Dordogne
 

We will be coming from Bordeaux and will have about ten days with a car in the Dordogne region - as part of a longer road trip. We prefer to stay in one location for up to five days, using it as a base from which to explore. I have found a great rental in Sarlat - walking distance to the old town and free parking.

What might be another place to use as a base for the remainder of our stay?

We are a well-traveled couple in our early 70s, enjoy walking, historical sites, good food/wine, and scenic drives on back roads. Not into shopping or lots of museums. We will be heading southwest through Spain as we leave France after this stay.

When we visited the Dordogne in 2015, we had 6 nights in total. We spent 4 nights in Sarlat (a great choice) and 2 nights in Brantome, which is not talked about too much on this forum. I don't know if there is enough that interests you to spend 5 nights in Brantome, but we really enjoyed our stay here. It is much quieter than Sarlat (this was in May), and just so peaceful. Brantome is a pretty town with the Dronne River running through it. There is an abbey that we toured. It has lots of nice restaurants. We stayed in the Hotel Restaurant Charbonnel and had a quadruple room that had 2 large bedrooms. Our room overlooked the Dronne River.

We spent a day leisurely driving along the Dronne River to explore villages, such as Bourdeilles, Creyssac, Lisle, Montagrier and Lusignac, to name a view. This countryside is gorgeous and very idyllic.
About an hour's drive from Brantome is the Chateau de Hautefort, which we liked a lot, too.

If you haven't already, I recommend purchasing a guidebook or two to help you decide what would be a good second base. Hopefully, Stu Dudley from this forum will respond. He sends people his very detailed itineraries of Dordogne and other regions in France.

I think Cahors and Figeac are popular, too, but we didn't go there.

If you would like my itinerary, e-mail me at my Fodors name at AOL.

Stay in Sarlat, Beynac, or Roque Gageac.

Stu Dudley

The most touristy part of the Dordogne is the Périgord noir. But to the north there is the Périgord vert which has places worth a visit. Perhaps a stay in Brantôme could be used as a second base to visit that area.

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Michael, I love your photos! Brantome was our second base for Dordogne, along with Sarlat. Your photos bring back wonderful memories. That's what I liked so much about the area - not as touristy and crowded as Perigord Noir.

As far as I can tell, the link to Stu’s excellent itinerary is still live on this post:

https://www.fodors.com/community/eur...erary-1708519/

For a second base after the Sarlat area, he has a number of recommendations east of the A20 motorway.

Have not been to Dordogne yet, nor have I definitively chosen our second base in June after St Julien de Lampon, but knowing that we want to head south afterwards, and having read the Rough Guide to Dordogne and the Lot, am leaning towards finding a place that would be convenient for the valley of the Célé, Figeac, Pech Merle cave and the Lot around St Cirq Lapopie. After that it’s probably the Cathar castles.

It does depend on where you plan to visit while based in Sarlat. Brantome is a good suggestion. We visited on a day trip from our base in Tourtoirac, near Hautefort, and as already mentioned, the country is lovely and it is quieter than the Sarlat region. From our base there we also went across to the top of the Correze to Uzerche. In 2014, our third stay in the Dordogne, we stayed about 12kms south of Sarlat. We did not go to any caves which most first time visitors do. This year we will be spending a week in Biron which will allow us to go to villages such as Monflanquin, Monpazier, Villereal,and chateaux at Biron and Bonaguil. Our research has shown there are plenty of pretty drives to be had and villages to visit.

There is also a lot to see in the departments around the Dordogne. We have enjoyed stays in the Lot ( 2018 ) and the Lot et Garonne ( 2016 ) as well as a bit further over in the Aveyron, and our day trips into the lower part of the Correze from our 2014 base. So somewhere in one of these areas could be an option.

If you click on my name and go to trip reports, you will find my reports on our trips.

2014 - On the road again - another country roads tour of France.

2016- Country roads in autumn

2018- Our autumn tour of country France

Bon voyage

About 2015, we stayed in a B&B just across the bridge from Figeac. About 500' west of the bridge, if that. The next morning, the host asked where we planned to go, and personally called the Pech Merle people (which on line showed a 2 week wait for reservations) and got us on a 1:00 tour. then he suggested St Cirq, told us a scenic route. If I recall correctly, Pech Merle was about 45 minutes south, and St Cirq 15 min more.

We stayed in Sarlat for 10 days about 5 years ago. We had a condo with free parking about a 10 minute walk to downtown. I would rather spend a little more time driving around than moving. It worked fine for us.

So ... we have decided to stay in Brantome for three nights and then move to Sarlat for six more nights. I've booked Hotel Restaurant Charbonnel in Brantome that Karen Woo recommended (thanks!), and I found an airbnb in Sarlat that has a garden area and a washing machine. Says 600 meters walk to the town center and free parking. Thank you for the information - so many places to visit over the time we will be there - lots of fun researching and planning lie ahead for me.

Before we get to Brantome, we will be taking the train from Paris to Bordeaux, where we will get our car at the end of our stay there (hoping to lease, still researching) - we will have two nights in Bordeaux, anyone have recommendations for a Bordeaux hotel withing walking distance of local attractions?