in France.
Sarlat · Monpazier · Les Eyzies · Belvès · Eymet · Issigeac
Lot & Aveyron
Cliff towns and Malbec vineyards
Saint-Cirq-Lapopie, Rocamadour, Cahors, Figeac: deep river gorges and medieval villages perched on limestone cliffs above the Lot and Célé rivers. Cahors produces one of France’s most distinctive red wines. Most of these villages are unknown to visitors who don’t venture this far east.
Cahors · Saint-Cirq-Lapopie · Rocamadour · Figeac · Puy-l’Évêque
Lot-et-Garonne
Bastide country and river markets
Agen, Villeneuve-sur-Lot, Monflanquin, Villéréal, Nérac: the department between Dordogne and Gascony, with some of the finest bastide villages in France and a market culture that remains genuinely local. Prunes d’Agen and the plum orchards of the Lot valley define the landscape.
Villeneuve-sur-Lot · Monflanquin · Villéréal · Agen · Nérac
Bordeaux & Gironde
The world’s wine capital
Bordeaux’s UNESCO-listed waterfront, Saint-Émilion, Médoc, Graves, Sauternes: the greatest wine region in the world is also an extraordinary city of neoclassical architecture, covered markets, and one of Europe’s finest food scenes. The natural starting point for many southwest itineraries.
Bordeaux · Saint-Émilion · Médoc · Arcachon · Blaye
Gers & Gascony
Armagnac country
Auch, Lectoure, Condom, Lauzerte, Auvillar: rolling hills of sunflowers and vines, Armagnac distilleries, and the unhurried pace that defines Gascon life. One of the least-visited corners of southwest France and, for those who find it, one of the most rewarding. Night markets in summer.
Auch · Lectoure · Condom · Lauzerte · Auvillar
Pays Basque
A country within a country
Biarritz, Saint-Jean-de-Luz, Bayonne, Espelette, Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port: the Basque Country has its own language, its own architecture, its own food and its own rhythm entirely. The Atlantic coast, the foothills of the Pyrénées, and a restaurant culture that genuinely rivals anything in France.
Biarritz · Saint-Jean-de-Luz · Bayonne · Espelette · Bidart
Hautes-Pyrénées & Ariège
France’s wild south
Foix, Tarascon, the Ariège valley, the Col du Tourmalet: Cathar castles on impossible ridges, mountain villages, prehistoric caves, and some of the most dramatic landscapes in France. The least-visited department in the southwest, and for the right traveller, the most extraordinary.
Foix · Mirepoix · Tarascon-sur-Ariège · Saint-Lizier
Hautes-Pyrénées
Mountain villages and thermal towns
Lourdes, Cauterets, Gavarnie, Tarbes: the high Pyrénées, thermal spas, ski resorts in winter and walking country in summer. The Cirque de Gavarnie is one of the great natural spectacles of France. For itineraries that combine the lowland southwest with mountain days.
Lourdes · Cauterets · Gavarnie · Luz-Saint-Sauveur
Tarn & Tarn-et-Garonne
Bastide rivers and albigensian villages
Albi, Cordes-sur-Ciel, Montauban, Lauzerte: the Tarn department takes its name from the river that winds through its centre. Albi’s brick cathedral is one of the finest Gothic buildings in France, and Cordes-sur-Ciel one of the most dramatic hilltop villages anywhere in the south.
Albi · Cordes-sur-Ciel · Montauban · Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val
Charente & Charente-Maritime
Cognac country and Atlantic coast
Cognac, Saintes, La Rochelle, Île de Ré, Royan: the Charente departments form the northern edge of the southwest, with the cognac estates of the Charente valley and the oyster beds, salt marshes, and Atlantic beaches of the Charente-Maritime coast.
Cognac · Saintes · La Rochelle · Île de Ré · Royan
Corrèze
The Limousin borderland
Brive-la-Gaillarde, Tulle, Collonges-la-Rouge, Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne: the Corrèze sits on the northern edge of the Dordogne basin, with villages built in the deep red sandstone of the Quercy and river landscapes that few travellers from the south ever explore.
Brive · Collonges-la-Rouge · Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne · Tulle
Landes
Pine forests and surf coast
Hossegor, Capbreton, Dax, Mont-de-Marsan: the vast pine forest of the Landes covers most of this department, giving way to Atlantic surf beaches that draw riders from across Europe. Dax’s thermal baths and the bullfighting traditions of the south make it one of France’s most distinctive departments.
Hossegor · Dax · Mont-de-Marsan · Capbreton
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