Dordogne canoeing vacation in France

Planet and people

UK Office

We are well aware of the impact tourism has at home and abroad, and we make every effort to balance the environmental impact of traveling with the immense benefits sustainable tourism can bring to destinations and the people who live there.

So we start in the office: we turn off all electrical equipment every night; we use energy-efficient bulbs; we measure print and paper consumption, and re-cycle wherever possible; we print our brochures on paper from sustainable sources, and send them out in bio-degradable packaging.

Leaders & local suppliers

The quintessentially French Hotel Grangier – run by the affable M Destannes and his family – is set in the heart of the Perigourdine countryside, in the tiny riverside village of St Sozy, and has been key to our canoeing vacation for over 20 years. It has only 12 rooms, but also boasts a lovely pool and gardens. Aside from being the only place to stay and eat in the village, it also houses the village tabac making it the true hub of village life!

Group size

All our canoeing vacations are independent, or self-guided. This means that no minimum numbers are required to ensure that a trip operates. Trips depart every two days throughout the season, meaning customers are not restricted to busy weekend travel or costly high season dates. It also allows us to offer total flexibility over travel options and vacation durations.

Activity

Canoeing has minimal impact on the environment as you provide most of the energy yourself and, when you’re pedalling from one hotel to the next, you really feel as though you have the countryside to yourselves. It’s relaxing, fun and easy to get the hang of. You don’t need any previous experience, just the ability to swim 50m fully clothed, and the flow of the water does much of the work for you!

You’ll canoe every other day, and have the option of hiring a bike for all “rest” days. This allows you the flexibility to explore your surrounds at leisure, without the restrictions of buses, trains or expensive taxis.

We proactively encourages canoeists to think about traveling responsibly too: packing light, saving water, buying locally and re-cycling all maps and route notes at the end of their trip. If you opt to hire a bike for your “rest” days, you may be interested to know that we even re-cycle our old bikes! As part of our on-going maintenance, we often need to replace cycle parts which, although still serviceable, don’t meet our standards for reliability and comfort. So we donate these parts to Colchester-based charity, Re-cycle, who go on to send them to parts of Africa where locals are taught how to ride and look after a bike. This service has proven invaluable over the years for doctors, midwives, etc who sometimes need to quickly get to remote villages.