Back again….Your responses to previous postings have been very helpful…thank you. This is only our second major trip, and we are learning as we go. Since we are totally clueless about France, it is taking awhile to narrow choices down. At this point, again, we are unsure about reasonable driving distances.

We have decided (as of this moment!!):

Normandy (6)

Loire (5)

Dordogne (4)

Paris (7)

Questions:

I am still unsure about where in Dordogne we should go…northern/southern region? Obviously, northern would be better drive wise…..Town/city suggestions would be helpful. We would like to see the caves, if possible. To give you a frame of reference, in Italy, the furthest we drove from our base was from Castellina to Volterra and Cortona, which was OK (all major highways). Once we get to our destinations, we would like to limit significant driving distances.

Another concern is driving from the Dordogne region back to Paris. Should we cut our trip to Normandy or the Loire by one night and stop for one night on our way to Paris from Dordogne?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated…thanks.

Hi WT,

Are you planning on making this a motor trip?

If not, I suggest dropping the Dordogne.

If so, take the train to Perigeux, pick up a car. Drive the Dordogne. Take the train back.

You can get driving routes and times at www.viamichelin.com and www.mappy.com

Use them both, because they don't give different routes.

There is more to explore in the Dordogne than in the Loire. I'd do 4 nights in the Loire and 5 in the Dordogne.
You definitely want to get to the Périgord Noir, which is the southern Dordogne. That's where the caves are, for one thing. It's also prettier and has more attractions in general.
You should look to base yourself somewhere near Sarlat. I usually tell people to draw a 30-km half-circle radiating out from Sarlat and stay within that area. Some towns to consider are Domme,Beynac, La Roque=Gageac, St-Cyprien, Le Bugue, and Montignac. The time of year you are going does affect to some extent exactly where you should stay.
I wouldn't drive back to Paris. I'd ditch the car in the Dordogne or Bordeaux and take the train or TGV back. It's not an inspiring drive, and presumably you don't want a car in Paris anyway.

Amendment

You probably are planning a motor trip.

Paris to Bayeux about 2.5 hr.

Bayeux to Chenonceaux - 4 hr

Chenonceaux to Sarlat-le-Caneda - 4 hr

Sarlat to Paris - 5 hr

I think I would reduce Normandy by one day and add it to the Dordogne.

Sounds like a verrrry nice trip.

Amendment 2,

I bow to St. Cirq (our resident expert on the Dordogne)

Take a day from the Loire and add it to the Dordogne.

You can leave the car at Libourne and take the TGV into Paris Montparnasse - 25E pp if you get the PREMS fare.

Thanks for your responses.

Yes, Ira, we are making this a motor trip (except Paris) because we don't want to worry about dragging luggage on and off a train. We have not mastered the art of "packing light" for three weeks. I know we should try to master this skill...

It sounds as if the drive from Dordogne is a long one. Maybe we should "consider" taking the train back to Paris..It requires only lifting on and off one time.....

StCirq, we are making this trip in July. We had already considered Sarlat. Is Sarlat a good destination in July?

Wow... Thanks! Our responses are crossing quite a bit. The information is great! Everything you are saying makes sense. I think, I am on my way to finalizing my itinerary. Stay tuned...

I would not stay IN Sarlat in July. Just getting in and out of the town for daily sightseeing will eat up too much time. Same for Beynac and La Roque-Gageac. Make yourself a base in Le Bugue or Beynac or Montignac or Vitrac or St-Cyprien or someplace that doesn't require waiting around for tour buses to crawl through tiny riverside two-lane roads or get into and through ancient hillside town.
doorways.
Definitely check out Sarlat - it's a gem, but be prepared on market days in particular (big market Saturday, small market Wednesdays) for crowds of epic proportions.

I would like to add that we found the Wednesday market in Sarlat even more attractive than the Saturday market. There were lots of food purveyors and local items, as well as room on the main square to walk around, stop for a cafe, and enjoy the ambiance. The Saturday market has lots of stuff which are Walmart-type items --cheap clothes, housewares, etc. which don't really add to to specialness of the market. And frankly, the Wednesday market was larger than most other village markets--so I would highly recommend. We were in Sarlat for close to a week in September and loved it there---I defer to StCirq however on the July traffic--that would definitely slow you down, a problem we did not really have.

I also concur with reducing the Loire days in favor of the Dordogne--while the Loire is beautiful, if your particular interest is not in seeing many chateaux, I would say 2-3 days is ample. Personal choice of course, but we prefer the interaction of the small towns and villages.

Enjoy your planning--the board is filled with many ideas--don't forget to use the search function to your advantage.

Take care,
Robyn France

After all of your helpful responses, our itinerary now looks like this:

Normandy 6

Loire 3

Dordogne 6

Paris 7

I have been able to find maps of Normandy and the Loire online. But, I am still searching for a good map online of the Dordogne. It would be helpful with our planning to know the location of some of the towns named by StCirq.

Any Dordogne map website suggestions?

Thanks for all the help!

For tourist sites, there is an excellent interactive map at http://www.guide-dordogne.com/sites/

If you are looking for driving directions, then either michelin or mappy will provide detailed maps for you online.

Thats www.mappy.com and www.viamichelin.com

You will want Michelin maps number 329 and 337 for your trip, as well as the Michelin Green Guide "Dordogne, Berry, Limousin".

Here are a few websites with various types of maps of the Périgord, but for planning your itinerary your best bet is to follow ira's advice re: Michelin maps.

http://www.perigord.com/pop/carteperigord.htm

http://www.tourisme.fr/carte/carte-d...t-dordogne.htm

http://www.pays-des-bastides.com/carte.htm

http://www.best-of-perigord.tm.fr/se.../actip_fr.html

http://www.netwane.com/perigordtourisme/carte.htm

http://www.perigord.tm.fr/tourisme/randonnees/

A wonderful site to buy Michelin maps is:
www.languagequest.com
They have a good selection - plus guidebooks, etc. and always send out quite promptly. I just ordered my Dordogne and Lot Valley maps from them for my upcoming trip in May. I ordered the 329 and 337 local maps.

I've decided to spend most of my 2 weeks in the Dordogne - in Bourdeilles
(near Brantome) for 2 days, Sarlat, and near Rocamadour, ending in Cahors, I think. Wish I had 3 weeks like you do!
I want to minimize driving, (I'll be solo) so will train in and out of the area. Your itinerary sounds wonderful.

Since you are also considering Normandy and the Loire Valley, and might in the future visit other areas of France, you might consider the spiral bound Michelin Road Atlas for France.

Michael, I have that spiral road atlas, too, but it's so heavy and cumbersome to carry to Europe. By the way, those maps I ordered from LanguageQuest.com on Thursday night already arrived today (Monday) via Priority Mail. Really great service! I just paid for the "standard" type delivery.

I just stick the atlas at the bottom of the suitcase until I pick up the car. The weight is of no importance when you leave the atlas in the car. The big advantage is that you can use stick-its to mark places you happen to read about. You might forget that you did it, but when traveling suddenly that stick-it appears on the relevant page.

The Atlas-Routier is invaluable! It's what I use for all travel in France. If you have one, take it with you and use it!

Once again, thanks for the information. I think I will get the atlas. Since we are driving the whole time, it should not be a problem weight-wise. I will also buy some Green Guides for the areas we will be visiting. I tried languagequest.com yesterday and had a little trouble. I'll try again today.

By the way, I just remembered that there is a half-size Atlas-Routier now available. I bought mine in an Intermarché. It's probablyabout the same weight as the full-size one, but takes up less room in the suitcase.