Jump

I have a Garmin GPS unit that I’ll be using when driving through the Dordogne. The last time I drove in Europe was in 2012 when I visited Slovenia. At that time I had purchased a Europe SD card to use with my unit which I still own. I’m wondering if it is worthwhile to purchase a more recent and updated card. For those who are highly familiar with the area, has there been enough/any changes in the roads to justify it or is my old one still good enough?

I’ll be flying into Bordeaux from where I’ll be renting and returning the car to. It is a two week trip and I’ll be spending nights in Bordeaux (3), Perigeaux (3), Sarlat (4), Figeac(2) and Cahors (1) with day trips in the surrounding areas.

If I were driving in many larger cities I can see the need but I can’t imagine the roads in rural France see many changes (but maybe I’m wrong).
Thanks in advance!

traveller1959

The 2012 maps should be 98% o.k.

traveller1959

But a few warnings:

First, be careful with your spelling. In your post, you misspelled already one city.

traveller1959

Next warning: there are many towns with the same name . It may be better to enter the postal code when you search a destination.

traveller1959

(e.g. Saint Pierre)

traveller1959

Sorry for splitting up my post. But Fodor's did not accept my text in one post.

Does anyone know why this happens (in fact, quite frequently)?

StuDudley

Sarlat is really Sarlat la Caneda. And Beynac is really Beynac et Cazenac. There are 5 towns names St Cirq within 1-2 hrs of each other.

Stu Dudley

PalenQ

There are 5 towns names St Cirq within 1-2 hrs of each other.>

and one Fodorite named St Cirq, a Dordogne resident who is one of Fodor's Dordogne experts.

StuDudley

>>Does anyone know why this happens (in fact, quite frequently)?

StuDudley

St Cirq lives in one of the villages named St Cirq.

Stu Dudley

StCirq

The roads in the Périgord see lots and lots of changes, déviations, etc. Our tiny ganglion of roads around here changes almost yearly. I would advise you strongly to get used to using the excellent Michelin maps for the area, or at least an IGN map and not rely on a GPS except as a backup. There have been many changes since 2012.

If you don't spell things correctly, it's curtains.It's Périgueux.

PalenQ

technology is too much sometimes yet the old Michelin or IGN maps can always be depended on to get you where you want to go and in France there tends to be directional signs to the next town or village on every little intersection (but don't follow signs for "St-Cirq"!)

Jump

I've been pouring over the Michelin maps for a good year now (329 and 337) but I'll be alone which makes following a map a little more difficult. I spend the evening before each day trip becoming as familiar with the next day's trip as I can, trying to avoid wrong turns, staying off the toll roads (I prefer the back roads as they lend themselves to discovery much better), etc.

I do commonly leverage the postal code in place of the town name. Especially when driving in Europe!

It sounds like I'm better off getting an updated card. Thanks again!

twk

I got around the Dordogne in 2011 using a combination of maps and the built in TomTom GPS that came with my rental. Maps are the best tools for planning where you want to go, but GPS is miles better for telling you where you are located at any given moment. Combine the two in the hands of a human navigator who has some directional sense and you have the best of both worlds.

StCirq

The only signs for St-Cirq in Le Périgord will lead you to MY St-Cirq, so that's not a problem. The other St-Cirq's are far away from the Périgord Noir.

I meant to say it's Périgueux.

You absolutely cannot even begin to see the Périgord without staying off the toll roads (they con't even come here), even the N roads. You'll be on D roads all the time if you want to really see the region. There are ample opportunities to stop and look at your map and orient yourself on those roads.

The postal code for Le Bugue and all its communes, including St-Cirq, Fontvidal, Campagne, Audrix, St-Chamassy, and others is 24260 if that helps, but I really would concentrate on paper maps around here. No GPS system can find my house. I can assure you of that because we order things regularly from Amazon, ACHICA, Millipoo, Conforama, IKEA, and many others, and there is not a single time that I don't get a phone call from the delivery person, who has a decent-sized truck with the latest GPS, who can find his way to my house without me giving explicit directions.

PalenQ

You'll be on D roads all the time if you want to really see the region>

Yes by all means - I've biked all over France and I always try to stick to the D (for departmental or local department) which are in white - no colors or more used ones in yellow I think. these are well-paved roads with outside of larger urban areas little traffic save locals - they can take much longer than an N road or other main road - colored in red - to be avoided at all costs as these are often 2-lane roads full of trucks - folks in camping cars and speeding traffic - not fun.

It is rare to see a road in France that is not paved - even the most remote of D roads - contrast that to Michigan where I live and even the D roads are better paved than our pot-hole plagued main roads. And D roads lead you thru remote old villages (not sure there are many of these in such a touristed area however) and an older French life - with the ubiquitous old man on an old loud moped with some fresh baguettes strapped on the back!

So do as St Cirq says and stick to the D roads - roads are well-marked every km with a mushroom like road sign says D 23 for example - very hard to get lost in France with a Michelin map (available everywhere - no need to advance order though planning is always fun) as again there are signs on every intersection pointing to the next little town or a farther away main town.

In towns follow signs for Centre-Ville for the town center.

Southern France is to me one of the finest places to motor in Europe - especially the delectable D roads that go everywhere.

PalenQ

You'll be on D roads all the time if you want to really see the region>

Yes by all means - I've biked all over France and I always try to stick to the D (for departmental or local department) which are in white - no colors or more used ones in yellow I think. these are well-paved roads with outside of larger urban areas little traffic save locals - they can take much longer than an N road or other main road - colored in red - to be avoided at all costs as these are often 2-lane roads full of trucks - folks in camping cars and speeding traffic - not fun.

It is rare to see a road in France that is not paved - even the most remote of D roads - contrast that to Michigan where I live and even the D roads are better paved than our pot-hole plagued main roads. And D roads lead you thru remote old villages (not sure there are many of these in such a touristed area however) and an older French life - with the ubiquitous old man on an old loud moped with some fresh baguettes strapped on the back!

So do as St Cirq says and stick to the D roads - roads are well-marked every km with a mushroom like road sign says D 23 for example - very hard to get lost in France with a Michelin map (available everywhere - no need to advance order though planning is always fun) as again there are signs on every intersection pointing to the next little town or a farther away main town.

In towns follow signs for Centre-Ville for the town center.

Southern France is to me one of the finest places to motor in Europe - especially the delectable D roads that go everywhere.

PalenQ

D roads in heavily touristed areas however at times may be slow going - always underestimate your travel times to get a real feel for how long a certain trip may take.

nola77382

Only chiming in to say that we found the GPS routed us on the smallest, windiest, most scenic roads possible and seemed to avoid the bigger, more direct routes--and we couldn't figure out how to configure the GPS to change this setting. Most of the time it wasn't a problem--the countryside is seriously beautiful and was very quiet in October--but we were almost too late for our tour of Pech Merle one morning because of this.

What we ended up doing was studying the maps and choosing mid-point towns on our route and plugging those in instead of the final destination. The GPS was great when we dictated the route! So with the GPS, our Michelin maps and following the road signs, we did very well driving in this area during our trip last year.