Camping Perma-Pirate

Discover the shady banks of the Dordogne River on a family cycle ride along the traffic-free Bergerac V91 Greenway (five minutes by bike), which passes Creysse (20 minutes, hire kayaks here to paddle down the river) and pretty, pastel-coloured Mouleydier (half an hour) on its way to the Barrage de Tuilières (35 minutes), where there’s a fish ladder and small museum tracing the construction of the hydroelectric dam. Content to stay closer to home base? Have a wander around the half-timbered houses and cobbled alleyways of Bergerac Old Town (10 minutes), see the troglodyte caves below landmark Château de Commarque, and celebrate the region’s long winemaking heritage with tastings at the Maison des Vins, which is prettily housed in the 17th-century Cloitre des Recollets. If you have developed a taste for Bergerac wines, discover the sweet white wines produced around Monbazillac (35 minutes) at the village’s namesake Renaissance château. Here you can tour opulent period interiors as well as sampling fine vintages and buying bottles from the shop as souvenirs of your Dordogne adventures.