Les Jardins de Cadiot Gardens, Carlux

A wild & creative county garden in the heart of the Dordogne

featured in Sights & sites

Created in the 1980s this garden is an expression of personal inspiration and shows a strong link between artistic and landscaped garden design.

With stunning collections such as peonies, old roses, grasses, hydrangeas, salvia, daylilies, agapanthus, etc, you will find most plants are in bloom between May to October. Preserving biodiversity is an important issue, so the plants are grown without chemicals and are chosen for their ability attract pollinating insects.

The area is made up of ten distinct garden spaces - The Vegetable Garden, Orchard Cloister, The Pivoineraie, The Labyrinth, The Wild Rose Garden, The Garden of Poetry, The English garden, The Wild Garden, The Tuscan Garden and La Chambre du Sphinx.

You can sample some homemade pastries and other items made from produce grown in the garden in the Tea Room.

Worth knowing

There is a tea room (Salon de The) onsite. It is open every day except Saturdays from May until mid-September.

Watch out for

Due to the uneven surface and hillside position, a walk around this garden is not suitable for those with reduced mobility.

Visitor comments

"This is less of a strictly formal garden, more of a plant lovers paradise. Along with a clear plan of the gardens, the receptionist (friendly, English-speaking when we visited) also gives you a guide book to the plant species in the garden that you can use to identify any plant of interest during your visit (you hand it back afterwards). We visited on a Tuesday at the end of August and we only met a handful of other visitors while we were there. A highlight is the salon de tea where they serve a delicious hot lunch using vegetables grown in the gardens in a shady, secluded patio with the sound of running water in the background. Idyllic." - Trip Advisor
"This is truly a botanical wonderland ! Flowers, bushes, and trees of every imaginable variety. You are also given a guide book to use while exploring the gardens which shows all of the plants and gives you information about their genre. I highly recommend a visit while you are in the Dordogne. The walk takes about an hour. About 50% of the property is on a hillside so it is not suitable for handicapped visitors." - Trip Advisor
"We were looking for a garden to visit to break a long journey south down the autoroute A20. Jardins de Cadiot was the perfect rest break. We started at the tea rooms, actually, a peaceful terrace amongst old stone walls, with fresh-baked scones and a choice of high-quality Then strolled through the delightful and varied gardens in sun and shade on a wooded hillside. Don't be put off by the narrow roads and lack of signs on the approach - Google Maps will get you there!" - Trip Advisor