The Gardens of Marqueyssac

Marqueyssac occupies a long spur above a bend in the Dordogne, and the whole garden is essentially one material: box, planted in tens of thousands and clipped by hand into rounded, overlapping forms that read from a distance as a green cloud poured over the ridge. The layout dates from the nineteenth century and was restored and opened to visitors in the 1990s. Beyond the topiary, shaded walks run several kilometres out along the spur under holm oak, and the belvedere at the end of it looks down on the river with Beynac, Castelnaud, La Roque-Gageac and Fayrac visible in a single turn of the head.

What you actually see

• The clipped box - thousands of plants hand-cut into rounded, wave-like beds.
• The belvedere - a terrace at the point of the spur, high above the Dordogne.
• The castle view - Beynac, Castelnaud and La Roque-Gageac in one sweep of river.
• The shaded walks - kilometres of path along the ridge under holm oak.

When to go

April to October. The box is clipped by hand through the season, so it looks sharpest a few weeks after work on any given section. Thursday evenings in July and August the garden stays open late and is lit by candle, which is the one time the place stops feeling like a daytime attraction. Early morning is quietest.

Honest expectations

It is a garden built on a single idea, and plenty of visitors have had enough within the hour. The ticket is not cheap for what amounts to a walk with a view. Box moth has damaged clipped box across France and patches here can look thin or recently replanted. The belvedere is crowded at midday, and the ridge paths are exposed in real summer heat.

Nearby

Beynac and Castelnaud face each other across the river; Sarlat is twenty minutes north.