Testimonials
Here is what some of our guests have said about their stay with us…
We do hope that when you return home you will add your comments, too.
Tour Review
Kim & Scott Witzke
Alberta, Canada, October 2024
We had an amazing five days on a self-guided cycling trip from Gourdon to La Roque-Gagac, to Les Eyzies, and back to Gourdon, France, all organized by Cliff at Cycle the Dordogne. As novice bikers, we were a bit unsure at first, but we thoroughly enjoyed the journey through stunning hills, valleys, charming towns, and historic bridges. It was undoubtedly the highlight of our four-week vacation.
Cliff’s detailed directions made it easy to navigate from town to town and visit one scenic site after another. The ride was incredibly picturesque, and it’s an experience we won’t soon forget. The hotels and pre-arranged dinners were fantastic, adding to the overall experience.
I highly recommend Cycle the Dordogne to anyone looking for a self-guided bike trip.
Elan & Kate Bush
Saluda NC USA, October 2024
This was our second biking trip with Cycle the Dordogne. This year we visited the Lot and Cele valleys and were as impressed with the itinerary as our first trip through the Dordogne. The routes are scenic, the towns historic and the pace is just right (on e-bikes).
Cliff provides exceptional support from planning to the very end of the tour. The directions are excellent and the hotels are great. He is consistently professional and proactive in ensuring we have everything we need to make a perfect trip. When my daughter got sick one day he even took her and her bike to the next hotel and got her checked in early so she could recover enough to enjoy the rest of the trip.
Cliff and Annie provide a wonderful experience and we appreciate their dedication to our making wonderful memories.
Laura & Kerry Margetts
Calgary Canada, October 2024
We just finished our fourth trip with Cycle the Dordogne and all of them have been fabulous. Our first self-guided cycling trip was in 2008 and we have been returning ever since. Cliff knows the Dordogne and Lot areas very well. The cycling routes are on quiet roads through lovely villages and the hotels are first rate. The daily route guides are detailed and include a history of the area and recommendations of things to see. If there’s a problem along the route, Cliff is always available to help out. We highly recommend taking a trip with Cliff!
Jennifer & Sebastian Roberts
California USA, August 2024
My husband and I really enjoyed our cycling tour in the Dordogne for a week in mid August. The details and accommodations were all thoughtfully planned and seamlessly arranged. It was the height of the summer season with French families on vacation, and Cliff had warned us that the crowds would be heavy during this time (and he was correct!) However, despite this, we were happily surprised with the well chosen roads and pleasantly not-too-hot weather. The towns and the landscape are just so stunning. We stopped on day 2 at the Gouffre de Padirac and this was absolutely a highlight- it is a stunning cave tour, don’t skip it! Traveling by bike is quickly becoming my favorite way to travel and having hotels and some meals planned for us made it all so easy. We rode standard bikes, not E-bikes, and I joked that we were powered by baguettes and cheese! This region of France is beautiful, with fabulous food of course, and I would love to come back for another tour, perhaps in the Spring or Fall! Thank you Cliff and Annie for a wonderful trip!
Scot Brower & Lisa Cleveland
Washington State USA, September 2024
From start to finish this was a great trip! It was all that I had hoped for. Things started with the planning. Cliff was very good at communicating with me and helping me set our itinerary. He answered all emails promptly and in detail. We went back and forth until we had a customized 12 day cycle trip. On the 3 times we stayed two nights in one place he provide nice loop rides for the second day. Cliff provided good advise for our arrival and post trip transportation. The bike trip was everything we dreamed about. The scenery was beautiful with forests, farms, Chateaus, Castles and medieval towns. We loved the pace. Everyday Cliff or his wife Annie would pick up our luggage and move it to the next town so it was there when we arrived. All of our accommodations were nice and matched our taste. They were mostly 3 star or 4 star small hotels. A few with pools. About a third of our dinners were included and were all very nice. I was anxious about following paper maps and instructions but actually it was pretty easy as Cliff provided very good step by step directions. I also programed the route on a Garmin GPS but this was not necessary. We never got lost but for a few minor deviations which we corrected. When we wanted to see something not on the route we used Google Maps on our phones. I bought a $15 Sim Card in Toulouse for my Iphone and it lasted the whole trip giving me data and cell service the whole trip. I have Consumer Cellular at home and it does not work out of the US but with the Sim Card you use French cellular. The terrain is hilly and we opted for electric bikes. We are strong experienced cyclists but at age 65 and 76 we were pleased we had the electric bikes. They were pedal assist so we still made ourselves work but they took the pain out of the hill climbs. I think for recreational bikers this is a good way to go unless you want to work hard. The hills are doable on non electric bikes if you want to go that way. The Dordogne is a beautiful area of the world and France so go see it for yourself and if you choose Cycle the Dordogne it will go like clockwork. Cliff is a good man.
Louise Markey
Sydney Australia, September 2024
Sadly the weather ( lots of rain ) and sickness (we both got a bad virus) affected the enjoyment of our 8 day cycle trip. This meant we lost 3 days cycling and sadly didn’t see the beautiful Dordogne valley in its true light. Literally. That aside, Cliff’s directions were easy to follow and we never got lost – the trip notes are very detailed and have fabulous information about what to see along the routes. Accommodation was of a very good standard and the dinners we had were a highlight. My only constructive criticism is that on the day we rode in heavy rain , getting the paper maps and instructions out of their casing to turn the pages , caused them to get sodden and I couldn’t read them clearly. A disaster. Lucky I had my GPS navigation on my phone . Paper maps are rather archaic and GPS would be better , but as Cliff explained to me , he does so many individualised trips that converting them all onto GPS would be very time consuming. Being 2 fit women in our 60’s who cycle often, we thought hybrid bikes (not e bikes) would be ok for this trip. Not so. We found some of the long climbs very difficult and it affected our enjoyment of the trip. eg The day of the loop ride , getting to Domme and also to Beynac castle was extremely difficult as was the long last 63km day riding to Sarlat. I would highly suggest to use e-bikes if you are a recreational cyclist. Would I do a trip again with Cycling Dordogne…. probably not, unless I could be certain of good weather and in this current climate change era , it is too unpredictable.
Thank you Louise for your review. Try as we might to ensure that every customer has the very best experience, the weather is just a step too far! Cliff
George & Garrick Malone
Benicia, California, August 2010
Garrick and I …
David Elliott
Worcestershire, England, August 2010
Thanks very much for all your help…
Teresa & Tina
Kodiak, Alaska, June 2010
We highly recommend ….
Neil & Sarah Coney
Perth, Australia, October 2023
This was our first cycling tour and Sarah and I had a wonderful time discovering the beautiful Dordogne region. The detailed planning of routes and suggested options provided by Cliff was excellent, and the choice of hotels and restaurants fantastic.
The ability to go at our own pace and chose where to spend more or less time exploring certain parts of the region was great.
We would definitely recommend a “Cycle the Dordogne” trip to others and are seriously thinking about when our next French cycling adventure will be.
Thank you Cliff!
Ian & Debbie Grose
Perth, Australia, October 2023
Like many other reviewers, we are return customers! We enjoyed the Dordogne Valley so much in 2014, and this time Cliff designed a great route just for us covering the Lot Valley. It was amazing scenery with just a few hills, the track notes were clear, the hotels all excellent and we ate some beautiful local cuisine. And all through our journey, we had Cliff’s personal service picking up our luggage and giving us local advice on sights and restaurants. Our only learning from this trip was to aim for September next time as a few of the hotels, restaurants and attractions were closing for the season by week 3 of October. Thanks again Cliff and Annie – you are our benchmark for the best self-guided cycling tours!
Ian & Debbie
Elan & Kate Bush
Saluda NC USA, October 2023
If you’re reading the reviews page because you’re still trying to decide if Cycle the Dordogne is too good to be true, please rest assured and book your trip now. It is absolutely as good as everyone says. The advantages of a local company where you deal directly with the owners can’t be exaggerated. Everything from the initial contact, tour selection and planning, welcome and orientation, bikes, directions, hotels, meals and luggage transfers is absolutely professional and well executed. Cliff is a wonderful host and travel enthusiast. The region and trip itself are incredibly beautiful, friendly and interesting. There’s so much to do and see that we could easily do the same route and not see the same things, but still have an amazing experience. At the same time, the pace was very comfortable and we didn’t feel pressured or rushed on each day’s journey. We certainly hope to return and do another trip with Cycle the Dordogne and Cliff.
Kevin Marshman & Jo-Anne Kirton
Canada. June 2023
We have cycled extensively through Europe over the past 20 years. We, along with our two youngest children (teens at the time) cycled the Dordogne several years ago with Cliff. When our friends wanted to explore the Lot Valley with us, we naturally chose Cliff again. Cliff arranged fabulous itineraries in both areas. The Hotel accommodations are excellent and the food exquisite. Cliff provides detailed maps and directions that made navigating easy and he was readily available to answer questions or help as he transferred our luggage to each next stop. Cliff is one of the best tour operators we have dealt with in our twenty years of cycling Europe and our trip this year was one of our best cycling experiences. We highly recommend Cliff’s trips as they are well worth the money.
Peter & Marian Furnell
Courtenay, BC, Canada. September 2023
We recently finished our second bike tour with Cycle the Dordogne, and it was every bit as good as the first. Most of our days were spent in the Lot River Valley, which is equally as picturesque and as beautiful as the Dordogne. Great riding, great scenery, great (quiet) roads, great hotels, and as usual, great assistance from our hosts Cliff and Annie. Thank you for all the wonderful memories.
Kate & Andrew Greenslade
Australia. September 2023
We had a wonderful four days cycling the Dordogne. Cliff was fantastic with organising the limited time we had. The cycling was fantastic with easy to follow instructions and interesting information about the various places we visited. The choice of hotels and restaurants were fabulous and very authentic. Everything went very smoothly and Cliff runs a very professional business and is very personable. We will definitely use Cycle the Dordogne again and highly recommend.
Kate and Andrew
Suzanne & Warwick
Adelaide, Australia. July 2023
Dear Cliff, We cycled in the Dordogne with you in 2008 and we loved the self guided cycling adventure. Here we are 15 years later and have just completed the Lot Valley self guided tour. Road bikes were provided this time and we asked for a bit of extra distance and appreciated the way you tailored the trip for us across a week. Such wonderful cycling, food, scenery, accommodation and memories. Thanks so much, Suzanne and Warwick |
Jim Good & Janet Morlan
Corvallis, Oregon, USA. July 2023
We had a great cycling trip in the Dordogne/Lot region earlier this month, cycling between five different cities/villages, up and down hills, through pastoral landscapes, and small medieval villages with charming and old stone buildings, and castles and abbeys dating from the 11th to 13th centuries. The hotels we stayed at were good to outstanding, all with great breakfasts, and most with swimming pools, which were very appreciated because the weather was very HOT. The company: Cliff took excellent care of us, including the retrieval of my passport and wallet that I left behind and dining suggestions. The sturdy bikes (24-speed hybrids) worked well for us, with enough gears to grind up a few long ascents. The food was one of the best parts of the trip… lunches usually at small restaurants (the salads were wonderful), and three-course dinners at mostly excellent restaurants did not disappoint. The French people we met along the way were friendly (Bonjour!) and helpful with our limited French. Drivers on the many narrow roads were very courteous–we felt safe. All in all, a memorable trip! I would do another of these tours, but probably earlier or later seasons!
Leif & Kristina Hansen
Denmark. July 2023
We have experienced Cliff before, last year, when he organized our hiking vacations in Occitanie- France. We were very satisfied, that’s why we’ve chosen him again to organize our vacations this year. We told him that we would like to hike, bike and do some canoeing. He organized everything perfectly, everything worked without any problems. We are very happy for Cliff, his skills and his knowledge. We highly recommend Cliff and his company. He is a highly skilled organizer.
Dave & Ann Gouldney
Somerset, England. June 2023
Covid delayed our trip from 2020 and we are so delighted that we eventually completed it. We are veterans of many cycle tours, but this is up there with best we have ever done. Cliff’s planning was perfect and the rides through the majestic Lot and Dordogne valleys were just magnificent. At the end of each ride our luggage awaited us, never late, and the standard of accommodation was fabulous. After a hard days cycling, luxurious hotel rooms and fine dining were very welcome. For the only time ever on a cycling trip every mattress was comfortable and a good nights sleep was had! Thank you Cliff for everything.
Steve Strauss
Oregon, USA. July 2023
The four of us had a wonderful time on our 8 day trip in Lot/Dordogne seeing the amazing sights, enjoying the fantastic food, and feeling safe wherever we biked with the courteous French drivers. Cliff was prompt in answering any concerns, including to fix a pedal within about an hour after we texted him about it during a ride. He also picked up and delivered baggage to our hotels on time each day. The written biking instructions were clear, which I converted into a RideWithGPS route for electronic navigation that worked very well. The only thing that would have improved the trip for us would be less heat and humidity, so try and avoid mid-summer if you can.
John Storey
Tennessee, USA. July 2023
We did a “stay in place” bike tour. Three days in Rocamadour, 5 in Sarlat. We liked both hotels. Cliff gave us several loop routes to follow from each hotel so we had choices every day which was good because we had some very hot days. We live in hilly East Tennessee, and found the hills pretty equivalent. The bikes, Specialized Sirrus, were very nice and had appropriately low gears for the hills. It was a great way to tsee the beauty of the Perigord!
Roy & Judy Moore
Sydney, Australia. May 2023
We completely agree with everything Greg Smolyn from Canada has written about Cliff and his bike tours in the Dordogne and Lot regions of France. We are return bike tourists and previously toured the Dordogne region with 5 other couples in 2013. We enjoyed that tour so much we always promised ourselves we would return; but Covid delayed our return until 2023.
This time there were just the two of us and Cliff reassured us that it was perfectly safe for us to tour in the area on our own so off we went. Cliff designed a tour this time in the Lot district so that we didn’t cover the same routes we did in 2013 and we couldn’t have been more impressed. We felt very safe and his route directions were very clear. We were only lost once in the 7 days. On this occasion after an off route excursion of 16 klms we were quickly back on Cliff’s designated route. This was my error not Cliff’s.
We have been bike tourists in Europe, New Zealand and Thailand for over 20 years and have enjoyed in excess of 22 different tours. Our Dordogne and Lot district tours are up there with the best we have experienced thanks in a large part to Cliff’s attention to the detail of his tour routes, selection of quality accommodation, highlights to see in the areas and his personal care for his customers. Thanks again Cliff.
Dana Bruden
Anchorage, Alaska. May 2023
We spent an amazing 7 days cycling with in late May-early June of 2023. Cliff set up a great personalized itinerary for us, and the ease and responsiveness leading up to and during the trip was great. The week was one of our all time favorite vacations. The route selection and descriptions were superb, keeping us on roads with little traffic. The scenery a joy, the daily logistics were easy, the lodging selections were great, the villages stunning, and the food often, can only be described as culinary art, in presentation and taste. All of this in addition to great daily exercise and occasional forays into caves to see 15-20,000 year old art. The experience offers so much in human history and an invitation to slow down and soak in the beauty and culture of the region. We highly recommend a trip with cliff!
Dan & Rhonda Schoenleber
USA. June 2023
We have been on many cycling tours but our tour of the Lot really stands out. Cliff arranged a fabulous itinerary where we cycled through medieval fairytale-like towns, ate at amazing Michelin or near Michelin restaurants and stayed in 3 and 4 star hotels that exceeded our expectations. One was a 1000 year old Bishop’s palace that was amazing. Cliff provided us with detailed maps and directions that made navigating easy and he was readily available to answer questions or help as he transferred our luggage to each next stop. One of the best cycling experiences we have ever had. Well worth the money for the quality of the trip
Noni Fenwick-Wilson
Denman Island, BC, Canada, October 2022
We completely agree with and can only echo the review from the Australian couple who did a trip in September. The bikes worked flawlessly, the route descriptions were accurate and detailed and the hotels Cliff chooses were excellent. He was extremely responsive to all our queries and questions. The region is a joy to cycle in. Cliff sets the bar for owner operator run tourism.
Burrton Woodruff
Indiana, USA. 3 trips
I did a solo trip in 2007 (Cliff’s second year) plus 2 others with my husband. I’m writing this testimonial because I often relive the experience of those trips. Best vacations of my life. Cycling the Dordogne was absolutely the ideal way for me and my husband to vacation. Every year when Cliff sends out his emails I experience tremendous joy looking at the web site pictures and remembering. I’ve aged and can no longer cycle. What more meaningful recommendation can I make than to say I treasure the memories. I expect you will too.
Greg Smolyn
Vancouver, Canada. April 2023
We spent an amazing 10 days cycling the Dordogne and Lot region, and that was in no small part to the excellent care of Cliff and Annie. From our first interactions Cliff was helpful, responsive, and willing to help us craft an itinerary suited to our interests. His in-depth local knowledge came in handy and ensured an extremely smooth trip, there were no surprises in navigation or logistics. Even when we suffered a mechanical, Cliff was there in a flash and we were rolling again in no time. The daily itineraries were packed with things to see and do, so much so that we agree we could redo the exact same tour again and not duplicate anything! Prior to this trip, I had never even contemplated the Dordogne — but now we can’t wait to come back… amazing scenery, caves unparalleled (the Gouffre de Padirac cannot be missed), and the most picturesque towns in France!
Richard & Hazel Pilcher
Melbourne, Australia.
September 2022
My husband and I recently completed the 7 day Cycle the Dordogne tour. We had an amazing time cycling 200kms or so in manageable daily distances. The hotels located in charming villages were exceptional. The scenic routes were mainly on quiet back roads and the accurate route instructions made it easy to navigate. Cliff provided us with a wealth of local information which did not appear in my guide book. As Cliff and Annie are locally based they are in a position to personally assist with any problem that might arise. I would certainly recommend Cycle the Dordogne and Cliff to anyone contemplating a cycling holiday in the region!
Ken & Heather Green
Waubra, Australia.
September 2022
Cliff, many thanks for arranging a bespoke tour for a couple of oldies. Your attention to detail throughout the eight days on tour was exemplary. Accommodation, restaurants and tour directions were excellent. Also thank Simon and Annie for their assistance. We are heading home today and will share and recommend to friends our dordonge experience, all things being well we may even return next year. No doubt the best European bike tour we have had in twenty years of bike touring. Many thanks again Ken and Heather
Peter & Kathy Borsato
Canada.
September 2022