Les Chalets de Lavialle

The biggest town around these parts, Brive-la-Gaillarde (35 minutes’ drive), is worth a day of your time, especially if you manage to time your trip to coincide with one of the three weekly market days. The medieval centre is the sort that’s full of turrets and other bits and bobs to look out for, and there are also a couple of museums and a distillery to visit, plus canal/river walks to be had. A couple more excellent places to wander are Les Jardins de Colette (25 minutes), with themed areas, games and a giant maze, and Les Jardins de l’Imaginaire (40 minutes), a contemporary garden with water features, sculptures and water lilies galore. The Gouffre de la Fage (40 minutes) is a good place to aim for if you’d like to take your strolls below the surface. Should les enfants be demanding a more active outing, take them along to Aquafun Park du Causse to fling themselves across a floating inflatable obstacle course, or have them scale the trees to the high ropes courses at Nature Evasion adventure park. Both are around 40 minutes away by car.