This is southwestern France with famous characteristics of pre-history, castles, wine, and rich cuisine. The region is officially called Aquitaine, but many people will recognize names like Bordeaux (wine), Dordogne (pre-history, castles), and/or Perigord (cuisine)!

We are please to expand our offers in this region in 2008 to include all of the following now:

Dordogne Valley Cycling – from Bergerac to Les Eyzies, Sarlat, and back. http://www.pure-adventures.com/france-tours/aquitaine-dordogne-cycling.php

Bordeaux Wine Country Cycling – from Bergerac into the vineyards of Entre Deux Mers, Medoc, St Emilion, and more!

Dordogne Hiking – Bergerac, Les Eyzies, Sarlat and many of the pre-history sites in the region. http://www.pure-adventures.com/france-tours/aquitaine-dordogne-hiking.php

The cycling is rolling countryside throughout the Dordogne river valley region and the hiking is mostly on trails and forested hills. Contrast that to the mostly flat wine country of Entre Deux Mers and Medoc. The terrain is not easy, but at the same time we rate these programs as moderate and up.

Lodging: top quality 3 star inns with upgrades possible

During the time of the Romans, the province of Aquitania extended almost as far north as the Loire river. Later, the title duke of Aquitaine was held by the counts of Poitiers form the 10th to the 12th century. The area became an English possession when Eleanor of Aquitaine, daughter of the last duke married the heir to the throne of England in 1152. It remained English until the 15th century when it was annexed by France at the end of the Hundred Year's War.

The region of Aquitaine includes the departments of Pyrenees-Atlantiques, Landes, Gironde, Dordogne ,and Lot-et-Garonne.

To visit in Bergerac:

• La Maison des Vins, the headquarters of the Council of Wine makers of the Bergerac region.

• The Musée Régional de la Batellerie, contains displays about the rivertrade in the area as well as about barrel making and viticulture.
  
• The Musée du Tabac, unique in France , housed in a 17th-century house on rue de l'Ancien-Pont has collections of pipes and tools to illustrate tobacco's history.

In the region - sites to visit:

• Maxange Caves which boast a quite exceptional level and quantity of concretion in Le Buisson de Cadouin

• Trémolat, famous for the view from the Belvedere de Rocamadou, a viewpoint overlooking one of the lovely river meanders, the Cinglé de Trémolat.

• Lalinde, a 13th C. English-fortified town

• The Cave in Font de Gaume, 400-feet long and home to the Cro-Magnon man

• National museum of Prehistory in Les Eyzies

• Gouffre de Proumeyssac, also named Cristal Cathedral, in Audix, near Le Bugue

• Lascaux II caves in Montignac

To visit in Sarlat:

• Maison de la Boétie, birthplace of Etienne de la Boetie (in 1530), it is now used to host summer exhibitions Medieval Cathedral Saint Sacerdos

• Chapelle des Penitents Bleus, remarkable for its pure Romanesque style

• La Roque Gageac , a magnificent village officially classified as one of the most beautiful in France

• Château de Castelnaud , perched with hillside on left bank of the Dordogne

• Domme , an example of a medieval fortified town known as a bastide, was founded by Philip the Bold in 1281. Graffiti by Knights Templar imprisoned here following the dissolution of the order in 1307 may be observed on the tower gates.