How to live like a king in the Dordogne (for less than you'd think)
It’s dusk when we pull up outside Château de la Treyne, a honey-coloured fortress built in 1342 on a rock above the river Dordogne in south-west France.
We’ve already caught a glimpse of its turrets while driving across a narrow bridge downstream. The journey from Toulouse Airport – just over two hours if you don’t stop – has set the scene. But we did stop, to take a look around the staggeringly beautiful medieval village of Saint-Cirq Lapopie, before continuing on to Gouffre de Padirac, a network of cathedral-like caves we explored by boat. From here, it’s just half an hour to the hotel.
It’s almost dinner time. Stéphanie Gombert, who owns and runs the place with her husband Philippe, shows us to La Favorite, our beautiful first-floor suite, overlooking the river, which has a large bedroom with a wood-panelled ceiling and a huge bathroom with a free-standing gold tub.
It’s only when we come down for dinner that I fully appreciate what the Gomberts have achieved here. Castle-like and cosy in equal measure, it’s a complete treat to settle down by the fire in one of the two drawing rooms with a glass of bubbly, and then to move on to the hotel’s Michelin-starred Salon Louis XIII, run by the wonderful chef Stéphane Andrieux. You can also eat on a riverside terrace. I loved the celery risotto with two-truffle sauce and the guinea fowl with a walnut crust.
The next morning, after breakfast in the serene Green Lounge, we explore the grounds – formal French gardens give way to forest and up the hill there’s a heated pool and tennis courts. We’ve a lot of excursions planned – the food market at nearby Sarlat and ancient wall paintings at Lascaux among them – but every time we go out, I just long to be back in the castle.
Another recent find, two and a half hours west, is Maison de la Vaure, ideal for those wanting a self-catering holiday with frills. Set in a former cognac estate in the village of Chillac, in France’s Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, the 16th-century manoir has been fully renovated by two Brits, Ian Steed and Phil Norris, and has six bedrooms, a large drawing room with an adjoining snug, a grand dining room, an eat-in kitchen and a panelled library. They’ve also revamped a three-bed farmhouse and a four-bed cottage on the estate – so 28 people can stay if you take all three – and turned a barn into an 80 square metre yoga studio. A large heated outdoor pool has lovely views over the French countryside, and Bordeaux, St Emilion and Cognac are all within an hour’s drive.
Dordogne or Gascony – which is better?
Chateau de la Treyne
Doubles from £300, room only, or £424 half-board. The hotel is open from mid-March to mid-November (chateaudelatreyne.com). Read a full review and check availability.
Maison de la Vaure
From £2,850 for a five-night stay in the main house (maisondelavaure.com).
France's most beautiful chateau hotels
