Endurance Castles and Vineyards in Aquitaine 2022

1,549.00

Level : upper intermediate
Possibility of coming with his horse : No
Accompanied non-riders admitted : Yes

When traveling across New Aquitaine abounding with breathtaking natural landscapes, be ready for a deep cultural and historical immersion. A noteworthy architectural heritage count hundreds of medieval fortresses with carved ramparts and gorgeous castles sheltering exclusive wineries. Fine wines are served here to meet all tastes, yours inclusively.

We’ll bring you to the well-known gems of Perigord: Bonaguil – Biron – Gavaudun, the vineyard of Sauternes, Europe’s biggest forest composed of maritime pines and France’s longest sandy beach located in Les Landes.  

 

Main outlines of the week:

  • 6 days of Discovery: across 5 French departments of Aquitaine: Lot, Dordogne, Lot et Garonne, Gironde, Landes
  • 2 days of Grit: with a daily mileage of 40 to 45 km covered in 6-7 hours approx.
  • Wineries on the road: Domaine de Cause (Cahors) and Chateau Filhot (Sauternes)
  • Europe’s largest Forest composed of maritime pines and longest sandy Coast

In 1152, the marriage of Eleanor and Henry of Plantagenet drags the Aquitaine region into a long-term conflict, known as the Hundred Year’s war. Numerous walled towns and fortified castles were built during this period to meet different strategic, political and economic requirements. Let’s travel back in time on the back of our courageous mounts. We will ride across magnificent valleys in gorges and step in a maze of foot prints left by ancient yokels who used to refuge in a lush forest. 

1st leg:

For 4 days and 3 nights, our base camp will move to the Manor house “Hameau du Peyrié“. Every day, we will ride across one of three neighboring French departments, i.e. Lot – Lot et Garonne – Dordogne, to discover a new landscape, a new castle, a new winery. Every night, we will return to the base camp to enjoy the divine cuisine and fine wines of Périgord, as well as to fodder and water our horses..

2nd leg:

Group transfer to Mimizan.  A half-day ride to Sauternes

3rd leg:

3 nights / 3 days stay with a two-day trek along the Atlantic Coast.

Duration

8 days / 7 nights / 6 days horseback

Daily mileage

Up to 65 km

Age admittance 

16-82 yo

Level Reguired

Upper Intermediate to Advanced 

Monitoring and Safety Rules

Standard safety rules must be followed around horses at any time. Participants can benefit of quality guidance from duly certified monitors/tour guides speaking French, English, German and Russian, specially trained to go along with partakers during many-hour trails and introduce them to the stunning nature of the Atlantic coast of France, Les Landes and Périgord (French professional certification: A.T.E., CQP ASA or BPJEPS Tourisme Équestre).

Group size

4 riders min

Accommodation

4 nights in the 3* “Hameau du Peyrié“ gîte (a luxury manor house with a private pool and a large tennis court)

   
3 nights in the 3*“Centre Equestre Marina“ guest house (a private pool and a lounge zone on-site)

Meals are provided on-site and in local restaurants

Single bedrooms are available with a supplement of 140 € charged (prior booking is a must)

         

Meal

Traditional food is provided during the whole stay

Please mind, that while staying in Périgord, on the first Sunday only, the diner at the restaurant (held at the Bonaguil Castle) is not included.

Participants choose their meal “à la carte”. For the rest of the trek, all meals are included and served by the Center.

While staying in Mimizan, with all meals served by the Centre, wine and soft drinks are an open bar. Taste a new bottle of famous wine from the South-west of France every evening.

A regular menu at any restaurant in Mimizan Plage, besides a traditional meal based on sea food or meat, comprises a quarter of wine

Kindly note:

This trek requires a confirmed upper-intermediate level and a good physical condition. With a projected daily coverage of up to 65 km in 6-7 hours, en route requires frequent changes in gait and speed. Passing across accelerated sections requires keeping a distance of 30 m between each other, on one hand, to give fellow riders room for manoeuvring and, on the other hand, to fully enjoy an undisturbed free ride. From time to time, we will ask you to regroup in pairs or one by one, whether it occurs in the forest, on the plain, in the mountain or on the beach

 

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perigord à cheval châteauxGrit & Wine Trek. Day to day 

Day 1. Sunday

Arrival Day

Group transfer from Bordeaux “International Mérgnac Airport” to Bonaguil

Check-in at the beautiful manor house “Hameau du Peyrié“.

Meeting horses. Chilling by the pool. Medieval dinner at a local restaurant.   

        

Day 2. Monday

Grit Day: the department of Dordogne 

5-6 hours horseback

08h00      Breakfast

8h30        Meeting horses, test rides at different paces

09h00      Start to a ride through a chestnut forest, wonderfully suitable for long canters

                 The main goal is to put your grit to the test, to give you a taste for the long horse trek planned for day 4,

                  but also to explore stone & cobble architecture typical for Périgord along the way

12h00       Lunch at the foot of the Castle of Sauveterre.

15h00       More cantering trough the chestnut forest

                  Visit of the famous Bonaguil Castle, an ingenious masterpiece of military architecture, the last of the greatest fortified castles in France.

                  The castle that has never been besieged is in good condition  

19h00       Chill time by the pool at “Hameau du Peyrié”

20h30       Dinner

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

Day 3. Tuesday

Discovery Day: the department of Lot 

4 hours horseback

08h00      Breakfast

08h30      Group transfer (minibus) to the medieval village of Saint Cirq Lapopie,

                 a historical monument voted the most beautiful village of France behind Rocamadour only

10h30      Visit of the medieval village

12h30      Lunch by the river with our horses grazing around 

13h00      Trek above the Lot River

                 Climbing to the top of the mountain, passing through the forest, coming directly from a Brothers Grimm’s fairy tale

18h00     Back to Bonaguil. Chill time by the pool

                      

Day 4. Wednesday

Grit Day: the department of Lot et Garonne

7 hours horseback. Daily target is 45 km 

07h30     Breakfast

09h00     Visiting the fortified Bastide of St front sur Lémance and Lacapelle Biron.

                Time will fly as the rhythm will often change 

12h30     Lunch at the “Auberge of Castel of Biron “

14h00     Visiting the fine and noble Castle of Biron

15h30     Multiple long-distance gallops. Visiting the Bastide of StAvit, the Castle of Gavaudun

                Riding in depths of the chestnut forest of Cuzorn. Checking the view over the Lot valley from surprise observation points

19h00     Back to the base camp 

20h30     Dinner. Sharing stories and good vibes

               

 

Day 5. Thursday

Discovery Day: the department of Gironde 

“Sauternes” winery. Wine tasting in Château Filhot

 08h00     Breakfast. Getting packed

 10h00     Group transfer to Sauternes (2 hours drive through Lot et Garonne).

                 Welcome to the department of Gironde internationally renowned for

                  its Bordeaux white wines

12h30      Lunch

15h00      2-hour horseback wine cellars tour: Château Ychem – Château Trillon – Château Giraud

17h00      Visit of Château Filhot and wine tasting. 

 

     

 

Day 6. Friday

Grit Day: the department of Landes, StJulien-Bias-Mimizan

6 hours horseback

08h00      Breakfast

09h00      Transfer to the starting point, saddling horses

10h00      Riding through Europe’s largest forest composed of maritime pines, wide views on one of France’s most beautiful beaches 

                  Exciting gallops on the white sand of the New Aquitaine coast, either in the morning or in the evening depending on the tide   

20h30      Dinner  

 

Day 7. Saturday

Discovery Day: the department of Landes, Mimizan Bourg– Areilhan – Mimizan Beach

4,5 hours horseback

08h00      Breakfast

10h00      Riding for fun

Lunch      by the Aureilhan Lake

Evening   sunset on the beach.

20h30      Dinner

                                                                                                                                      

Day 8. Sunday

Time to say good-bye

Group transfer to Bordeaux Mérignac International Airport. A short stop over in Bordeaux is possible depending on the traffic

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GROUP PROMO: 30% reduction for the 6th rider of a group

8 days/ 7 nights/ 6 days horseback, full board, in a shared bedroom 3 to 4 

1549,00 € (low season:  October ), 

1599,00 € (shoulder season: May, June and September)

These prices are given per person in a group of 4 riders minimum. They do not include the first day dinner in the castle of Bonaguil, nor the transfers Bordeaux-Mimizan and back.

The minimum number of participants is 4. Should there be only 3 riders, the trek still can be held with the consent of all the participants. This will imply an additional charge of 200 €/rider 

The number of single-double rooms is limited. We ask you to book such in advance.

A supplement of 210 € will be charged  in a single room and of 70 € in a double double /twin bedroom 

Visits to all the castles en route are included

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Year 2022

In low season October

From  02 to 09 October

 In Average season 

From  08 to 15 of May

From 29 of May to 05 of June

From 18 to 25 of October

 

(For groups of 6 riders and more this trek is available on demand at any time all year long)

 

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Contact

By phone: +335 58 09 34 25 or +336 81 27 15 01

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3 reviews for Endurance Castles and Vineyards in Aquitaine 2022

  1. Lynn

    Thank you for such a fantastic few days last week. It was really fabulous to ride with you again and stay in the beautiful accommodation. It was a really special few days and both myself and Sean had an amazing time.
    Congratulations to you both too, it was lovely to be part of your special moment.

  2. Julie

    We had a lovely time with Michael, he was a very good host and did his best to make sure everything went according to plan. The horses were very fit, and well behaved, and forward going. We had lots of long canters and rode a lot of miles each day, which was good.

    The accommodation was very good, although we had to change rooms at his place as we were put in a large room house with lots of beds and I was expecting to be in a twin room, this was soon corrected when we mentioned it to him and Annette. The food was very good and we ate out in some very nice restaurants. The pic- nics were lovely as well could not fault them.
    The whole experience was very enjoyable, we had a lovely holiday so much so that we are thinking of doing another one of his rides, there several other people on the ride, that had returned for and another holidays, so that says a lot about a holidays.

    Regards
    Julie

  3. Erik

    Evaluation of your trip
    Please consider the following on a scale of 1-5 (5=Excellent; 4=Good; 3=OK; 2=Substandard;1=Poor):

    How was the reception: 5
    How was the instruction: 5
    How was the accomodation: 5
    How was the food: 5
    The standard of the ranch: 5
    The quality of the riding: 5
    Did the tour meet your expectations: 5

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