@Dordogne
Cottages de Garrigue is set in the lower Dordogne of the South West of France. It is a beautiful rural area with gentle hills and vineyards as far as the eye can see. The region is very popular with tourists although you never feel it is crowded. This popularity brings a vast network of restaurants, public châteaux, attractions and events.
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Eymet
Eymet is our nearest town. It is a medieval Bastide, founded in 1260 and typical of this region. It is in a sequence of Bastide towns across the area, and the only one with its own château (albeit now a restored ruin, great for outdoor cinema and other town events).
Eymet has a lovely town square which holds a market every Thursday, plus night markets in the summer.
There is a large variety of restaurants: French gourmet, simpler French cuisine, Italian, Peruvian, crépes, English, a takeaway pizza pop up. Bookings are recommended during the summer and we can help with this.
Summer video diary of a 13 year old
Finlay came to stay - together with his Go-Pro camera. He brilliantly shot and edited a video of his holiday at Cottages de Garrigue. It's amazing to see a Dordogne holiday through the eyes of a 13 year old lad. Thanks Fin, very cool!
Our wider area
We are brimming with activities within 45mins of Cottages de Garrigue. There is wine tasting galore, châteaux open for public view, kayaking on the Dordogne, Lot and Garonne rivers, horse riding, golf, beautiful walks on the public path network and picnic areas. There are many other Medieval Bastide villages around; Monpazier and Issigeac are very pretty for instance. Each has a weekly market and worth a trip for food or other goodies.
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You can follow us on Instagram for info about activities and events. You can see our feed here.
The Dropt Valley
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To get a feel for the area, the Eymet and Issigeac tourist offices commissioned this brilliant video for the Dropt river valley. This is the river that runs through Eymet, to the L'Escourou reservoir and beyond into the Lot et Garonne department.
The video shows off the towns and landscape brilliantly. You can watch the full length 35 minute video here
Summer events every year
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Summer events are popular in our area. There are regular music, film, cultural, jazz, youth, wine tasting and food events.
Throughout the summer, day and night markets are popular to buy food and wine, then sit on the communal tables provided. These events bring out the tourists and locals alike. Eymet, Sigoulès, La Sauvetat-du-Dropt, Issigeac, Miramont-du-Guyenne and Bergerac are some of many.
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Many of our regional towns and villages host summer cultural events. Our advice is to keep your eye out for posters while you are here. Going with the flow often results in unexpected fun.
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We can give you advice on the best of what's on while you're here. Some events are planned months in advance, some just pop up with 24hrs notice.
Eymet night market video
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This video is for the Eymet night market - every Tuesday from 7pm during July and August. The marché nocturne is a good mix of food and gift stalls. All the local restaurants are open too.
Travel website www.allthegoodies.com produced this video of the market. It gives a great sense of the local vibe.
Bergerac
Bergerac is our nearest big town. In fact, it’s the largest town for kilometres around. The Dordogne is renowned for its lack of big cities, adding to the clean air and gentler way of life. Bergerac is a bustling town only 25 minutes north of Cottages de Garrigue on the main D933 road. It shows off the Dordogne river beautifully and has the rustic charm of an ancient French town. There is excellent shopping of all descriptions in Bergerac, plus many restaurants and cafes. It is excellent for a day or night out – or both.
Chateâux en masse
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There are an extraordinary number of chateâux near us. They vary incredibly, from the tumbledown and atmospheric, to the immaculate and glistening. Each has it's own story to tell, often with interesting characters involved.
The picture is Chateâu Hautefort, look up Chateâu des Milandes, one of our faves with a story of Joséphine Baker, or Chateâu de Bridoire with grounds full of medieval games for families.
LA Félibrée 2021 - Celebrations in eymet
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Eymet will host the 101st Félibrée celebrations of the Dordgone in 2021. Our local town has been chosen because it celebrates its own 750th anniversary. This is a massive event for our little community and promises to bring lots of fun day and night events for tourists and residents alike.
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These festivals are serious business in France. They involve lots of music, dancing, costumes, street food and wine!
Shopping
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Eymet and the other local Bastides have a good range of shops for food, provisions and gifts. The area is well served by supermarkets. Eymet has a medium sized Carrefour Contact on the D933 approach from Bergerac.
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Our favourite boulangerie / patisserie is Banette in Sigoulès, just 5 minutes drive away. It is open every day during the peak season (closed Sundays when off peak).
Bergerac has enormous Intermarché and E.Lerclerc hypermarkets, both to the South of the Dordogne river and almost en route from the airport. There is a good Lidl in Bergerac or in Miramont.
There is a very good wine cave in Eymet town square, Eymet Wines. The owner, Mitch will be happy to help you, especially with wine tastings.
There is a good charcuterie in Eymet town square for all meats and Perigord specialities.
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Eymet has an exceptionally good organic wholefood and toiletries shop, in the top corner of the square.
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The nearest petrol station is in front of the Eymet Carrefour on the D933 main road.
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The nearest ATM is at the Banque Populaire just off Eymet square, behind the Tourist Office.
Walking
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This region of France has an extensive network of public footpaths. These are clearly marked and pass through beautiful scenery. Most link together so whether you're after a stroll or a hike there is something for you. May/June and September/October are excellent times to plan walking holidays.
Tour de France
July 2017 saw Eymet as the start of Leg #11 of the Tour de France. We were incredibly proud to be put on the map for such a global event. The area was buzzing for the fortnight surrounding the big day.
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There was a day festival with music and food. The cavalcade is a true spectical. You can see our picture gallery here. The Tour de France made this great video showing off Eymet wonderfully.
Tourist information
Eymet has a great little tourist information office in the main square. They are very helpful and speak French and English. You can find it here
Travel plans & routes
You can see information about travel routes by flight, train or road on this page.
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