driving from paris to dordogne in June

Use the search function for recent trip reports by Taconictraveler and Piccolina. Both covered the Dordogne last year and are full of interesting info. There are other wonderful reports but those 2 are the most fresh in my memory.

Look up frequent contributor Stu Dudley... pop him an email and ask for his great Dordogne document. And search out any Dordogne related posts by StCirq who has lived there on and off for a couple of decades and has forgotten more about the area than most of us will ever know.

Do you really need to jump in three cars and drive there? Why not take the train and pick up the cars when you get there. It's not exactly an exhilarating drive. You can get PREM fares on the TGV from Paris to Libourne or Bordeaux for as little as 19 euro apiece if you plan it right - probably the same on cheap flights to Toulouse or a train to Brive.

And where are you driving from? Paris? Assuming you won't have actually had rental cars in Paris, why pick them up there and start a long, dull haul?

If you absolutely must do this, Chateauroux is about halfway and while it doesn't have much to offer for great lunch spots, it has an interesting castle. And you should definitely stop at Oradour-sur-Glane.

If you do drive please don't try to play " follow the leader with the garmin" on the autoroutes.

Not every car needs a garmin but each does need a full set of directions and directions to where ever you plan to stop for lunch.

Apologies if this has already occurred to you.

And, St Cirq's advice is good.

Have someone in a wheelchair and they need a specific van to drive in dordogne while we are there and they need to get it in paris. But maybe the rest of us can take a train not a bad idea. I will look into it. Any advis about restaurants in dordogne or must sees.

<<Any advis about restaurants in dordogne or must sees.>>

Yes, there are endless threads about must-sees and restaurants here on Fodors. A search will bring up hundreds/thousands.

Are you absolutely sure the van is only available in Paris? There are people in wheelchairs who need to rent vans in Bordeaux, I would imagine.

In addition to the great info you'll get doing some searches here on Fodors I would suggest you need to get a good guidebook or two about the Dordogne so you'll be well informed. I like the Michelin Green Guides but there are loads of others. For info about restaurants get the Michelin Red Guide.

I have to say that I rather agree with StCirq on taking the train south from Paris. If you look at my recent travel report, you will see that we drove south from Paria to our house in the western Dordogne.

However, others in our group of 8 either took the train, or flew to Bordeaux. We drove cuz one of our 4 was arriving at CDG in early morning of the first night of our rental, so we opted for driving together - a six hour drive, which had its challenging moments, but is NOW fun to reminisce about. Maybe next time we'd take the train!

Sounds like a better idea to take a train. How about a train to Bordeaux? Since we wouldn't be going there on this trip it seems like a good place to go for the afternoon. Then a 2 hour drive to our destination. Any other suggestions. The person in the wheelchair is thinking of flying to Bordeaux.

How about limoges. Stopping there.

No, don't do Limoges. Bad idea.

Take the train to Bordeaux or Brive (there's an airport there, and it's closer than Bordeaux to your destination and easier to drive out of) and pick up the person in the wheelchair and your cars.

St Cirq is polite. This is a boring trip, something like driving across Kansas. Who would have known there was that much corn in France?

An alternative might be to take two days for the trip, stopping perhaps in the Loire valley and enjoying a chateau?

The roads from Bordeaux and Brive are no bargain in the scenery part, either, but it makes the miracle of the Dordogne all that much more wonderful.

I assume you have checked out the accessibility of the château you are renting. Does it claim to be accessible? Is the wheelchair-user able to walk a few steps with help?
Perhaps someone can offer some specific advice about what sort of assistance is available for boarding and moving about on the French trains. High steps to board, narrow aisles.

If traveling by train, this website may be invaluable to your wheelchair-using friend: http://help.tgv-europe.com/en/fares/fare-train-people-reduced-mobility

bookmarking

Ok we have decided to fly from paris to bordeaux the flight round trip is only 160.00 Any wineries to stop on our drive from bordeaux to our chateau? It was hard to find an accessible place to rent where at least one bedroom and all the main areas are on the bottom floor, but we did. Its a little bigger than what we need, but the person in the wheelchair is unable to walk so we had to adjust to this.
The location is near Le Buisson-de-Cadouin. Does anyone have any great restaurants to go to, moderate prices.
Thanks for all your help everyone

If you take the D936 (prettiest route), you'll pass right through St-Emilion on your way east. It's a huge wine town. You could also dip a bit south to Monbazillac. But if you're doing an overnight transatlantic flight followed by a flight to Bordeaux, followed by a drive from Bordeaux to Le Buisson, you should probably focus more on finding someplace to get provisions for the château than on wine, which you can do anytime. There's a major supermarket on the road just outside Bergerac.

If you do a search for restaurants Dordogne here, you should get plenty of hits.

Hi, there are heaps of great restaurants within half an hour of your spot. In Cadouin, there's Restaurant de L'Abbaye, directly opposite the amazing abbey; there's La Belle Etoile on the river at La Roque Gageac; there's L'Imparfait in Bergerac; in Limeuil there's Garden-Party and Au Bon Accueil; in Monpazier there's Le Privilege du Perigord. For a special treat, try one-Michelin star L'Etincelles in Ste Sabine Born, or Restaurant Eleanore in Hotel Edward 1er in Monpazier.The charcuteries usually have preapred dishes for you to buy, and the markets are a great source of produce. You definitely won't starve! There is also a huge Carrefour supermarket at Le Buisson which is generally open till 7pm (except Sundays).

I am so following this for our Sept. trip.

This is absolutely the best site for "on the ground" information. I try to give input when I can, and I much appreciate the Fodorites who answer over and over again with great information.

Most of us are staying in paris for a few days before traveling to Dordogne. So many great ideas.
Thanks everyone-

rosemaryoz-started to research where we would be going and those restaurants are great for the places we would be visiting. In Le Buisson do you know of any retaurants? My husband may want to flyfish in the Dordogne any idea of where to get a fishing license. We could get it online but the experience of buying in the country you want to fish is priceless.

You can get a temporary (14 days) "Carte Blanche" fishing license at any tabac for about 30 euro. You can't take home more than 6 fish a day or keep anything under 25 cm long.

Never eaten in Le Buisson, so can't help with that. There are plenty of them around, though.

I'm sorry, but I don't know any in Le Buisson! The Restaurant de L'Abbaye is only a few kms from Le Buisson. Re fishing licences: I also believe you can buy them from local "brico" stores (hardwares)- they certainly usually have the local govt charts showing the dates of fishing & hunting season, and catches permitted etc. Each commune seems to be a bit different, so they're worth checking. Also can be found at your Office de Tourisme.

Since all of you are so wonderfully informed I have another question. We are driving from Bordeaux to our place near Le Buisson. On this part of the trip we may not have our handicapped/wheelchaired relative. We would love to stop at a vineyard. Any ideas? Also a restaurant a long the way? In California many of the vineyards have restaurants, but it seems that in France most vineyards do not have restaurants. Any suggestions for lunch a long the way? Thanks

Hi again - any idea which region of vineyards you want to visit? ie nearer to Bordeaux, like St Emilion, or closer to Bergerac, like the Pecharmant, or Monbazillac, just south of Bergerac?

I think closer to Bordeaux, we don't want to drive way off the road so at the most a half hour off the road to our final destination. Also we love Bordeaux wine.