Limoges is not easy to navigate if one is not familiar with French roads and signs. But the car rental agency might be able to help in getting out of town.

It takes 2+ hours to get from Oradour to Sarlat according to Google. I do not see a visit to Oradour on the way to the Dordogne as desirable if arriving in Limoges at 3 p.m. It will betake an hour or more before you reach Oradour a couple of hours to visit the site, and then a drive to Sarlat which, according to Google, involves going through Limoges again.

Oradour is definitely worth a visit if you are in that area, as you are making plans to be. It would seem, that while not "on the way", a detour to see it would not be that great a sacrifice.
In downtown Limoges there are some interesting china outlets also.
There is a nice indoor market in Limoges that has a lunch spot in addition to the usual produce, cheese and meat.
We were with a tour group when there, but I was not overly impressed that it was a large hard to navigate city.

Thanks for your replies. We would not consider heading on to Sarlat on Sunday. That's why I asked for accommodations near Oradour. Viamichelin says it is only 30 minutes from Limoges to Oradour. Is that optimistic?

I don't think that's going to work all that well, unless you stay in Oradour or thereabouts for the night. Limoges is one of those cities with a bunch of grungy industrial-sone type activity on the outskirts, and it's not that easy to navigate in and out of the city. It will take you about an hour at that time of day to get to Oradour, is my guess, even though it's not that far away, and I don't know how long Oradour is open (in terms of the museum, etc. - I believe you can walk around the town part any time), but you'll want 2-3 hours to see it. After that, having arrived that day, you'll probably be too tired to continue on to Sarlat. There's at least one hotel in Oradour, though I've never stayed there. I'd plan to overnight there and move on to Sarlat the next day. It's not true that you have to go back through Limoges to get to Sarlat. Just take the D roads (don't have my map here, but I know it's possible - done it).

Well, there are always the motel chains surrounding Limoges, so I'm sure you could easily stay in one of them (www.accorhotels.com or www.louvrehotels.fr would by two of the principal sites to check for that).

For hotels and restaurants, there is always the old stand-by: http://www.viamichelin.fr/

We would leave Limoges immediately to head to Oradour and would spend the night there. The site is open until 6 pm, but we could go back the next morning if we wanted to explore further.

StCirq--you say it would take us an hour to get to Oradour at that time of day. Would that be true on a Sunday?

The viamichelin site says it is just 23 kilometers and 30 minutes.

Digby, it might take you less time, as there would be little traffic, but I'd count on getting lost at least once. Mappy says it's 23 kms: http://fr.mappy.com/#d[]=Limoges,+87000,+87280,+87100,+Limousin,+France&d[]=Oradour-sur-Glane,+87520,+Limousin,+France&endPos[y]=45.930342&endPos[x]=1.033923&ipo=1&lm=r&p=itinerary), but I'd allow an hour, especially if that includes picking up a car (are you sure you can do that at that time on a Sunday?), filling out the paperwork, familiarizing yourself with the car, etc.

St.Cirq--that's a good point about whether the rental car co. would be open on Sunday afternoon. I hadn't thought of that.

Assuming we can get a car, does a GPS work fairly well in a city? I have heard of lots of problems in the countryside.

Guess it's back to the itinerary drawing board. Just checked, and the car rental at the Limoges train station is closed on Sundays.

Digby, you might check Sunday pickups in Angoulème, which isn't too far away (though it's unusual to find a Sunday pickup anywhere). There's a bus that goes from Limoges-Bénedictine to Oradour, but, alas, it doesn't run on Sundays. You could spend the night in Limoges (there are worse fates) and move on the next day.

Hey digby, We are taking the train from Paris to Limoges in September, where we will pick up a car, go to Oradour-sur-Glane and then drive to Sarlat. Our train arrives before 10 a.m. I'll give you all the detail when I return.

StCirq--thanks for coming up with alternatives. Unfortunately, Angouleme is closed on Sundays also. Not sure I want to spend the night in Limoges, but I'll look into it. We may just spend the night in Paris on Sunday and then head to the Dordogne.

Maitaitom--I love your trip reports! I'll look forward to reading about your adventures.

Digby, here's another alternative I just thought of, though I've never tried it in France, only in Italy. Twice I've rented a car in Chiusi on a Sunday in Italy, arriving by train. Both rentals were through AutoEurope; one ended up being with Hertz, and another with EuropCar. Both times, for a 25 euro surcharge, AutoEurope arranged for someone to come to the Chiusi office on a Sunday to open up and get my car for me. Don't know what company you're renting from, but it's worth a try. Although I was apprehensive, it worked both times for me. AutoEurope gave me a cellphone contact for the guy who would be coming to open the office for me both times.

Just a thought.

I've visited there twice and what annoyed me is that there were new broken dishes thrown in with the real remains of that horrible destroying of that village

We spent about 5 days in Limoges with a Sister Cities trip. What is so bad about it. We opted for a hotel rather than a home stay. The hotel was in town--we walked to restaurants and bars and the street festival we were attending. You'd think it was a trash town!!

It is a fine town but completely dead on Sunday's as almost everything is closed...

I believe that the porcelain museum is a national museum, which would mean that it is closed on Tuesday and open on Sunday.

StCirq--Once again, thanks for thinking through this for me. I will contact AutoEurope by phone. I have just been checking their website.

Cigale--it is very sad that people wouldn't respect such a somber memorial.

Gretchen--I'm sure there are fine parts of Limoges, but when I am jet lagged, I would prefer to get out into the countryside, instead of being in a hectic city.

Michael--I will be traveling with my husband and 15 year old son. Don't think the porcelain museum is in the cards.

You could check to see of the Compagnons de France showcase is open; it's just below the botanical garden next to the cathedral.

We drove out of Limoges and didn't get lost. It's not difficult to navigate from there to Oradour-sur-Glane. We spent the night in Oradour (the new village, one of the funky little hotels there) and visited the martyred village and museum in the morning. Then we drove to Sarlat, stopping at Chateau Hautefort on the way down. No problems.

Just realized we can rent a car at the airport in Limoges. I am assuming it will be easy to get a taxi from the train station to the airport on a Sunday? And it looks like the airport is on the way to Oradour!

Leely--thanks for the information!