Charming 500 Year Old French Cottage in the Heart of Dordogne

• Magical House in Dordogne

  Magical House in Dordogne

  • Guest MJ
  • Date of stay 05/11/13
  • Review Submitted 05/30/13
  This is an incredible place to stay. We agree with all of the wonderful comments of other guests. The house, the owners, the local agents, the town, the region, the shops, the sites and the people were simply outstanding. The house itself is charming and was amazingly well equipped. Obviously, a lot of tender loving care went into the furnishings and little touches. Very cute French country feel. The little front terrace had room for just 3 chairs and basically you are sitting next to the sidewalk- still nice to sit and have coffee in the AM.I believe Beynac is the best town in the Dordogne to rent a house for most people. It is so lovely, with all the essential shops within steps. We did many hikes around Beynac that were fabulous. The Beynac Castle is amazing. It seemed to us that the town of Beynac was less touristy and crowded than La Roque Gayneac and Domme. Beynac is very central to all the other sites. There is a wonderful restaurant (Le Petite Tonelle) just steps form the house. We had dinner there 3 times during our week. What a treat to be able to enjoy the great French wine with dinner and not have to drive home. Parking was no problem at one of two public lots very near the house (you can get a weekly pass) but might be a bit more difficult during July and August. The bedrooms are truly both excellent. We had a hard time deciding who would stay where because both were equally nice. Like most older country houses the steps are rather steep - no problem for my wife and myself (in our 60's) but someone with any significant physical limitation should talk to the owner prior to renting. The town of Beynac also has very steep streets- part of its charm and there was a wonderful view around each corner. The house itself has no real views except of the street and a glimpse of the countryside from the front windows. We knew from the very accurate description and photos of the house on VRBO, that there were no river views, but since you will be overwhelmed by constant gorgeous views as you explore the area and the town, we didn't mind. The house is priced very reasonably and we did not feel it was worth spending the extra money for a house with views. Why not use that money on restaurants and shopping? The owner is great- very honest, and will give you lots of information about the house and the area. Easy communication via email. Deposit was returned quickly.

  Recommended for: Age 55+, romantic getaway, families with teenagers, adventure seekers, sightseeing.

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• Notre Oasis!

  Notre Oasis!

  • Guest Jo Traveler
  • Date of stay 04/13/13
  • Review Submitted 05/04/13
  I spent a cold February afternoon perusing VRBO France looking for the quintessential “French Cottage” to rent someday... After almost giving up I happened upon “La Petite Maison” & my heart skipped a beat! I said to my husband “I’ve found the perfect place for us”, he agreed. A few months later at a BBQ we meet a couple, she strikes up a conversation inquiring about my “Eiffel Tower tattoo” asking if I’ve been to Paris? I tell her that I have indeed ~ it’s my favorite place, she begins to tell me of their trip to Paris, plus a week they spent at a lovely old stone house in Beynac. I tell her about “my” cottage call “La Petite Maison” that we hope to rent someday. As soon as I say this she tells me that’s the cottage they stayed at, well from that moment on I knew it was a done deal. We live in a small town in Ontario, Canada ~ what were the odds? Our best friends who were at the BBQ said “how about the four of us going” so within a week we were booked to go! Vincent & Michelle have made “La Petite Maison” into the most perfect place to stay. The house is well appointed with everything you need, charming is an understatement. From the moment you walk through the front door you feel at home, the decor is warm and welcoming. Having a glass of wine on the terrace is a great way to unwind after spending the day exploring the area. Fresh croissants in the morning are but a short walk away. Dinner in the evening at “La Petite Tonnelle” is just around the corner. Dining in is easy as the kitchen is setup to meet your every need. With two couples it’s so nice to have your own bedroom/bathroom. The location in Beynac is great, easy to get to so many villages in the area. Beynac Castle is just up the hill ~ a favorite of ours. The local markets are great for picking up supplies; wine, cheese, foie gras & bread etc., We enjoyed Sarlat, La Rouque Gageac & in particular Domme. No matter where we were, around every corner is a picture waiting to be taken! We enjoyed a fabulous dinner at “La Belle Etoile” one of the best meals of the trip. If you’ve ever dreamed of staying in the perfect stone cottage in France this is it!

  Recommended for: Age 55+, romantic getaway, adventure seekers, sightseeing.

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 3/3

• Excellent!!!

  Excellent!!!

  • Guest Robin and Linda
  • Date of stay 03/23/13
  • Review Submitted 04/25/13
  We spent two wonderful weeks in Beynac at La Petite Maison...centuries old on the outside and up-to-date on the inside. This part of the Perigord is loaded with history and we spent as much time as possible exploring it with the wonderful knowledge we had LPM to come home to each evening. The house is wonderfully appointed and the DVD collection was a lovely surprise. We arrived a bit early but Martine let us store our luggage until she finished setting up the house - which was spotless upon our official arrival. If during your visit time allows the St. Cyprien market on Sunday is wonderful. Also, take advantage of the hisotrial sites - the ancient churches, walled villages, and exquisit gardens are all within an easy drive. Forget your GPS - get 'lost' in the counryside it will be an added adventure to a wonderfl stay in a lovely part of France in an exceptional house!

  Recommended for: Age 55+, romantic getaway, girls getaway, adventure seekers, sightseeing.

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• Absolutely Charming!

  Absolutely Charming!

  • Guest pdafoe
  • Date of stay 10/06/12
  • Review Submitted 11/12/12
  It is not often that you find a place that is so much better than advertised but La Petite Maison is certainly that. The cottage and the village have been a perfect respite after a busy week in Paris. It is hard to leave such a magical place. This was our first trip to France and so our first introduction to the castles, the medieval villages, the beautiful countryside and the friendly people of rural France. Thanks to Vincent, Sarissa and Martine for a wonderful experience. - Pat and Ann (Canada)

  Recommended for: Romantic getaway, sightseeing.

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• Just perfect, everything you could want and more.

  Just perfect, everything you could want and more.

  • Guest Liz
  • Date of stay 07/21/12
  • Review Submitted 09/06/12
  La Petit Maison is a perfect holiday rental. The location in medieval Beynac is spectacular. The house is located in the heart of Beynac, a short stroll from the Dordogne, and is beautifully renovated. It has everything you could want and more for a pleasant stay, and everything worked! I especially want my holiday accommodation to have good beds, good internet, good showers and a good washing machine. These were no problem at La Petite Maison, and we also appreciated the dishwasher, dryer, books and dvds, as well as free international phone calls. We have stayed in nearly 100 different holiday rentals, and this would be the best one.

  Recommended for: Romantic getaway, families with teenagers, girls getaway, sightseeing.

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 2/2

• Simply Great!

  Simply Great!

  • Guest Daniel
  • Date of stay 08/18/12
  • Review Submitted 09/06/12
  Our stay at La Petit Maison was simply great. The house is very romantic! Everything is perfect inside with two bathrooms and two wonderful bedrooms. The house is right next to a great wine store and only two doors down from an excellent restaurant. The bakery, grocery, and butcher shops are only a short walk away. Beynac is a marvelous little village with a medieval touch and the castle with it's views is just stunning. Payment, obtaining keys, service in Beynac, deposit and return worked very well and very efficiently. The owners do a super job and have truly created a great vacation rental! We will definitely come back!

  Recommended for: Families with young children, romantic getaway, sightseeing.

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 2/2

• Simply Delightful

  Simply Delightful

  • Guest SW
  • Date of stay 07/01/12
  • Review Submitted 08/07/12
  Our stay at this beautiful cottage was simply delightful and even better than the photos displayed. The location was perfect and the town of Beynac was incredibly charming without being too busy. The property was immaculately maintained and filled with wonderful furnishings and antiques. Vincent, the owner was very helpful and answered all of our questions quickly and thoroughly and provided lots of information about the village and the region. We enjoyed everything about the town, including the local markets, the castles, the caves, the nearby villages and especially our wonderful day, canoeing down the Dordogne. Our only regret was that we didn't have longer to explore and visit all the markets and wonderful attractions in the Perigord region. We would dearly love to return and continue our exploration of such a wonderful part of the world.

  Recommended for: Families with young children, age 55+, romantic getaway, families with teenagers, adventure seekers, sightseeing.

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 1/1

• Second visit a delight

  Second visit a delight

  • Guest Nicholas v.
  • Date of stay 06/09/12
  • Review Submitted 07/16/12
  This was our second stay at la Petite Maison. We were not disappointed. The facilities at the house during the two year interval were improved from an already very high standard for holiday accommodation. The staff are on hand and helpful - a special thank you to Martine who is delightful, efficient and great fun. She showed us Vincent’s family’s other house just up the lane and it occurred to us that if we were part of a larger party it would be a good option to take the two at the same time. We were joined by another couple for half our stay and the large bedroom/shower facilities on different floors again worked perfectly for people looking for some privacy on holiday. The owner, Vince, is a perfect host with an eye for detail and always helpful. We can particularly recommend two restaurants, both reasonably priced for the quality they provide. Chez Julien at Paunat (half an hour away) is in a delightful setting in the close of an historic Abbey Church. There is just the one menu but there are about six choices of both Entrée and Plat, as well as some dangerous desserts. Closer by is La Belle Etoile in La Roque-Gageac , the next village to Beynac. The upper terrace overlooking the Dordogne is a delight, and there is food to match. Perigord is a truly historic area of France of which you can only scratch the surface in two weeks. Highlights we took in were Lascaux II which reproduces almost perfectly the Cro-Magnon artists’ caves of c 14,000 BC which had to be closed some years back to avoid further deterioration, Font de Gaume, the real thing of painted caves of the same vintage 20 minutes from Beynac (get in queue by 08.30 to be sure of a visit, now restricted to 92 people a day), several historic castles and gardens, most memorable being perhaps, Marqueyssac, Losse and Eyrignac, canoeing on the gently flowing Dordogne, the street markets and small specialist shops dealing in local produce. As Francophiles, we are fortunate to have visited France more than 50 times during our marriage, but the Beynac/Perigord experience is right up there in the medals. We were truly sad to leave.

  Recommended for: Families with young children, age 55+, romantic getaway, families with teenagers, sightseeing.

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 1/1

• Oh la-la! C'est Si Bonne!

  Oh la-la! C'est Si Bonne!

  • Guest David
  • Date of stay 05/19/12
  • Review Submitted 06/04/12
  A friend posted a photo of La Petite Maison on her Facebook page, saying, "Wouldn't this be a great place to spend a week or a month or the rest of your life?" There was no other information. I dug around on the internet and finally found it. We booked almost a year in advance, and anticipated and dreamed and planned and read reviews and - it was all we'd hoped for - and a great deal more! I LOVED the walk up the hill and down to the Patisserie every morning for those wonderful croissants and patisseries. The 5 minute walk always took at least a half hour. What a delight to stroll and absorb the feeling of the village! We tried to do it all - markets in Sarlat, St. Cyprien, trips to prehistoric caves, wonderful restaurants, castles near and far... and always felt at home when we came back to La Petite Maison! Thanks to our thoughtful owners and their capable local helpers. We couldn't be more pleased!

  Recommended for: Age 55+, romantic getaway, adventure seekers, sightseeing.

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 2/2

• A Trip to the Middle Ages with the Comforts of the 21st Century

  A Trip to the Middle Ages with the Comforts of the 21st Century

  • Guest Rebecca
  • Date of stay 04/27/12
  • Review Submitted 05/07/12
  Our experience in Beynac at La Petite Maison was truly outstanding and unforgettable. We knew it would be from the moment the town came into view from the road leading up to it. Since every traveler's experience is replete with idiosyncrasies, however, it might be worthwhile to describe a little about our particular experience. Not being terribly familiar with the French rail system apart from the TGV, we had some anxiety about booking the tickets online, getting to Gare d'Austerlitz from CDG, arriving in Brive before the Avis office closed (a narrow window) and what would happen if we arrived in Beynac after 7:00 pm. The taxi from CDG ended up costing only 54 euros, which is very good I think, but that advantage was offset by a three-hour wait for the 1:13 train. No problem picking up the rental car, but we were surprised that a GPS did not come with it. Fortunately, the owner's directions were straightforward, so once out of Brive via a rather inelegant route, we were able to stay on a road that at least got us there within 1.5 hours. When we reached Beynac, everything seemed closed, our iPhones would not work (due to a glitch later fixed) and we were just starting to feel a little desperate when two lovely people approached us to ask if we were perhaps the renters of LPM. One of them was Martine, the housekeeper, with whom we immediately had a cheery conversation in French and were delighted to be understood and so quickly immersed in the culture we love from afar. The house is beautiful and tastefully decorated in every detail and lacking in no amenity that anyone could possibly need to be happy in such a town. Being history buffs, we loved rambling up to the chateau and back several times throughout the week, and reading about it in our guides. The market in St. Cyprien was outstanding, with the best zucchini on the planet, olives, local mustard, truffle pasta, etc., to name a few of our finds. Two meals at La Petite Tonnelle, of course superb, also. The river level was too high for canoeing, but all the rain has left the countryside unbelievably verdant and lush, a reasonable trade-off. A day trip to Perigueux's Vielle Ville included many interesting shops, a cathedral and museum. Despite dire weather forecasts, the so-called bad weather was limited to brief scattered showers, leaving us with abundant sunshine. The Perigord Noir is perhaps the most beautiful and magical part of France. Don't miss it.

  Recommended for: Romantic getaway, families with teenagers, adventure seekers, sightseeing.

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 1/1

(Jan 5-Mar 8, 2013) €650/week       (Jun 29-Aug 30, 2013) €1100/week
(Mar 9-Apr 5, 2013) €750/week       (Aug 31-Oct 4, 2013) €975/week
(Apr 6-May 17, 2013) €875/week      (Oct 5-Nov 1, 2013) €925/week
(May 18-Jun 28, 2013) €950/week     (Nov 2-Dec 20, 2013) €700/week
                                    (Dec 21-Jan 3, 2014) €795/week
We accept credit cards via PayPal, wire transfers and personal checks in Euros.
Weekly rentals run from 4 p.m. Saturday to 10 a.m. the next Saturday unless
otherwise arranged. Prices are all inclusive of taxes, fees, linens, and heating.

Note: Until confirmed, rates are subject to change without notice.