Dordogne Property For Sale

Dordogne property is still the dream for many British homebuyers and holiday-makers, with cheap flights to Bergerac ensuring that the love affair continues. The Dordogne is however a vast area, with substantial variations in landscape and climate, and corresponding fluctuations in property prices.

The southwest of the region, around Bergerac, enjoys a warmer, drier climate. Dordogne property here is at a premium because of the airport - which has numerous flights to UK airports - and because of the facilities of the town itself. Bergerac has a medieval quarter so atmospheric that you expect to bump into Cyrano de Bergerac at any moment. In the north of the Dordogne, around Nontron, the land is more heavily wooded and property here may be cheaper. Between the two, Ribérac and Verteillac are lively centres in a pastoral landscape much loved by the British.

The area of the Dordogne most visited by tourists is in the south-east, where the rivers Dordogne and Vézère thread through the thickly wooded landscape of the so-called "Black Périgord". Sarlat, the main town of this part, has all the picture-perfect tourist appeal of a medieval settlement seemingly untouched by the hand of time. It acts as a centre for visits to the nearby châteaux and prehistoric caves such as the world-famous Grottes de Lascaux. The tourist hot-spots of the Gouffre de Padirac and Rocamadour are also a short drive away.

Property in the Dordogne's capital, Périgueux, has good long-term letting potential. Périgueux is the administrative capital of the department; while its medieval old town, famed gastronomy and ancient Roman ruins can ensure supplementary income from summer tourists.