Dordogne
 

I and my wife will be spending a week in the Dordogne in April. I am basing myself in in Domme for the last three nights. As we want to visit the sights in eastern Dordogne, I would like suggestions where a good location might be to accomplish that including a recommended hotel.

Thanks to all.

Do you have my 20 page itinerary for the Dodogne? My wife & I have vacationed for 10 weeks in that region & the itinerary describes our favorite villages, scenic drives, canoe trips, restaurants, sites, castles, etc. If you would like a copy, e-mail me at [email protected] & I'll attach one to the reply e-mail.

I've sent my various itineraries to over 5,000 people on Fodors.

Stu Dudley

What part of the eastern Dordogne? I would just stay put in Domme for a week and visit the sights from there. You won't run out of possibilities even if you stayed put there a month or more.

HUGGY

Get Stu's Dordogne report. It's full of detailed information. Both Stu and StCirq helped me plenty with my planning for the trip we did to the Dordogne about 3 years ago.

We combined Dordogne with Bordeaux. Here is the URL of the web page about that trip. Maybe it can help you in your planning.

http://www.travel.stv77.com/bordeaux/bordeaux.htm

I stayed in Hotel Esplanade in Domme. We stayed in one room in the hotel that has a balcony that overlooks the entire valley! The restaurant Espanade is incredible as well.

Stu (and others):

Stu, I do have your report and it has helped me to plan my week. You recommended staying east near St. Cere and then move west near Sarlat where I have booked Hotel Esplanade. It has been a tremendous help as was your information in your posts, StCirq.

However, I was attempting to center in to a location and hotel in the eastern part of the area as I am driving from Geneva. I can always retrace from Domme.

Thanks to all. I wish I had a month but can always go back.

Thanks to all.

Domme is pretty much the eastern part of the Dordogne when one considers that Périgueux is well centered on the departmental map. You may be thinking of seeing places like Collonges-la-rouge, Turenne, Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne, etc., none of which are in the Dordogne department.

Stay in St Cere or Rocamadour to visit the stuff east of the A20 and north near Collonges. Most of the main sites are around Sarlat, however.

Stu Dudley

Domme IS in the east, as far as I'm concerned. You can easily put together a long day trip from there to Martel, Collonges-la-Rouge, Gouffre de Padirac, and Rocamadour if you plan well. And, as Michael points out, some of those aren't even IN the Dordogne. By far the most interesting stuff, though, is just south, north, and west of Domme. I wouldn't split up a week in two locations, especially in April when traffic will be relatively light.

If you view Michelin map 329, Correze, Dordogne; Perigueux is west, Sarlat is center, and Mauriac is east. Having never visited that part of France, I obviously am not an authority and must rely on the advice of others.

However, I may have to stray outside those given borders to visit Rocamadour and other sites. I hope my auto is not confiscated by doing so.

I am still looking for a hotel recommendation east of Domme. The Esplanade sounds wonderful and I may forgo this search and stay there for the week. Any hotel recommendations for Rocamadour?

Thanks to all for your assistance. Stu and StCirq, your advice is most helpful.

Just got a tour brochure that says the Jardins d'Eyrignac "are what many consider the finest gardens in all of France'!\\I don't know never been there and never even heard of it but you may want to check it out if into gardens - designated a national monumnet of the French government it says. I wonder what our Dordogne experts - yes real experts IME St Cirq and Stu think about that - hyperbole or right on?

I think it's hyperbole. I think that Marqueyssac is more interesting, partly because of its location.

Domaine de la Rhue is an excellent B&B/hotel near Rocaamadour. When we stayed in St Cere we stayed at a cheapie hotel, but dined at the hotel Les Trois Soleils de Montal which has a Michelin 1 star restaurant.

Both Jardins d'Eyrignac and Marquessac are excellent gardens/places - but quite different, IMO.

Stu Dudley

Huggy

I made some additions to my Dordogne itinery in July of 2013. If I sent you my "old" itinerary, ask for a new one. Dates of revision are at the bottom of the itinerary.

Stu Dudley

I agree that the Domaine de la Rhue is an exceptional place. I would never consider staying right in Rocamadour. But as I said, it's perfectly possible to spend a day visiting Rocamadour and other nearby sites from Domme. I'm 25 kms west of Domme and I have done it many times. I'm always glad to get back to the heart of the Périgord after those trips, too. Just so much prettier IMO.

I agree with Michael about the gardens. I even like the Jardins de l'Imaginaire in Terrasson better than Eyrignac.

Huggy - you have three excellent very experienced Dordogne folks here who certainly know just about everything about that fabled place - take their words seriously.

Rocamadour is not in the Dordogne BTW but just across the border - I think it is one of the greatest places in France I have been too but it does have its tacky side as well, especially at ground level and up top with the Forest of the Signes (sp?) or monkey forest, etc which kids may love but purists abhor - yes it is that kind of place, being called the 2nd most visited place in France outside Paris behind Mont Saint-Michel! You'll still see folks climbing those long series of stairs in prayer to the local relic - the Black Madonna if I recall right in the main chapel hewn out of the rocky cliff.

StCirq, I'm curious to know why you think the area in the heart of the Périgord is more beautiful than the Lot River areas near Rocamadour. I obviously haven't been there yet, but when I look at landscape photos of towns like Carennac, Autoire and Loubressac I think they look pretty ideal places.

Those three are pretty ideal places, Blaise, but go look at pictures of St-Géniès, St-Léon-sur-Vézère, La Roque-Gageac, Limeuil, bastide towns like Monpazier, le fôret Barade...there is just endless variety. Deep gorges, beautiful rivers, dense forests, alluvial planes, castles around every bend, romanesque chapels, walnut and fruit groves, pristine villages, and the same warm ochre-hued stone everywhere. In the Lot you can find charming villages, sure, but in the Périgord it's almost impossible to find anything else.

Of course it's all subjective as to what appeals to your particular eye.

StCirq, yes I have looked at pictures of those other towns you mentioned and they all look great. Your comments are definitely interesting though and something I will need to look into further before I am finally able to visit your region!

I was glad to move around a bit while in this area, but then I HATE backtracking and am perfectly willing to relocate if it means moving forward and facilitates seeing/doing what I want to see/do. I understand that my view is uncommon among Fodorites, but I'm a solo traveler and that makes a huge difference. So, FWIW, I spent two nights in Sarlat, two nights in Domme, one night in Rocamadour, and one night in St-Cirq Lapopie.

It's a lovely area. Enjoy!

KJA:

Any recommendations regarding lodging?

Again, thanks to all, I value your input.

H

You can see my reviews on trip advisor under KJA3. To place my choices and remarks in context: I traveled solo and sought what I considered to be affordable accommodations with particular attention to location, somewhat less attention to comfort, and basically no attention to "extras." Please note that my trip to the Dordogne was in 2011, so anything I wrote about these places could be seriously out of date. My one really big lodging splurge of my 26-day trip through western France was in Domme, and I thought l"Esplanade well worthy of it!. Here are the places I stayed:

Sarlat: Hotel Montaigne
Domme: Hotel l'Esplanade
Rocamadour: Le Terminus des Pelerins
St-Cirq-Lapopia: Auberge du Sombral.

Hope that helps!

My wife and I stayed in Beynac and thoroughly enjoyed the breadth of the Dordogne. We had an excellent experience with Les Petit Versailles, a bed and breakfast run by a French couple. We would never again stay in a hotel if we can help it.

BTW, I enjoyed dinners at:

Sarlat -- Le Grand Bleu (outstanding!)
Sarlat - Rossigno (VERY good!)
Domme - L'Esplanade (excellent!)
Domme - Cabanoix & Chataigne (excellent!)
Rocamadour -- Jehan de Valon, Beau Site (quite good)
St-Cirq-Lapopia -- Le Goremet Quercynois (good, but the least satisfying, for me, of these 6)

I'm sure it depends on what you order. And again, things could well have changed since I was there!

kja, Domme and Sarlat are 10 minutes apart. I understand your basic reasoning for moving forward, but moving to someplace 10 minutes down the road does not make sense to me at all.

I visited Domme and Beynac as day trips from Sarlat - a nice nice town - a big town with lots of amenities, etc - Domme and Beynac during August days were completely overrun with tourists - the thing I remember most about Domme was the ice cream signs in front of shops - nice towns with intriguing histories and street layouts but I was glad to be based in a more real town like Sarlat.

If it's April the week before or after Easter it is a very crowded time in south of France - not sure about Dordogne but could well be - I'll let the real experts who live there and or travel there a lot be a better indicator of that.

@StCirq -- I wanted to stay at L'Esplanade, but couldn't afford 4 nights there.

Oh, I totally understand that, kja!

It's not crowded at all in the Dordogne around Easter. Many shops and restaurants close up between mid-October and the Tuesday after Easter, so things are really just starting to come to life again at that time. It's a wonderful time of year to be there, and it doesn't start to get crowded at all until the mid to end of June.

I and my wife will be spending a week in the Dordogne in April. I am basing myself in in Domme for the last three nights>>

lol - where's your wife going to be while you're in Domme?

Oh how I have missed Benny Hill.

Without reading every post in detail but scanning how the heck does Benny Hill figure in the Dordogne - or did he die here being eaten by the piranah famously seen in recent years in the Dordogne River?

I think you missed annhig's joke, Pal.

Or as Henny Youngman would say "Take my wife...please."

I see no problem stopping in Rocamadour for one night at the Domaine de la Rhue when driving from Geneva.I have stayed there twice and liked it very much.
I have also stayed at the Esplanade in Domme but would not stay there for a week. Evening strolls in Domme would get old after a couple of days. I prefer the larger town of Sarlat. We stayed at the La Villa des Consuls last year and I can recommend it, location, location, location. We had a room overlooking the Saturday market on the main street.

www.villaconsuls.fr

I think you missed annhig's joke, Pal.>

Well yes I guess, as usual a bit slow on the ole uptake, but I was talking about Huggy's remark - not thinking to relate it to Fraulein annhihg's!

Sorry Pal. It is difficult to be clever all of the time so that everyone understands. I appreciate annhig's comment. Sometime the responses here get a bit testy. Any lightheartedness,IMO, is always welcome. And I really hope my wife makes the decision to stay with me.

And I really hope my wife makes the decision to stay with me.<

said in a light-hearted vein I presume! and yes reading annhig's comment now make syour nice retort perfectly clear 0nward thru the Fog as they used to say on the Power Hitters sold at Oat Willies Department Store in Austin, TX!

I've been to the area twice, staying in Sarlat the first time and Carennac the second. On the second trip, my fellow travelers had not been to the Dordogne so we made several day trips. They quickly tired of the back and forth, and refused to go back again. So, it just depends on how much back tracking you are willing to do. I agree with the idea of two separate hotels, one in Domme and one in the Lot. Personally, I found the towns in the Lot to be more appealing, much less commercial. I could much more easily feel the medieval spirit in those places. And, yes, Loubressac is lovely, with gorgeous views. Aurore is the only.town that failed to charm. I loved d'Erygnac, by the way.

The delights of auto correct - that should have been Autoire.

Too late for the OP I realize but FWIW...I literally gasped when I opened the gate at Relais Ste Anne in Martel, and saw the grounds, chapel, school building/dining room and two lodging buildings. My meal of Limousin beef with a warm mushroom-infused cream amuse, remains a mouth-watering memory years later.

Full disclosure, I am a Plantagenet geek and chose Martel for its association with the death of Richard the Lion Heart's brother, "the young King," his father spurning as trickery his son's deathbed pleas for reconciliation. Their mother Eleanor of Aquitaine is my person heroine, and I might have loved the town a little even before I got there. I'd loved Sarlat but found the scale of Martel to be more personal and plausible. Known for its seven towers, my April visit found the town decked in lilacs, forsythia, apple blossoms and the first wisteria. My Southern California heart sang.

Before Martel, I based in Brive-le-Gaillard and, with no car, arranged lodging and tour-driving at Logis Penitent Blancs. Carennac was likewise a virtual flower show and a lovely riverside day visit, combined with a trip to the chateau where the Mona Lisa was hidden during WWII, and coffee/strawberries at Beaulieu-sur-Dorgone. A second day found us lunching in Collonges-la-Rouge, admiring Coco Channel's graphic inspiration in Aubazine, experiencing the pearlescent mists of Turenne and the stones of Uzerche. If you are a photographer, Girard will assure the best vantages or find a random 12th century church on a hillside. So many Ville Fleuri and Les Plus Beaux VIllages in this area, and at least in April, a chance to enjoy them in peace.

Hard to leave but my next adventure was the most fantastic place I've ever been in--a restored troglo gite along the Loire in Anjou, very near Saumur, in Dampierre. Ah, France!

Solo female traveler, 60 y.o.