Dordogne: September canoeing

We drove from Bordeaux to the Dordogne valley to take a wee canoe trip down the river for a couple of days. Canoeing in late September is completely out of season which meant that we had the river to ourselves, but also meant that there were no campsites open and barely any restaurants or shops. Its a magical time of year to go but make sure that you book your accommodation in advance, and avoid Mondays where the restaurants are likely to be shut. We arrived on Sunday evening expecting to be able to turn up at a campsite and pitch our tent but - no campsites were open. We were rescued by a Chalet Mirandol who let us stay in one of their great chalets even though they don't normally allow one night stays.

Misty mornings on the river. Autumn is a great time to canoe on the Dordogne, early mornings are misty and beautiful and we were lucky enough to have the hot and sunny afternoons. The mixture of sun and autumnal colours is spectacular. We canoed from Vayrac to Souillac with Safaraid rentals and spent the night in Saint Sozy at the brilliant Le Grangier hotel. The trip costs 20 euros each per day for the canoe and you can go for a week or a day whatever you fancy, you just pull your canoe up onto the side of the river and camp or find a B&B.

The canoeing trip was so relaxing, the river was flowing fast enough that meant you didn't need to row - brilliant. Mind you it did take us around 5 hours to go 12km. We drifted down the lovely river, being overtaken by floating leaves, watching dragonflies and kingfishers flitting about, turtles basking on the limestone rocks plopping into the river as we passed. Perfect.