Area Guide
Buying a Derelict in Dordogne: The Dream, and Its Price
Castles, rivers, warm sun and honey-coloured stone — the Dordogne is the picture most people have in their head when they think "house in France." It's every bit as lovely as it looks. It's also the priciest of the south-west belts, and the most British.
South-west France · the Périgord · Périgueux, Sarlat, Bergerac · ≈ 8 hrs / 830 km from Calais · Bergerac airport
I know the Sarlat side well and I love it — but I'll be straight: the Dordogne is a lifestyle buy, not a bargain hunt. Here's what it does better than anywhere, what it costs, and where a little value still hides.
Even in the sunny Périgord, check the Bergeracois clay and the drainage before you drive 830 km.
Run the checklist →🗺️ Where to BuySee how the Dordogne compares to the cheaper belts on ground, price and the drive.
Compare belts →📋 The Search So FarThe running log of every place viewed and why we passed — updated as we keep hunting.
See the log →The lie of the land
The Dordogne (département 24, the historic Périgord) is warm, wooded, river-carved south-west France — limestone cliffs, walnut groves, vineyards, more castles than anywhere in France, and the famous prehistoric caves. Mostly limestone, so the ground is generally sound — though the Bergerac side has clay pockets worth checking. The climate is a genuine gift for growing.
The four Périgords
Locals split it by colour — and the colours track the price.
Périgord Noir Sarlat · dearest
Sarlat, the Vézère and Dordogne valleys — castles, caves, honey-stone villages, and the tourist heart. Breathtaking, and the most expensive corner by a distance.
Périgord Pourpre Bergerac · wine
Bergerac and the vineyards — warm, sunny, with an airport that takes UK budget flights. Pretty and pricey, some clay in the ground here.
Périgord Blanc Périgueux · central
Around the prefecture — limestone plateau, a bit more everyday and a bit more affordable than the honeypots.
Périgord Vert Nontron · best value
The green, wooded north, blending into the Limousin and Charente — cooler, quieter and where the value hides. If you want Dordogne charm without the Sarlat price, look here.
The good worth having
The climate and the garden
Warm, long summers and mild winters — one of the best hands in France for veg, an orchard, vines and soft fruit. For a self-sufficient plot, the growing season alone is worth a lot.
Mostly sound limestone ground
The Périgord is largely limestone, so the shrink-swell clay that plagues the cheap northern belts is much less of a worry here (bar the Bergeracois pockets). Old stone houses tend to have stayed put.
Beauty, food, and an English community
Castles, rivers, markets, walnuts and wine — and a large, well-established British community with English-speaking agents and tradespeople. An easy, gentle landing if your French is thin.
Bergerac airport
Budget UK flights into Bergerac (and Bordeaux/Brive nearby) make it reachable without the full 830-km drive — a real plus for a place this far south.
The bad go in eyes open
Expensive — the dream is priced in
The Dordogne is the dearest of the south-west belts. Decades of British demand have pushed prices well above the Creuse or Charente; a renovation project here costs what a finished house costs further north. If budget is the point, this isn't your department.
Very British in places
Parts of it are so Anglicised that "Dordogneshire" is only half a joke — brilliant for support, but if you came for deep, authentic France, the honeypots can feel like Surrey with better weather.
Thin at the cheap end
Genuine sub-£30k derelicts are scarce and usually snapped up fast or tucked in the quieter Périgord Vert. The bargain end that's plentiful in the Creuse barely exists here.
The long haul south
~8 hours / 830 km from Calais — the furthest of the belts we cover. The flights help, but hauling tools and materials down for a renovation is a serious trek.
What your money buys
Rough Dordogne ranges — dearer than anywhere else in this guide.
- £30–50kA renovation house, usually in the quieter north or off the tourist valleys; rarely with much land at this price.
- £70–130kA characterful stone house needing work, or a smaller one nearly there, with a garden.
- £150–300kThe postcard: a done Périgord stone house with land, pool-ready.
- £400k+Château territory. The proper dream.
Getting there
From Calais ~8 hours / 830 km down the A10/A20 (Sarlat nearer 900) — the furthest of all our areas, and further than Switzerland, because the south-west is a long diagonal from the Channel. By air: Bergerac takes UK budget flights, with Bordeaux and Brive nearby. By train: TGV to Bordeaux, then local lines. It's the most flight-friendly of the far belts — worth it, given the drive.
On the ground here (market findings)
Paulin, Périgord Noir — warm, good roof, but pricey and tight
A stone hamlet house near Sarlat, ~£31k, with a rare good roof and the option to buy an 80 m² barn alongside — genuinely tempting. The catch is the Dordogne catch: small land (~270 m²), three storeys, no drainage, and a warm-premium price. Character and climate, not space or a bargain. (Found in the searches; not yet stood in.)
Who to buy through
The Dordogne has more English-speaking agents than anywhere (Leggett and many others) — easy hand-holding for a first purchase, but agency-fed and pricier. For value, translate the French-only sites and hunt the Périgord Vert and the Charente/Limousin borders.
The verdict
The Dordogne is the dream, and it charges for it. Warm, gorgeous, sound ground, a kind garden and an easy English landing — but the priciest, most British, and furthest of the belts. Buy here if the lifestyle is the goal and the budget stretches, and head for the quieter Périgord Vert to get the charm without the Sarlat sticker. For a rock-bottom project, the Creuse or the Charente's north-east give you far more house for the money.