Camping Les Étoiles

Folk who hanker after a bit of horsey activity have come to the right place: it’s a five-minute drive to get to the races at the Hippodrome de Pompadour course, and about the same to Château de Pompadour, a swish 15th-century pad that’s also home to the national stud farm – time visits here cleverly to coincide with equine shows or to coo over new foals. If it’s the château itself that’s more your taste, plan to take outings to some of the other fine historic offerings nearby: Château de Comborn and Château de Bonneval are both around 25 minutes’ drive away, and it’s around a 15-minute drive to the hilltop castle and half-timbered houses of Ségur-le-Château. For an insight into local industry you might want to pop the Papeterie De Vaux paper mill (15 minutes’ drive) and Savignac-Lédrier’s forge (20 minutes) on the list too. A fab place to get your fill of fresh air locally is the Vézère gorges (half an hour) – hikes, mountain biking, rock climbing and kayaking are all excellent ways to see some of the stunning scenery here.