dordogne or provence for 1 week in september?
 

Hello. My husband and I are planning to visit Provence. After much research, decided to base in Isle sur la Sorgue. However, StuDudley advised that it is better to have another base in St Remy. Well, we can do this or..... do Dordogne instead. Heard it is more 'doable' than Provence for a one week vacation. If so, which town should I use as a base? Sarlat? Which B and B? If I arrive in Paris, how do I get to Dordogne by TGV and which town to pick up rental car ? We love food , lots of walking in quaint little villages(not hiking) so please tell me whether Provence or Dordogne would be more suitable?,
Thanks

My first impulse is to say Dordogne.

Hi ch,

Haven't been to Provence, can't tell you if it would be better than the Dordogne.

However;

Fly to Bordeaux or Toulouse via CDG.

Rent car, drive to Sarlat area: about 2 hr from either airport.

You might find my trip report useful:
http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...p;tid=34676645

Photos at http://tinyurl.com/sjch4
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=...&y=-pla2au

((I))

Thanks ira. Don't know why I get a feeling that Dordogne would be a more 'outdoorsy' and sporty region for vacation than Provence. Hope I am wrong. We are not the type that want to go hiking, fishing or doing 'active' stuff but we definitely enjoy lots of walking in villages. Based on this, would you say Provence is more the kind of place for us? I need to know which town to base ourselves in if we were to go to Dordogne. Please advise.

chchtrain, I had the same dilema as you a year and a half ago but heeded the advice of all of the experts here and decided on the Dordogne. It was one of our best holidays ever. There is so much more to see and do in the Dordogne than in Provence and it's within a much more compact area. That means it's much easier to stay in one place and see everything. If you stay centrally in Sarlat or a nearby village you can easily explore in all directions from there.

The only problem is that there is so much to see that you will be sorry you have only one week! We stayed for two and feel that we just scratched the surface. No problem, now we just have to return.

I'm sure there are outdoorsy pursuits if you look for them but you will be too busy eating at one of the many wonderful restaurants, walking around the many beautiful villages, exploring one or more of the 1,001 chateaux and perhaps even enjoying prehistoric art or rock formations in one of the many caves to do any of them. Canoeing down the Dordogne past pretty villages and castles perched on cliffs, carried along by the current, one of our favourite activities while we were there, is outdoorsy but not at all an exersion.

We stayed in La Bouquerie, a lovely little restored medieval house just outside the town walls in Sarlat, managed by Carlux, one of our Fodor regulars: http://www.yourfriendsinfrance.org/

fun4all4, whose trip report is underway right now, stayed at a B&B operated by another Fodor regular: http://www.latourdecause.com/index.html

Use the search box to type in Dordogne and you'll find a wealth of helpful information about this wonderful area. And be sure to email Stu Dudley for his Dordogne itinerary.

Here's the link to my Dordogne trip report if you're interested: http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34839073

hi chchtrain
i have been to the Dordogne region and Provence and I agree with moolyn 100%!! Make that 120%!!
I loved the Dordogne - it had more variety of things to do and places to go.
I love Provence (don't get me wrong, and I've been there twice) but many of the hill towns are similar and not as exciting. It is however, a great place to relax and enjoy life.

Yes, that is where my impulse came from -- much more variety in Dordogne. Provençal villages are often extremely similar, albeit nice.

Thanks espcially to moolyn. I will probably choose Dordogne over Provence in this case. Should I stay in Sarlat town centre instead of outskirt of Sarlat? I like to be able to walk around after dinner and if there are restaurants around Sarlat, that would be my preferred area rather than outskirt. BTW, is Sarlat the best choice as a base?
Also, by going to Dordogne, can I still fly to CDG then take TGV? I prefer not to have to take internal flights to Bordeaux .
Will ask for advice on restaurants later on. Thanks everyone for your invaluable input.

You will need a car in the Dordogne. If there is a direct TGV connection between CDG and Bordeaux (I am not sure about this), take it and pick up your car in Bordeaux. You can get to Sarlat in a couple of hours by taking the autoroute to Terrasson-Villedieu and then D704 to Sarlat.

Yes, there's a direct TGV connection betweeb CDG and both Bordeaux and Libourne. From either destination you can take the Corail (local train) to Périgueux, which is the closest/easiest place IMO from which to rent a car and get to the Sarlat area.

While I like Provence, I too would suggest the Dordogne.

On our last trip there, this past May, we stayed within the town of Sarlat. We did this primarily because we wanted to be able to walk around in the town in the evenings; we enjoyed that very much. The biggest reason NOT to stay in Sarlat is the traffic. Even in mid-May, before the real start of the tourist season, we encountered traffic backups every time we entered town (except when we drove elsewhere to dinner and returned late). I wouldn't know whether the traffic in Sarlat would still be an issue in September.

We stayed at a delightful B&B with extremely friendly owners, Les Chambres du Glacier, which is right on the main square. It was a little noisy in the mornings, but we still enjoyed our stay there very much. Click on my name to get my trip report with more details.

While I'm planning my second trip to Provence next year, I agree that there seems to be so much more to do in the Dordogne. I echo Moolyn in the list as we visited several chateaus, several caves, a few gardens, a walnut mill, took in several market days and visited many beautiful villages.

I found the traffic around Sarlat to be a pain but it would be nice to base yourself in a town with some appeal. We fell in love with La Roque Gageac.

You can click on my name to read my report and see my photos.

You won't be sorry if you pick the Dordogne. You will likely want to go back again because you'll never see it all in one week. We are tempted to do it again next year but will likely wait until another time and do Provence as planned.

Good luck with your planning.

Haven't been to the Dordogne, but it's hard to imagine it having more to do than Provence, even excluding the Cote d'Azur. Arles, Avignon, Nimes, Aix-en-Provence, the Pont du Gard, Vaison-la-Romaine, towns in the Luberon, Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, Les Baux, markets, wine, food, history, scenery, lifestyle.

So with all that maybe Dordogne is more "doable" in a week.

Have a great time wherever you decide . We were based in Isle-sur-la-Sorge twice and it was no problem getting round, it's not staying smack in town but wherever you choose both placs are beautiful in different ways but you'd better hustle things re hard tpo book this late.

I have only been briefly to Provence, and it was winter, so I know I missed the best of it, but I spent a week in Dordogne this past April and it blew me away. I would return to Dordogne (and the Lot) again and again, but I'm in no hurry to go back to Provence--and I enjoyed my time there.

We stayed in Sarlat at Villa des Consuls. Wonderful, but parking/traffic might be an issue in September.
I did a trip report; it should be searchable if you need more info.

Traffic wasn't a problem for us in Sarlat the first half of June last year. It was wonderful to be able to explore the town on foot in the evening and to simply walk to the Saturday market without having to search for a place to park. Traffic in September would probably be quite similar. We would happily stay right in Sarlat again but would also willingly consider one of the larger villages of the area, especially one with a recommended restaurant.

Quite honestly, I don't think you can go wrong either way.