River, cliffs, castles and the oldest painted caves in Europe.

Paddle downstream past Castelnaud and Beynac and get driven back, or go upstream to Montfort. Two to four hours, easy enough for children.

The old flat-bottomed trading boats leave from the quay below the cliff — an hour on the water with the castles above you.

Shallow gravel beaches at Vitrac and Cénac, shaded by poplars, good for an afternoon with a picnic.

The full facsimile of the painted cave, done properly — bulls, horses and stags at original scale. Book ahead in summer.

One of the very few caves with original polychrome paintings still open to visitors. Tiny groups; tickets go fast.

A little electric train takes you a kilometre underground to engravings of mammoths.

A vast cliff terrace lived in for tens of thousands of years, cut with rooms, stairs and rope hoists.

The great fortress on the cliff, straight out of the Hundred Years' War, with a view down the whole valley from the ramparts.

Beynac's old enemy on the opposite bank, now a museum of medieval warfare with trebuchets on the terrace. Good with children.

Honey-coloured medieval town, superb Saturday market — walnuts, cheese, foie gras, cèpes in autumn.

A bastide town on a cliff edge with possibly the widest view over the river of anywhere in the valley.

Miles of clipped box hedging along a ridge, with candlelit evenings on Thursdays in summer.

An old farmhouse just outside the village — stone, beams, a garden terrace and proper Périgord cooking. The local favourite; book ahead.

South-west cooking on a terrace hung above the river in the middle of La Roque-Gageac. Go for the view at dusk.

Unfussy village cooking seven days a week — foie gras, confit, magret with sarladaise potatoes, and homemade ice cream.

The special-occasion dinner: a gastronomic kitchen on the cliff edge at Domme with the whole valley below you.

A restaurant in an old rampart tower in Sarlat — regional cooking in the middle of the medieval town, good after the Saturday market.

Sarlat on Wednesday and Saturday, Cénac on Tuesday, Saint-Cyprien on Sunday. Go early, take a basket.

Walnut oil, walnut cake and walnut wine everywhere; truffle markets around Sarlat from December.

Bergerac and Monbazillac to the west, Cahors and its dark Malbec an hour south.

A three-minute path beneath the cliff and the old houses — the quickest walk to a glass of wine by the river.

Marked paths climb above La Roque-Gageac and along the causse for the classic view back down over the rooftops.

Quiet lanes on the flat between Vitrac, Cénac and Castelnaud; bikes hire easily in Sarlat.