At Michelin-starred L’Essentiel, it feels like you're dining inside an aristocratic friend’s living room, with floral wallpaper and orange velour chairs providing a suitably posh setting for Périgueux’ top gourmet cuisine. Chef Eric Vidal, a Tulle native, prepares meals steeped in local flavours: Quercy lamb, cockerel and local rare-breed pigs regularly feature on the menus, often with a truffly, nutty touch.
L’Essentiel
Top choice in The Dordogne
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
23.53 MILES
France’s most famous prehistoric cave paintings are at the Grotte de Lascaux, 2km southeast of Montignac. Naturally sealed and protected for millennia, it…
22.65 MILES
This extraordinary cave contains the only original polychrome (as opposed to single-colour) paintings still open to the public. About 14,000 years ago,…
17.84 MILES
Hidden in woodland 18km north of Les Eyzies, this tri-level cave is one of the most complex and rewarding to see in the Dordogne. Board an electric train…
0.55 MILES
Part of the park that contains the Tour de Vésone, this sleek museum designed by French architect Jean Nouvel encompasses a 1st-century Roman domus …
22.84 MILES
This narrow, very long cave 1.5km east of Font de Gaume was the first rediscovered in the valley, in 1901, and is renowned for its animal engravings. Look…
0.03 MILES
Périgueux’ most distinctive landmark is most notable for its five creamy Byzantine tower-topped domes (inspired by either St Mark’s Basilica in Venice or…
22.27 MILES
Inside a marvellous modern building alongside the cliffs, this museum provides a fine prehistory primer, with the most comprehensive collection of…
24.69 MILES
While most of the Vézère’s caves contain engravings and paintings, this overhanging cliff-face contains a handful of unusual large carvings in relief,…
Nearby The Dordogne attractions
0.01 MILES
Galerie Daumesnil is a series of linked courtyards within 15th- to 17th-century townhouses.
0.03 MILES
Périgueux’ most distinctive landmark is most notable for its five creamy Byzantine tower-topped domes (inspired by either St Mark’s Basilica in Venice or…
0.07 MILES
North of the cathedral is this fabulous tangle of cobblestone streets lined with medieval houses. The best examples are along rue du Plantier, rue de la…
0.08 MILES
The façade of the 15th-century Maison du Pâtissier is elaborately carved.
0.11 MILES
The best views of Périgueux' Cathédrale St-Front are from this bridge, just to the east.
6. Musée d’Art et d’Archéologie du Périgord
0.14 MILES
The city’s museum displays fine Roman mosaics, prehistoric scrimshaw, medieval stonework from the Cathédrale St-Front, and interesting art (mainly from…
0.2 MILES
Of the 28 towers that formed Puy St-Front’s medieval fortifications, only the 15th-century Tour Mataguerre, a stout, cylindrical bastion, remains.
8. Église St-Étienne de la Cité
0.41 MILES
The Église St-Étienne de la Cité was built in the 11th century on the site of the Roman temple to Mars. Périgueux’ cathedral until 1669, it only has two…