Le Beauvillage

This is one of those areas that’s peppered with little villages to poke around in. The obvious place to start is your local village of Lauzerte – there are lots of little cafés and bars to frequent in its well restored centre, and a lovely pilgrims’ garden on the edge of town; if you can, time at least one visit to coincide with the farmers’ market on a Wednesday or Saturday. Other fab villages to visit nearby include Moissac, Montcuq and Montaigu-de-Quercy (where there’s also a lovely lake beach). If countryside is more your thing, there’s plenty of that to be seen too. Several walking trails leave from the village, and the GR65 long-distance trail passes close by. Hikes around historic Saint-Cirq Lapopie are around an hour away, as are more gentle wanderings through the water gardens at Latour-Marliac (where it’s said that Claude Monet developed his love of water lilies). Kid-friendly outings nearby include the dinosaur forest, farm park and tractor rides at Animaparc and the rides and rollercoasters at the Walibi theme park near Agen. Both are around an hour’s drive away. Toulouse is around an hour and a quarter away for boat rides, museums and visits to the space museum.