Views from above: the finest viewpoints in the Périgord Noir

Between Vitrac and Carsac, the Dordogne forms a tight meander, the 'cingle', overlooked by the Château de Montfort perched on its rock. Stopping points along the road offer a striking view of the loop of the river and the castle.

At the end of the rocky spur that holds the gardens, the great viewpoint towers 130 metres above the Dordogne. Your gaze sweeps along the valley of castles: La Roque-Gageac clinging to its cliff, Castelnaud, Beynac… Other viewpoints line the paths.

From the top of its cliff, the Château de Beynac watched over the valley and its great rival, the Château de Castelnaud on the opposite bank, during the Hundred Years' War. From its terraces, the view takes in the meanders of the Dordogne and the surrounding villages. For the best photo of the castle itself, look at it from the riverbank or from a gabarre.

Perched on its cliff above the river, the bastide town of Domme offers, from the Belvédère de la Barre, an immense view over the Dordogne valley: the Château de Montfort, La Roque-Gageac, Beynac and the Marqueyssac gardens. Go at the end of the day, when the low light turns the fields and the river golden.

From the hamlet of L'Hospitalet, above Rocamadour, you take in the whole town clinging to its cliff in one glance, from the castle down to the village roofs, above the Alzou canyon. A magical view at the end of the day, and in the evening when the town is lit up.