A guide to the Dordogne market town of Lalinde

On the right bank of the Dordogne river in Périgord Pourpre, you’ll find Lalinde, a little village of around 3,000 people, named after the Occitan ‘La Linda’, meaning ‘the limit’. This picturesque village in the south of the Dordogne department is situated on the old trading route that linked the towns of Bergerac and Sarlat-la-Canéda. 

Lalinde has been identified as Diolindum on the Tabula Peutingeriana, a 13th-century parchment map of the road network of the Roman Empire. In 1267, Henry III built a bastide here which became the first ever English-governed bastide in the Périgord. Lalinde was awarded the Croix de Guerre 1939-1945 in 1948, and during the war many of Lalinde’s men died in the Mouleydier massacre. Sadly, Lalinde is also known as being the site of the worst accident in the history of the Tour de France when in 1964 nine spectators were killed when a tanker lorry crashed into the crowd. 

Every Thursday morning for the past 700 years, a market has linked the village square to the town hall, showcasing the best of the local produce. The Purple Périgord is known for its wine grapes (hence its name) as it is the second-largest wine region in Nouvelle-Aquitaine after Bordeaux. Foie gras and walnuts are local delicacies that you might be lucky to spot at the famed Thursday market. 

A 15th-century cloister which once formed part of a Cistercian abbey has decorative stone arches and Gothic vaults in nearby Cadouin. Further along the river you can enjoy a panoramic view of the meandering Dordogne from the Cingle de Tremolat, while in the opposite direction, the popular town of Bergerac is only 30 minutes west and is popular with tourists. For a fun family day out, Aquarium du Périgord Noir is highly rated, as is the Musée Napoléon. 

The average house price in Lalinde is €1,409/m² which is similar to the departmental average of Dordogne which is €1,400/m²