Dordogne

Bergerac is the working town of the southern Dordogne, a river port turned market town of around 27,000 people with the department's only airport and direct UK flights in season.

Sarlat is the tourist capital of the Périgord Noir, a medieval centre of honey coloured stone that draws well over a million visitors a year into a town of roughly 9,000 residents.

Périgueux is the administrative capital of the Dordogne, a city of about 30,000 built around a Roman centre and a domed cathedral, with the department's main hospital and the widest range of jobs and schools.

Eymet is a bastide town of roughly 2,500 people on the Dropt in the far south of the Dordogne, and one of the most established British communities anywhere in rural France.

Issigeac is a circular medieval village of about 700 people south east of Bergerac, best known for a Sunday market that fills its lanes from spring to autumn.

Monpazier is a 13th century English bastide of barely 500 residents, laid out on a grid around an arcaded square, and one of the official Plus Beaux Villages de France.

Le Bugue is a riverside town of about 2,700 people on the Vézère, in the middle of the prehistoric valley between Sarlat and Périgueux.

Brantôme is a small town of around 2,000 people in the green Périgord north of Périgueux, built on an island in a loop of the Dronne beneath a cliffside abbey.

Ribérac is a market town of about 4,000 people in the Dronne valley in the north west of the department, and the cheapest of the well known Dordogne towns.