Easy walking holidays in France

What counts as an easy walking holiday?

On an easy walking holiday the daily walks are short, mostly on lanes and good paths, with only short climbs, and you have time left for a long lunch, a museum or a swim.

We grade every holiday. Easy to moderate means shorter walks on paths and quiet lanes, with some short climbs, sometimes on rocky paths: right for anyone who enjoys a few hours’ walking. Moderate means a full day’s walking on varied paths and tracks, with some climbs and descents, for people who walk regularly and are happy with 4 to 6 hours on their feet. Challenging means longer days with big climbs and descents.

Even the gentlest walks here have some ups and downs: villages such as Domme sit high above the river. Our fitness guide gives the biggest daily climb on every holiday, measured from our own GPX tracks.

Premium Périgord, our gentlest walking holiday

Premium Périgord is the easiest of our walking holidays, with walks of 4.6 to 15.1 km (2.9 to 9.4 miles) a day and climbs of no more than about 210 m (about 700 ft). You stay in just two hotels, so you only move your bags once: three nights at the 4★ Hôtel Le Périgord at Le Port de Domme, with indoor and outdoor pools and a spa, then two nights in Sarlat. Your arrival taxi from Sarlat is included.

• Day 2: a circular walk to La Roque-Gageac, 7.4 km (4.6 miles).
• Day 3: a circular walk to Domme, 4.6 or 10.7 km (2.9 or 6.6 miles), with a tasting platter lunch included.
• Day 4: Le Port de Domme to Sarlat, 14.2 km (8.8 miles) to La Couleuvrine or 15.1 km (9.4 miles) to La Verperie, much of it easy going, ending on the Voie Verte, a car-free greenway along an old railway line.
• Day 5: a loop through the hills around Sarlat, 8.3 km (5.2 miles), then a private wine tasting.

It runs for 6 days from £950 per person, with 7 and 8 day versions too.

What an easy day looks like

Take day 3 of Premium Périgord. After breakfast you climb the old lanes from your hotel to Domme, a 13th-century bastide about 150 m (about 500 ft) above the river. You take in the view from the clifftop belvedere, then lunch is on us: a tasting platter of local cheese and charcuterie. In the afternoon you might explore the cave beneath the market hall or the Porte des Tours, then walk back down the way you came, 4.6 km (2.9 miles) in all. If you’d like more, take the longer way home along the river through Vitrac, 10.7 km (6.6 miles).

How easy are our other walks?

Our other walks are graded moderate or challenging, so they’re not easy holidays, but some have gentler days built in:

• Castles & Caves of the Dordogne (moderate): 12.8 to 16.8 km (8 to 10 miles) a day, with a free day in Sarlat and an optional 8.3 km (5.2 miles) walk.
• Exploring Rocamadour (moderate): 11.2 to 20.1 km (7 to 12 miles) on the main walking days. The walk on day 4 is optional, so you can spend the whole day exploring Rocamadour instead, and on day 6 you can choose a shorter, easier day from Loubressac.
• France’s Most Beautiful Villages (moderate): our longest Dordogne days, 15.5 to 23 km (10 to 14 miles), balanced by a rest day in Beaulieu.
• Ardèche Adventure (challenging): our most demanding walk, not one for an easy holiday.

If you’d like every day to be short, choose Premium Périgord. If you’re happy with one or two fuller days, Castles & Caves or Exploring Rocamadour can work well with an extra night or two.

Ways to make any walk easier

• Your luggage is moved for you each time you change hotel, so you carry only a daypack. Leave your bags in reception by 9am, one bag per person up to 20 kg.
• Our route notes and GPX files show you the way, so no energy goes on finding it, and you can stop as often as you like.
• If a day feels too long, or the weather turns, ask your hotel in the morning to book a taxi to your next hotel (you pay the fare locally).
• Add a rest day or an extra night anywhere on the route, and we’ll send you a price. Premium Périgord also runs to 7 or 8 days, Castles & Caves to 9 or 10, and France’s Most Beautiful Villages to 9, 10 or 11.
• If you like walking poles, bring them: many walkers find them a help on the steeper descents.
• Go in spring or autumn. July and August average afternoon highs of around 28°C at Bergerac and Brive, while April and October are cooler, May averages highs of around 22°C, and June and September are often warm and settled. Our when to go guide goes month by month.

Prefer to ride?

On Cycling in the Dordogne, a hybrid or road/gravel bike is included and most of our cyclists choose an e-bike (an extra £140 per person), which makes the climbs easy. See e-bike holidays in the Dordogne.

Which holidays go there

On all of our self-guided walking holidays in France and our cycling holidays in the Dordogne, your luggage is moved for you, so you carry only a daypack.

NewPremium · Walking

Premium Périgord

A Gourmet Journey

6 days · from £950 per person, sharing a double/twin room

Our gentlest walk, easy to moderate

Walking

Castles & Caves of the Dordogne

8 days · from £995 per person, sharing a double/twin room

Moderate, with a free day in Sarlat

Walking

Exploring Rocamadour

8 days · from £975 per person, sharing a double/twin room

Moderate, with an optional walk on day 4

Walking

France’s Most Beautiful Villages

8 days · from £965 per person, sharing a double/twin room

Moderate, with a rest day in Beaulieu

Photo: Havang(nl) / CC0Walking

Ardèche Adventure

8 days · from £985 per person, sharing a double/twin room

Challenging, our most demanding walk

Cycling

Cycling in the Dordogne

8 days · from £1,250 per person, sharing a double/twin room

E-bike upgrade available