Eric

In planning our trip, we are picking and choosing. Will be visting Sarlat area, but could detour over to Rocadamour and spend one less day in Domme/Les Eyzies area. Is that town/caves worth the 1 1/2 taken out. Also, could spend an extra two days in dordogne or head up to Loire. I know its a matter of preference, but others' perspective is welcome.

StCirq

Hard to say without knowing how many days you have in total. There is more than enough in the immediate Sarlat area to keep a person fully occupied for at least a week. On the other hand, Rocamadour is a great attraction for many people - its geographical setting is stunning and its religious significance considerable. The Gouffre de Padirac is just plain fun - you'll never see a bigger hole in the ground, and the underground boat ride is delightful (wear non-slip shoes and a raincoat).

Sara

I have been to all of those places, and I thought they all had neat things about them. I liked Rocamadour and Gouffre de Padirac more, like St. Cirq mentioned the hole in the ground and underground boat ride is cool. We stayed in Le Bugue and they only down part was the long, winding car trip--but that was due to my motion sickness prone stomach. You can't really avoid that anyways in that area! <BR><BR>Anyways, I also enjoyed Domme, it has a really beautiful view of the Dordogne and some shops that kept us busy the better part of the afternoon. JMO, both areas are good day trips.

chris

Just returned from our week trip to the Perigord Noir. We did the day trip to Rocamadour and Padriac and everyone in our group (3 couples) thought it was fantastic, especially the cave. Our gite was about 3 miles south of Sarlat and the drive was only 1.5 hours, so you really don't need to stay in Lot to enjoy the area.

Richard

My wife and I recently spent several weeks in the area you will soon visit. You will have a great time as there is much to see and do along the Dordogne. Rocadamour is a spectacular vertical city and pilrimage site; worth a day trip from Les Eyzies. As for the cave of Padirac, they are wonderful but crowded . As we rode in the floatilla of tourist boats along the cave's river, we kept humming the "Yo Ho, Yo Ho" tune from the "Pirates of the Caribean" ride at Disneyland. Note that the tours are all in French...English tours are not offered.<BR> For the best meal you will ever eat, go to the restaurant at the Hotel Centennaire (sp?) in Les Eyzies. Order the "lasceaux"; a fabulous eight-course celebration of French cuisine prepared by a very talanted chef. It sounds like a lot of food, but all the dishes are so skillfully prepard that you do not feel "stuffed"<BR> The Loire valley offers many fine Chateaux....all of them worth visiting. <BR> If you have serveral days, travel SOUTH from the Dordogne to the LOT and CELE river valleys. Along the bank of the Cele river are the fabulous Peche Merle caves: one of the few caves with prehistoric art murals that are still open to the public. The drive along the Cele and Lot river loop between Figeac and Saint Cirq Lapopie is stunningly beautiful....and far less known or touristed than the Dordonge river valley. A lovely hotel to stay in in the Chateau Vigior du Roy in Figeac....a converted royal governors chateau wihtin the old medieval district. Madam Anne Secour, the lovely woman who manages the hotel, is very helpful. Also, behind the hotel is a hidden restaurnt of the same name that is a jewel of regional cuisine. (seems I like to eat.....I'm a foodie)<BR> Have fun.....wish I was going. <BR>Bon Chance! -Richard

Eric

topping

clairobscur

Rocamadour is definitely worth a visit (my main beef with this place is that it's overrun with tourists and with crap-sellers shops...I know it's the common fate of any touristic places, but there are sites where it's definitely more obvious than others). The site is striking.<BR><BR>However, there are plenty of extremely beautiful things to see in the Dordogne area, so, it's difficult to give a sound advice. I would however note, that though it's a very pleasant place to visit, Dome isn't necessarily worth an extended stay (but once again, it could be a convenient base to visit plenty of other sites if you have a car).<BR><BR>Choosing between some more days in Dodogne and a visit in the Loire valley is difficult too. Dordogne and Lot are much more beautiful than the Loire Valley. But the Loire Valley *castles* are definitely a must-see. Also, the comparison between the Renaissance architecture in the Loire Valley and the middle-ages architecture in Dordogne is interesting.<BR><BR><BR>Upon reflection, my advice would be :<BR><BR>-If you intend to come back to this french region at some point in the future, stick to the Dordogne, and visit the Lot during another trip.<BR><BR>-If you intend to come back to France, but not particulary to this west-southern France, visit both Rocamadour area and Sarlat area. Forget about the Loire Valley this time.<BR><BR>-If you don't think you'll come back to France anytime soon, forget about Rocamadour and visit both Dordogne and the Loire Valley castles.

barb

I vote for going to Rocamadour and the Gouffre de Padirac. The Gouffre de Padirac is quite memorable (I don't remember it being overly crowded when I visited). I agree that the Rocomadour trinket sellers are particularly tacky stands, but the castle at the top is impressive(you could only visit the outside of it when I was there) and the views are pretty awesome. I just loved that region and would return in a heartbeat.

gb

Chris -what was the name of the gite? Did you like it? And what was the coat?

Kerouac

Rocamadour is excellent but overrun by tourists in season. So go out of season. The gouffre de Padirac is never overrun and definitely worth the visit!

chris

gb, we booked directly through the Sarlat Tourit Office. We were late booking (indecisive travel companions) and didn't get our first choices. <BR><BR>We stayed at La Faye Basse, we loved the convenient location to the area sites, lovely garden setting, comfortable, very spacious (3 bedrooms, 2 wc, one bath), nicely appointed, not luxury though. Unfortunately it was quite damp the week we were there and the gite was also quite damp (one of our party is allergic to mold and was suffering)-I guess this comes with stone houses and we were only paying 460 euros for the week.<BR><BR>The booking process went very well and I would not hesitate to rent through the TI again, though earlier next time for an August stay. <BR><BR>You can browse through the listings at <BR>http://www.ot-sarlat-perigord.fr/index2.html. click on "reservation" then "voir toutes les locations" (the first 2 numbers of the listings indicate the max. number of occupants)<BR><BR>you can email the TI for a catalog along with the price list and current availibilites.

gb

Thanks Chris