Questions & answers

Send us an enquiry through our enquiry form, or call or WhatsApp Cassie. We’ll check availability at the hotels for your dates, answer any questions, and confirm everything by email. There are no forms to sign.

We reply within 24 hours, usually much sooner. We’re based in the UK and France, so if you’re in North America or Australia, our reply may arrive overnight. During your holiday we’re on hand from 9am to 7pm, UK or French time.

We ask for a deposit of 25% of the holiday price when you book. The balance is due 8 weeks before you travel. If you book within 8 weeks of your start date, the full price is payable when you book.

By debit or credit card through a secure online payment link, or by bank transfer.

Yes. Our prices are set in pounds, but you can pay in US, Canadian, Australian or New Zealand dollars, euros or any other currency you prefer. The exact amount is confirmed when you book.

Please let us know in writing as soon as possible. Cancellation charges depend on how much notice you give:

• more than 56 days before departure: 25% (your deposit)
• 56 to 29 days: 50%
• 28 to 15 days: 70%
• 14 days or less: 100%

Full details are in our booking terms. This is one reason we strongly recommend travel insurance.

It isn’t a condition of booking, but we strongly recommend it. Choose a policy that covers cancellation, medical costs and the walking or cycling you’ll be doing.

If you like going at your own pace, it probably is. There’s no group to keep up with and no guide to follow: just you, the route, and a good dinner waiting at the end of the day.

• Our detailed route notes and maps guide you all the way, and the GPX files show you exactly where you are on your phone.
• Take a wrong turn and you’ll rarely lose more than a few minutes: the GPX track shows the way back, and the notes help you pick up the route again.
• We’re a call or WhatsApp away throughout your holiday.
• Most people feel completely at home by day two.

No. Our tours are self-guided. You walk or cycle at your own pace with our detailed route notes, maps and GPX files, your luggage is moved for you, and we’re a call or WhatsApp away if you need us. If you book directly with us, Cassie will usually meet up with you during your holiday, for example in Sarlat.

Seven nights (five on Premium Périgord) in comfortable hotels, breakfast every day, and dinner on most evenings (each walking or cycling holiday page shows which nights). Premium Périgord also includes welcome drinks, a lunch, a truffle tasting and a wine tasting with paired dishes. It also includes your luggage moved on for you each day, our detailed route notes and maps, GPX files by email with simple instructions for using them on your phone, and our support by phone and WhatsApp throughout your trip. On the cycling holidays, standard bike hire is included, with e-bikes available as an upgrade (an extra £140 per person). Our What’s included page has the details, holiday by holiday.

Not included: travel to the start and from the finish, lunches and drinks, entrance fees (châteaux, caves, gardens and museums), travel insurance, helmets on the cycling holidays, and personal expenses.

On most days during the season, which runs from April to October. A few holidays have days to avoid, because restaurants on the route close:

• France’s Most Beautiful Villages: start any day except Friday or Sunday (some restaurants on the route close on those days).
• Ardèche Adventure: start any day except Tuesday.
• Cycling in the Dordogne: start any day; if you start on a Sunday or Monday, one dinner falls on a restaurant closing day, so it’s not included and the price is reduced.

Yes. Every itinerary can be shaped around you. Add extra nights at the start, the end or somewhere you love, take a rest day, start on a different day, upgrade a hotel, or skip a walking day and take a taxi to your next hotel (the fare is extra). Just tell us what you have in mind.

For many guests, they’re one of the highlights of the holiday. We use characterful, often family-run hotels (on our Dordogne and Lot holidays, ones we know personally), and many are among the best-reviewed places to stay in their village. Guests often say it feels like staying with friends. Dinners are a real pleasure too, with regional dishes made from fresh local produce. You might stay in a château near Beynac, a 15th-century rampart tower in the heart of Sarlat, or a village inn with views across the Dordogne valley, and many have a swimming pool to relax in at the end of the day. Each walking or cycling holiday page lists your hotels night by night, so you can see exactly where you’ll be staying.

No. Our holidays are self-guided inn-to-inn walks, not a pilgrimage, but two of them visit famous places on the pilgrim routes of the Camino de Santiago, the Way of St James.

Rocamadour has been a major pilgrimage site since the Middle Ages. Rocamadour’s Basilica of Saint-Sauveur and the Crypt of Saint-Amadour are part of the UNESCO World Heritage listing “Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France”. On Exploring Rocamadour you walk there and stay two nights, with a free day to explore.

On France’s Most Beautiful Villages you visit Turenne and Collonges-la-Rouge, both on the Voie de Rocamadour, a pilgrim route that links the Vézelay route to the Le Puy route.

Both are lovely, in different ways, so it depends what you’re looking for. Choose the Dordogne for châteaux, golden-stone villages and moderate walking: our Dordogne walking holidays pass clifftop castles, prehistoric caves and several of the most beautiful villages in the Dordogne, mostly on moderate days with a few short steep climbs. If you’d rather ride, our cycling holidays are in the Dordogne valley too.

Choose the Ardèche for higher, wilder hills: our Ardèche Adventure is our most challenging walk, with long climbs, villages more than 1,000 m (about 3,300 ft) up, views to the Alps on clear days and exceptional food along the way, including St Bonnet-le-Froid, a village known across France for its food.

It’s one of the great pleasures of the holiday. The Dordogne is one of France’s great food regions, and you’ll taste it every day: duck confit and magret, walnuts, truffle dishes, the little Rocamadour goat’s cheeses, and local wines. Our hotels cook with fresh local produce, and guests often single out the dinners in their reviews. In the Ardèche, look out for chestnuts and the local picodon cheese. Take a look at our food gallery for a taste of what’s in store.

Breakfast every day, and dinner on most evenings, usually at your hotel. Each walking or cycling holiday page shows which nights include dinner. On the other nights you’re on bed and breakfast, so you can choose from the local restaurants, and on some routes we can book you a table at a Michelin-recommended restaurant.

Lunches, snacks and drinks. That’s part of the fun: pick up a picnic from a village bakery or market, or stop at a café along the way. Some hotels can make you a packed lunch; details are in your route notes. Drinks aren’t included with your meals, so any wine, beer or soft drinks you enjoy at dinner are simply settled with the hotel before you leave. Dinners on bed-and-breakfast nights are also up to you.

Vegetarian meals are no problem. Please tell us when you book. Other diets can be harder to cater for in rural France, so please talk to us before booking and we’ll let you know what’s possible.

If you enjoy a good day’s walking or cycling, you’ll be fine. Each walking or cycling holiday page shows the distance for every day. Most of our walks are moderate, Premium Périgord has the shortest walks, and the Ardèche Adventure is the most demanding, with some long climbs. The cycling holidays have some hills, and e-bikes are available (an extra £140 per person) if you’d like a helping hand. ‘How hard is it?’ below explains each activity level.

Each walking or cycling holiday page gives an activity level. Here’s what each one means, with the daily distances and climbs of the holidays at that level:

• Easy to moderate (walking): Shorter walks on paths and quiet lanes, with some short climbs, sometimes on rocky paths. Right for anyone who enjoys a few hours’ walking. Typically 4.6–14.1 km (2.9–8.8 miles) a day, with up to 210 m (about 700 ft) of climbing. Premium Périgord.
• Moderate (walking): A full day’s walking on varied paths and tracks, with some climbs and descents. You’ll enjoy it if you walk regularly and are happy with 4 to 6 hours on your feet. Typically 12.8–23 km (8–14 miles) a day, with up to 560 m (about 1,850 ft) of climbing. Castles & Caves of the Dordogne, France’s Most Beautiful Villages and Exploring Rocamadour.
• Moderate (cycling): Rolling country on quiet lanes, with some hills. Comfortable if you ride regularly, and an e-bike makes it easy. Typically 29.2–46.9 km (18–29 miles) a day, with up to 530 m (about 1,750 ft) of climbing. Cycling in the Dordogne.
• Challenging (walking): Longer days with big climbs and descents, sometimes on rough paths. For fit, experienced walkers used to 6 or 7 hours on their feet. Typically 13–23.2 km (8–14 miles) a day, with up to 1,070 m (about 3,500 ft) of climbing. Ardèche Adventure.

Climbs come from our own GPX tracks, where we have them. If you’re not sure which holiday suits you, just ask Cassie.

Walking: moderate days on paths, tracks and quiet lanes rather than mountain hiking, with some climbs and descents. The Ardèche Adventure is our most demanding walk. ‘How hard is it?’ above explains each activity level.

You’ll have our detailed route notes and maps in digital form, plus GPX files by email with simple instructions for using them on your phone. We recommend bringing a smartphone and a power bank.

Yes. We email you a GPX file for every day, with simple instructions for opening it in a free mapping app, so your phone shows exactly where you are on the route. Download the maps before you set off and it works even where there’s no signal. GPS is hungry for battery, so bring a power bank.

One where you walk or cycle from one hotel to the next while your luggage is moved on for you, so you only carry a daypack and your bags are waiting when you arrive. All our walking and cycling holidays are inn to inn except Premium Périgord, where you stay in just two hotels: three nights at the 4★ Hôtel Le Périgord and two in Sarlat. Each walking or cycling holiday page lists your hotels night by night.

It’s moved on for you each day, so it will be waiting at your next hotel. It needs to be ready at reception by 9am. Please keep to one bag per person, up to 20 kg. On the day, you only need to carry a daypack with water, snacks and a waterproof.

Just call us and we’ll arrange a taxi to take you on to your next hotel. You pay the fare locally.

Yes. Standard bike hire is included, and an e-bike is an upgrade for an extra £140 per person. Most of our cyclists choose one: just choose it on the enquiry form.

You’ll have our phone number throughout your holiday, and we’re on hand from 9am to 7pm, UK or French time, to help with anything, whether it’s a wrong turn, a question about a hotel or a change of plan.

Yes, solo walkers and cyclists are very welcome. Because the costs aren’t shared, there’s a solo traveller supplement on top of the per-person price. Single room and solo prices are on each walking or cycling holiday page.

If anyone in your group would like a room of their own, for example in a group of three, a single supplement applies for each single room. Single room and solo prices are on each walking or cycling holiday page.

Most of our hotels welcome dogs for an extra fee. Tell us when you enquire and we’ll check every hotel on your route.

Yes, families are very welcome and there’s no minimum age. You know your children best, so it’s your call, but we’d suggest our holidays suit children who are already used to walking or cycling a good distance. Talk to us and we’ll help you choose the right route.

Most of our guests fly. From the UK, the nearest airports for the Dordogne are Bergerac, Brive and Limoges, with Bordeaux and Toulouse a little further away. From Australia, the USA and further afield, most long-haul flights land at Paris Charles de Gaulle, with connecting flights to Bordeaux or Toulouse. For the Ardèche, fly to Lyon, or take the TGV from Paris Charles de Gaulle airport to Valence. If you’d rather take the train from the UK, the Eurostar to Paris connects with trains from Paris Austerlitz to Brive-la-Gaillarde or Souillac. You can book French trains on SNCF Connect ↗, about 3 months ahead for the best fares. Each walking or cycling holiday page has the details under Practical information. Our Getting there page has flights, trains and the last hop to the start of each holiday.

Yes. We can arrange a taxi to your first hotel and back from your last one, for an extra charge. On Premium Périgord, the taxi from Sarlat to your first hotel is included.

Spring brings wildflowers, green valleys and quieter villages. July and August are hot and busy, so start early and make the most of the pools. September and October are often warm and settled, with the grape and walnut harvests under way. The season runs from April to October. Each walking or cycling holiday page has notes for that route under Practical information.