A night's stop between Sarlat and Amboise.
 

Thank you so much Stu Dudley for your wonderful input for our French adventure itinerary.... we are slowing down the pace however and would like to break up the trip between Sarlat and Amboise. Interested in visiting the Chateau Villandry if we make it, and then stop somewhere nearby. Would love a recommendation of a stop in between these 2 towns, preferably a hotel or gite with restaurant? Any suggestions.... Also, moving on to Normandy/Brittany, should we stay Dinan or St Malo? Any accommodation suggestions for either as well as Honfleur? We will need parking and 2 bedrooms... thank you so much great people!! Lynne

I'm not sure I understand your question, but if you are looking for a stop between Sarlat-la-Caneda and Amboise, then you might consider a stop in Poitiers. It would add to your overall travel time by about an hour, but the Romanesque Église Notre-Dame-la-Grande is, IMO, spectacular.

If you mean that you want a stop close to the Chateau Villandry, perhaps the hotel at the Abbaye Royale de Fontevraud?
http://www.fontevraud.fr/en/Sleeping...evraud/L-hotel

BTW, I believe the gardens of Villandry are open later than many places, so unless the chateau itself is of great interest to you, visiting it can be a bit easier than visiting some of the others.

I was a bit disappointed in St. Malo -- a bit too clearly a reconstruction for me. JMO. In contrast, I adored Dinan.

For Honfleur, I'm happy to recommend La Cour Ste Catherine. You can arrange parking there, but I don't know if you can book two bedrooms....
http://www.coursaintecatherine.com/b...fleur-normandy

Hope that helps!

Poitiers is one of the most underrated cities in France that we've visited. Very interesting. Pick up a walking itinerary at the TI and follow the 3 "themed" walks. We stayed at the nearby Chateau de Curzay www.chateau-curzay.com and visited many sites in the region. We were there for 3 nights.

Along with Poitiers, Parthenay was probably the most interesting place we visited.

Agree with kja - we prefer Dinan over St Malo.

Stu Dudley

Thank you so much kja and Stu Dudley!! Perfect, now I can keep on planning....

I was also thinking of Poitiers - the route from Sarlat to Amboise via Poitiers is a bit longer than the one via Chatelroux but IME a lot more interesting.

if you have children in tow you might also think about dropping into Futuroscope or, further to the north-west, Le Puy de Fou.