abbynicole27

Looking for a suggestions for somewhere to base in the Dordogne for two nights - 2 adults and two teenagers taking the train from Paris and then renting a car while in the area. Any thoughts? I am familiar with the Bordeaux area but have never been to the Dordogne.

Thank you very much!

PalenQ

Sarlat-la-Canada is the tourist epicenter of what most people think of the Dordogne - the best part IMO

It's also a cool regional town

near it are several perched villages much smaller that would work well if you have a car

Within a few miles of Sarlat are:

Les Eyzies - famous for its caves and cave paintings

Montignac - venue of the most famous cave painting Lascaux - you can only go down into a reproduction of the real cave and paintings i believe

and several neat old villages along the Dordogne River like Beynac, Roque-Gageac and Domme - all are very famous and super mobbed in July and August

I'd rent a car at Libourne, a stop of TGV line from Paris and then drive along the Dordogne river to Sarlat - en route you could visit Saint-Emilion one of the finest wine towns i've seen - old town sitting in a swirl of vineyards and wine houses producing fabled Bordeaux vintages.

If can't rent a car at Libourne, Bordeaux would be OK but could be a drag to drive out of.

abbynicole27

Thank you, that helps a lot =)

StCirq

What time of year are you planning to visit? If it's high season, I wouldn't stay in Sarlat - traffic is a mess, especially if you end up there on one of the market days (Wednesday and Saturday).

And you can get a lot closer to the Dordogne by train than Libourne (though if you want to visit St-Emilion, that's a good choice). You can take the train to Perigueux or Brive-la-Gaillarde, or even Sarlat (though connections are harder for Sarlat).

ekscrunchy

You can rent the car in Brive and drive close to the river to your hotel/lodging near Sarlat.

abbynicole27

The nights will be July 1st and 2nd.

abbynicole27

Is Sarlat going to be a bad idea in July, being high season? What about Bergerac - is that a good place to stay?

Thank you!

StuDudley

Nope - that's too far west. You want to be as near Sarlat as possible - le Bugue, Roque Gageac, Beynac, Domme, Carlux, St Cyprien, etc.

Stu Dudley

ekscrunchy

And you can visit the famous Sarlat market on the 2nd.

StCirq

Definitely not Bergerac. Or Périgueux. Stu has given you a good selection of towns, though frankly, traffic is nasty in Domme, Beynac, and La Roque-Gageac in July. In Domme, you have to squeeze into and out of town through narrow gates and traffic backs up. The other two sit right on the river, with a narrow two-lane road between the town and the riverbank. You have to snake your way along that road to get anywhere.

Better choices are Le Bugue, St-Cyprien, Vitrac, Carlux, Montignac, Ste-Alvère, Campagne, Tamniès, Le Buisson...any of the villages not right on the Dordogne within a 20-mile or so radius of Sarlat.