The Charming Dordogne Reviews

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We had a lovely holiday, really nice hotel with welcoming hosts. Our guide Anne-Marie was excellent and The Dordogne was as beautiful as hoped

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On the whole this was ok. Nothing in the blurb about the 5 1/2 hour train journey from Paris to Brive la Galliarde, then 90 minutes on a coach to the hotel. This train was awful, little or no a/c, non existent buffet trolley as well. Once there the trips out were good, although too long was allowed at Sarlat market which disappeared at midday. The journey home was near 18 hours due to severe storms in France on the Wednesday evening. Our tour manager was excellent in what were at times very trying circumstances.

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Would have given this trip 5 stars, if the travelling days were not so long. There needs to be a stop on the way out as the day starts at 06.00 am and you do not get to hotel until very late in the evening. The Dordogne is beautiful, the hotel is charming and the staff fantastic. Breakfast at hotel very good, evening meal 10 minutes walk to restaurant well worth it as food is delicious. The scenery and trips made it worthwhile and having a fantastic tour manager and group of travelling companions. Made it even better. Would definitely recommend with a stop over in Paris or somewhere in between Paris and Les Eyzies.

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Had a bad experience coming home , trains were off, was a long journey, but no fault of GRJ they did everything they could,we were lucky we had a hotel booked in London. Anne-Marie our tour guide was amazing I wouldn't of liked to be in her shoes,well done to her. We had a fantastic holiday in Dordogne saw some fabulous places,it's a must. Our hotel was great too, manager and staff were brilliant. Negative side bedroom had a separate toilet really small, bathroom was away around corner so it was a bit awkward getting your hands washed especially through the night, apart from that we had a fantastic time,met some lovely people wish I could have stayed longer.

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Very interesting itinerary

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This was lovely and interesting holiday, very well led and organised. We've booked another journey in August!

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Interesting places visited.Good hotel although beer expensive (8 eu per pint) andno shower screen.

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The Dordogne was a lovely destination which we really enjoyed seeing, enduring long arduous journeys. The Hotel Des Roche was a good choice of hotel for this trip. Lovely pool, breakfast was good too. Arranged evening meals was much to be desired. A choice would have been preferable. The restaurant was a tight squeeze.

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Fantastic holiday, so relaxing.

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Excellent holiday & well organised. Good hotel in a great location. Really enjoyed the excursions. The tour rep worked extremely hard to ensure we were well informed and that the holiday ran like clockwork.

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Enjoyed the Dordogne region very much and we had good weather.

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Long train and coach journeys on first day and return. Too much free time, even on excursion days, another day visit to winery or cheesemakers would have been nice. Glad I wasn't on my own. Hotel lovely and very accommodating and friendly.kettle in room would have been nice. Pool was very welcome.

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Lovely holiday. Enjoyed the rail travel, much more relaxing than flying. All the transfers went well. Les Eyzies was the perfect base and the Hotel des Roches was charming. The staff at the hotel were very friendly and made us feel extremely welcome. The meals that were included were on the whole very good and the evenings in the restaurant allowed the group to get to know each other. We formed some lasting friendships and met some very interesting people. The itinerary was a good balance of organised visits and free time to explore. My only suggestion would be for something like a Whatsapp group to be established, so that information could be passed more easily around the group. All in all an excellent holiday. Would recommend.

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You just have to do this journey but PLEASE travel light and stay overnight in London both ways . I can’t wait to go back.

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Wonderful scenery and location with a good variety of visits. One of the days had long travel times and would have preferred this to have been less. A good location for the two free days with options to walk, cycle, take a kayak/canoe down the river, visit two excellent museums, or to just relax by the lovely pool. Alistair is very nice tour manager and made sure everything ran smoothly. Coach driver and hotel owner were also very pleasant. Particularly enjoyed the visits to the Truffadou train, La Roque Gageac, and Chateau de Milandes. More time at the Chateau would have been beneficial as there was lots to see and do. Think that should just be a whole day visit. Overall very enjoyable.

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Our guide Alistaire was excellent. The hotel and trips in the Dordogne were excellent but we were not impressed with the 4 hour train journey. The train was really uncomfortable for a 4 hour train journey. The coach toilet in Paris was really dirty and could not be used. Eurostar would not accept the compensation form I completed for the 3 hour delay from Paris to a London on 3 June 2025. I am not sure whether Great Rail Journeys booked it? I have not received a reply to the email I sent to Great Rail Journeys

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Rail journey was too long and tiring from London to Les Eyzies. This was not helped by having to hang about in Paris to wait for a coach.

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Very poor vegetarian main course meals. Extremely disappointing that I was not told by GRJ to purchase tickets beforehand to visit Font De Gaume ancient cave with animal paintings, this was the main reason I booked for the Dordoyne to visit the caves on my free day, but the tickets were sold out for the month of May.

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Lots of beautiful sights and stress free . Looked after really well by our lovely guide.

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The travel from London to the hotel in France took some 13 hours and left us tired and hungry. We had about 30 mins in the hotel before we had to set off to the restaurant for our evening meal which commenced around 2100. The hotel itself was pretty basic, it only provided breakfast. The room had limited storage and the main cupboard had a hanging shelf system but when affixing it screw had gone through to the top shelf which did tear one of my t shirts. The hotel does have a swimming pool but its not heated so swimming is limited to how warm the weather is. The excursions were in the main very good although I would prefer to visit other places of interest rather than spending a large part of a day at a market. The guide was pleasant and helpful .