Dordogne in October - transport and more
 

I am planning to rent a vacation home with friends in the Dordogne in September or October. None of us wants to drive in France. I have several questions:
1. Without a car, what 's the easiest/fastest way to get to the region from Paris? Is it train to some connection point, then hire a car and driver? Are there buses from CDG?
2. Again, without a car, how easy it to get around? I am only looking at properties that are either in or at the edge of a village we could walk to, and i have found several.
3. How easy is it to rent a car and driver for the day for excursions? Do you have to book much in advance or can you decide the day before? And how much would it cost for say, half a day? And for shorter trips, like to a local restaurant, are there taxis?
3. Given the carlessness, are there specific villages you'd recommend? So far, I'm considering Domme, Sarlat, Daglan and Beaulieu sur Dordogne.

The main fast stations are Périgueux, Bergerac, Sarlat and Brive.

I like Bergerac a lot Sarlat is probably the prettiest of the four.

If I was doing this I would stick google maps on the Dordogne and search on "Gite" near each town, then do similar for railways

I would think you'd have to plan well for a driver. Car rentals are more expensive without planning. On-the-spot rentals tend to be expensive.

You really need to a car to get to the places most people want to visit. There are no "easy" trains to/from Sarlat from Paris. And once you get there - trains don't really provide good access to other popular close-by destinations. Buses are geared to take people to/from work & school. There are no huge cities near Sarlat, so hiring private drivers like you might be able to do in Provence will be more challenging in the Dordogne. There is a dinky Europcar office near Sarlat.

Stay within about 20K from Sarlat. My recommended areas for "bases" are Sarlat, Roque Gageac, and Beynac (latter two are directly in the Dordogne River).

We're going back to the Dordogne in Sept for our 14 & 15th week there. S

See attached

Stu Dudley

If you were willing to get around by bike, Daglan would be doable as it is on the Céou bike way and has a shop and restaurant. There are other places that Aquitaine Bike recommends if you rent from them.

We did pretty well by bike out of St Julien de Lampon, which also offers an artisanal butcher, a bakery and a terrific gîte complex, Les Coquelicots. Honesty compels to admit that we arrived by car and did several days’ touring by car.

Domme is up a steep hill.

Sarlat is likely your best base, with some bus service (less outside of the summer months), a train station, plentiful restaurants and shops, as well as two markets a week.

The tourist office in Sarlat has some ideas.

https://www.sarlat-tourisme.com/blog...without-a-car/

Ophorus runs a number of tours out of Sarlat.

https://www.ophorus.com/destination/...rlat-la-caneda

Thanks, Stu Dudley! We are planning our first trip to the Dordogne for September 2025 (after many, many virtual visits with Bruno Chief of Police). Your guide is the planning partner I have been looking for. We are planning to stay in a VRBO in Plazac and spend days enjoying the markets, wine and ambiance of the region. Your guide mentions taking a Gabares (boat) trip on the Dordogne. Any recommendations for a vendor/guide/operator?
Liz

We went to Bordeaux via TGV from Paris and rented a car from there to explore the Dordogne. First, up to taste the premier crus, then St. Emilion, then stayed in Sarlat for 5 nights. Very easy to drive around there so would recommend renting car from Bordeaux or another closer connecting city north of Sarlat. Stu's info is great, and driving. We continued south all the way to Toulouse and last to St. Remy in Provence before returning to Paris via train after a month. Best trip ever. Rent a car -- really!

We've been to the Dordogne 5 times.
Stu Dudley far more times.
You would miss SO much not having a car.
I can't imagine how much time you'd chew up trying to arrange a driver here, a taxi there. Then there's "oh, last night at the bistro we heard about .....let's go there today." , to be followed by 2 hours on the phone trying to arrange how to get there.
In my opinion, you'd be better off renting a car for the week, and not using it, than to chance not renting a car and wishing you had rented one.
Our last trip to France was 2017, so the price may be out of date due to inflation, but we rented a car for 3 weeks, $800 total roughly. Thru Gemut.com. (US-based, but euro-wise)
Your last comment made me think you're not totally against driving.
Driving in the Dordogne is easy; far preferable than driving in Chicago or Florida.
In summary, BIG mistake if you DON'T rent a car there.

Another vote for renting a car if you want to explore the Dordogne. You may however want to restrict your driving to the daytime

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To make it simple and general, forget about visiting rural France without your own transport (car or bicycle). Moreover in October, ie not peak season.
Either there are no buses at all, or there will be so few that you will be stressed not wanting to miss it or waste a lot of time waiting for it.