Dordogne/Provence
 

Hello, I have about 7 days to spend in the Dordogne and Provence areas before flying out of Nice on June 26th. I will be coming from Paris and was planning on taking the TGV from Paris to Bordeaux and renting a car there. Is there any reason to consider taking the train and renting a car in Brive-la-Gaillarde instead?

Any suggestions for a home base in the Dordogne for a couple with a car? We'd like to budget our accommodations up to about $150USD a night. Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

We stayed in a lovely B&B/gite right outside of Sarlat called Les Granges Hautes. http://www.les-granges-hautes.fr/en/index.htm

It was about 5-7 mins drive outside of Sarlat and everything was just wonderful. Sarlat is very central for exploring the Dordogne.

Have a great time.

It is easier to drive out of Brive than out of Bordeaux. You could also take the TGV to Libourne, though.

If you have only 7 days for Dordogne/Provence, I suggest you pick one or the other and not both.

FYI the end of June is the height of lavender blossoms in Provence, so that would be my choice.

We stayed in La Roche-Gigeac, I think it was Belle-Etoile. If I remember, it was a Logis de France.

I agree that it's either Dordogne or Provence. Hard to see anything of either with less than 7 days, without even discussing the time to get from one area to the other.

Brive has the benefit of being closer to the Dordogne than Bordeaux, and smaller, easier to navigate.

For hopingtotravel, I think you mean La Roque Gageac (the various forms of Roque and Roc around here reflect the English influence from the Hundred Years' War)

Thanks Carlux, it's been 3 years and I don't have my maps out. It was an intriguing little place.

I agree that you should plan to do either Dordogne or Provence, not both and think you'll probably have less problem finding less expensive lodging at this late date in dordogne than in Provence. We, too stayed at Les Grange Hauts and if they have availability, I highly recommend it. Lovely and very reasonable, in fact probably only 2/3 of what you've alloted for lodging. While it doesn't have lavender, it has a nice garden and a lovely little pool. Can't beat it. And yes, take the train to Brive and drive from there.

Having said all that, I recognize that you'll have to get from Sarlat/Dordogne to Nice somehow and unless you drop the car back off and take a train (a possibility) you'll have to stop somewhere on the 8 hr, 747 km drive from Sarlat to Nice. It could be

I agree that you should plan to do either Dordogne or Provence, not both and think you'll probably have less problem finding less expensive lodging at this late date in dordogne than in Provence. We, too stayed at Les Grange Hauts and if they have availability, I highly recommend it. Lovely and very reasonable, in fact probably only 2/3 of what you've alloted for lodging. While it doesn't have lavender, it has a nice garden and a lovely little pool. Can't beat it. And yes, take the train to Brive and drive from there.

Having said all that, I recognize that you'll have to get from Sarlat/Brive to Nice somehow and unless you drop the car back off and take a train (a possibility if you don't mind an 11 hour ride) you'll have to stop somewhere on the 8 hr, 747 km drive from Sarlat to Nice. It could be in Provence, say Arles or St. Remy, and then your final night being in Nice so you can fly out of there--leaving you 5 nights in the Dordogne.

I suppose all of this really argues for breaking the trip into two parts after all--say 3 nights in Dordogne, 3 in Provence and the final night in Nice. At any rate, try to book Les Granges Hauts if you stay in the dordogne. It will leave your budget free to spend more for lodging in Provence which will probably cost you more.

Seven days is absolutely NOTHING for either region, especially if you're flying out of Nice, which is on the Riviera and a few hours from central Provence, so I agree you should pick one and not try to see both. You'll barely scratch the surface in either area.

Just take the TGV from Paris to Avignon and explore the Bouche-du-Rhône area for a few days, then go to Nice and spend a couple of days and fly out from there.

Forget the Dordogne until you have adequate time to explore it and savor it.

Thank you for all of the replies- very much appreciated! It seems most people agree to concentrate on one area, however I don't think it's an option for us as we are pretty set on seeing a little bit of both areas. We are fully aware that we will only be skimming the surface in both places. We're a young couple who enjoys driving trips and though it seems contrary to the area we're visiting, we aren't looking to do the leisurely tour as we don't know when we might find ourselves in the south of France again. We would simply like to take in as much as possible without going overboard. Thank you especially for the Les Granges Hautes suggestion- it looks like we'll get to stay there.

Glad you'll be staying at Les Granges Hauts. Tell Beatrice and Jean Yves what a devoted following they have here on Fodors.

Another vote here for Les Granges Hautes. We were there two weeks ago and it a great place to stay. Jean does an evening meal(29 E) some nights so take advantage of that as it is quite good. Nearby in Salignac is the restaurant Le Meynardi which is fantastic. Our five course dinners came to around 70 euros(for two) which was a real bargain compared to our dinners in Paris on this trip. I should mention that Meynardi is not right in Salignac but located out in the countryside in an old farmhouse.