KarenWoo

Andee,
We spent a week in the Dordogne in 2015 and loved it. 2 nights in Brantome, and 4 nights in Sarlat. We had a car. I agree with Kja that you need a car for the Dordogne.

Andee01

Thanks Karen. I have spent the afternoon researching and definitely want to try and squeeze in some of the Dordogne. May have to convince hubby to do some driving.

I understand the roads are hilly and windy, is there lots of traffic on them too, or are they quieter eg. more like a country road. We will be there I early July...so I am picking they will be quite busy?

PalenQ

but I am not sure how easy it would be to explore the region without a car.>

Well you could go to Sarlat and take day tours from there but yes a car rented in Bordeaux could take you thru Bordeaux wine district - Saint-Emilion is a great wine town -old town with vineyards swirling around it. Drive to Perigueux and take train to Paris.

KarenWoo

Andee,
The roads are country roads.

We didn't have any traffic because we were there in May. May is not yet the busy tourist season.
Karen

kja

I was in the Dordogne in May some years ago, and even then, on market days the roads were bumper-to-bumper. From what I read, during high season, the traffic can be quite heavy. Maybe StCirq or others who live in the area will chime in....

Andee01

Thanks everyone. I was thinking that maybe we could train to Sarlat, stay a couple of nights and do a day trip tour to Beynac Castle. I know we will see much more by car, but at least this way we will get a little taste for what's on offer.
I now just need to have another look at how many days I really have to play with.

Thanks again.

StCirq

<<so much in that area- old caves with art - perched medieval villages.>>

Oh for heavens' sake, Pal, stop blathering on about stuff you don't know anything about. Have you ever actually been here?


We hardly have any "perched medieval villages" here in the Dordogne.

And you don't want to visit St-Emilion in summer. It's a freak show, and not pretty unless you want to count yourselves among the thousands of Asian tourists taking selfies and paying 30+ euros for a sip of local wine and parking 2 kms away from the hullaballooo.

Why don't you just let those of us who live here and actually know what's going on tell it like it is.

kja

That might work well for you, Andee. That said, I must admit that the thing that made a visit to the Dordogne so special for me was the chance to see prehistoric art, which I think would be very difficult to do without a car. I’m not saying that’s ALL there is to see in that area – it has much more to offer, and indeed, much that I greatly enjoyed! But so do other parts of Spain and France that are, I think, easier to visit without a car. JMO.

PalenQ

Oh for heavens' sake, Pal, stop blathering on about stuff you don't know anything about. Have you ever actually been here?>

Yes caves with pre-historic art or copies of - and those bastides, based on Roman grids of streets, that I visited - they seemed perched on hill tops?

Yes you and other locals are the best source so give OP some advice -possible without car for a few days?

PalenQ

As Dordogne is hard to get around sans car you may want to consider a place like Toulouse and nearby Carcassonne - after a day or so in Bordeaux - Toulouse has direct trains to Paris.

Andee01

Thanks PalenQ and Kja - I will look into some alternative destinations. I appreciate your feedback.

StCirq

4 days in Bordeaux these days is absolutely not too much, particularly if you combine it with a run out to Arcachon and Cap Ferret.

Pal, there are NO bastides "perched on hilltops." NONE. That is not how it works.

And I'm not sure why anyone would want to come all the way to the Dordogne just to see the Château de Beynac. If you're a connoisseur of the Hundred Years' War Beynac is as interesting as a dozen other castles in the area, but to focus on it seems a bit odd as it's very sparsely furnished and not entirely intuitive unless you know the history.

But yes, you do need a car to visit the Dordogne.

kja

While reluctant to step into the fray, I must admit that I’m confused. I thought bastides were established in medieval times, often atop hills, and although I didn’t think bastides particularly common in the Dordogne, I fondly recall Domme, which I had thought fit the description of a hilltop bastide.

PalenQ

Look St-Cirq IS right on anything to do with Dordogne and this said in positive not negative way- I too was thinking of Domme but probably extrapolated wrongly - are bastides all on hills - would make sense as those military bastions were built as fortifications I would think but St-Cirq lives in Dordogne and knows her stuff!

But if St-Cirq says 'there are no bastides on hills' then that's that.

Despite what the Telegraph says in an article:

Dordogne - The Telegraph
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/de...ance/dordogne/
Read our Telegraph Travel expert guide to the Dordogne, including the best ... farms, honey-stone bastides (fortified hilltop villages) built by feuding French and .

ToujoursVoyager

Domme seemed quite perched.

ToujoursVoyager

It looks like many posted at the same time

fuzzbucket

The correct term is "citadels", instead of bastides.
Those are the ones that are perched on mountains and hillsides.

Andee01

Thanks for your feedback StCirq regarding the Bordeaux region. It sounds like we might be best postponing any time in the Dordogne until we have enough days to do it justice.

PalenQ

4 days in Bordeaux these days is absolutely not too much, particularly if you combine it with a run out to Arcachon and Cap Ferret.>

Of course if day tripping out a few days - could take guided excursion into Bordeaux wine district with tours and tastings and Perigeux.

Arachon is a sweet seaside town that may make a more relaxing base too. Europe's biggest sand dune -the Dun du Pyla is right next door - super good beaches. And you can day trip to Perigueux also from there, etc.

Bordeaux is really nice but it is a big city - some may prefer a smaller seaside base.

StCirq

A daytrip to Périgueux is totally unrealistic. Five hours minimum in a car, longer on the train, and when you get there at least a couple of days worth of things to see - Vessuna alone takes 2-3 hours, Saint-Front an hour or two, the old quarter another few hours, and that's just hitting the surface.