Gourdon is stone’s throw from the major tourist attractions of the Lot and the Dordogne. Here are some highlights and some lesser known places worth a visit.

NB: Always check open dates and times. Some places of interest are closed on Mondays, some on Tuesdays. Some places close at lunch time.

Rocamadour

One of the most extraordinary sites in France, this sanctuary and famous place of pilgrimage clings to the rock face 150m above the Alzou Canyon. Henry Plantagenet, King of England from 1154 until 1189, was one of the first pilgrims to come to Rocamadour in search of a miraculous cure.

Sarlat la Canéda

Sarlat is a pretty and well preserved historic town with narrow medieval streets and handsome Gothic and Renaissance houses, mainly rebuilt between 1450 and 1500 when Charles Vll bestowed privileges upon Sarlat to thank its population for their resistance against the English.

Les Arques

In 1934 the sculptor Ossip Zadkine (1890-1967) and his artist wife Valentine Prax (1897-1981) fell in love with this charming village and bought a house there. There is now a wonderful museum, Musée Zadkine (bronzes, tapestries, wood sculptures, lithographs) to visit. In the Romanesque church there is an enormous Zadkine crucifix and a stunning pieta. Les Arques has a very good restaurant, La Récréation (05 65 22 88 08). It also has a tea room.

Grottes Préhistorique de Cougnac 46300 Gourdon 05 65 41 47 54 www.grottes.de.cougnac.com

Just five minutes drive from Gourdon are the exceptional Cougnac caves notable for their remarkable prehistoric paintings (mammoth, long horned deer, human figures) and their exquisite formations of stalactites and stalagmites. Guided tours.

Le Gouffre de Padirac, 46500 Padirac, 05 65 33 64 56, www.gouffre-de-padirc.com

This is the largest underground natural heritage site in France and it is spectacular. Can be crowded in the season and on jours feriés so a good idea to book your tickets in advance. You take a lift or stairs to descend the vertiginous ‘well’, the impressive 103 metre chasm you will have seen from the surface. Local people once believed it was connected with the devil. Towards the end of the 19th century violent flooding of the underground river opened up a passage from the bottom of the ‘well’ to the spectacular underground galleries reached by flat bottomed boat. So far 22km of tunnels and galleries have been discovered.

Le Chateau de Fénelon

Near the village of Sainte Mondane. 14th century fortified castle (triply fortified walls). Beautiful situation and views. Privately owned but open to the public. Interior rooms furnished with Renaissance pieces.

Le Moulin d’eau fortifié de Cougnaguet dans les Causses de Quercy on the River Ouyesse (Monument Historique), 46350 Calès, 05 65 32 63 09, www.cougnaguet.com
A 14th century mill founded by the Franciscans still in working order. In a gorge with amazing rock formations. Beautiful setting and wonderful mill.

Notre Dame des Neiges (walking distance from Gourdon)
A tiny Romanesque chapel rebuilt in 1646. In a lovely setting by a river. Pilgrims used to come to drink the water from what was considered a miraculous spring (accessed by a trap in the chapel).

River Swimming in the Dordogne

There are many places to swim and canoe in nearby lakes and in the River Dordogne.