Hi- question for StCirq or anyone who has been there...is the bike ride from Les Eyzies to Lascaux difficult or dangerous? The road appears to be on a floodplain. And is there a bike hire in LE who people are using? And in the event of rain or distance, we would also like to know if anyone has heard plans of a seasonal car rental this year. I have seen mention that the tourist bureau ran some arrangement in the past but the tourist bureau is not answering emails thus far this year.

Ooops hit enter too soon. Thanks for any advice to my prior posting!

The road from Les Eyzies to Montignac is extremely hilly and tortuous. You wouldn't catch me anywhere near a bike on that road...but then, I'm not much of a biker to begin with.

You can rent bikes from La Rivière campsite on the opposite side of the river from Les Eyzies. Probably also from the tourist office, or at least they could tell you where to rent. Not sure what you mean by seasonal car rental, but there is no car rental outfit in Les Eyzies. The nearest if Cars Rey, on the road between Campagne and Le Bugue.

I am not much of a biker either- so your answer is appreciated. I am looking at the D65, assume you are referring to that one also. The car rental info is really valuable. That does not come up in web searches. Very nice to know!

Hi Italyagain

I've hired my bikes through http://www.aquitainebike.com/ I've also hired a car. I wanted to be able to get around and not be limited by bike travel, but also I couldn't rely on the trains due to my tight timeframe.

Sadly, we would have wasted too much time traveling from Paris on the train so we're going to hire a car in Paris and drive down. 5 hours drive is not my idea of fun....but at least we get there and can then relax.

I haven't been to this area before so can't comment on routes etc (StCirq seems to be the most knowledgeable!) but the bike hire guy is dropping the bikes off when we arrive and says he will spend time going over maps etc helping to work out the best routes for us. I've read good reviews on this company and the B&B we're staying in also recommended them.

I do think you're wise to solicit advice. I recently booked a tour of Giverny and mentioned to the guide I was thinking of hiring bikes from the train station. It all sounded easy online however she said that it's a busy road with lorries zooming past and not particularly well sign-posted. She said it's horrible seeing tourists riding the awful road and missing the turn offs.... So make sure you ask lots of questions!

<i>Sadly, we would have wasted too much time traveling from Paris on the train so we're going to hire a car in Paris and drive down. 5 hours drive is not my idea of fun....but at least we get there and can then relax.</i>

I do not understand. In my experience, the train is faster than the car from Paris. By the time you will have left Paris in a car and have gone past the suburbs and exurbs, the train will be in Orléans.

On the day we will be due to travel we would need to go to Bordeaux and stay the night...at least that's what others are telling me. I'm not finding the train websites particularly informative or easy to use. I would prefer to travel by train but had given up on this based on what several people had mentioned.

We are traveling on Tuesday, 20 September from Disneyland to Les Eyzies. If you feel the train trip would be faster than car then I would very much appreciate your opinion ;-)

Thanks so much
Ingrid.

I completely agree with Michael. It's a long boring drive, the train will get you there faster, and it will be far more relaxing.

Have no idea what you mean about what others are telling you about spending the night in Bordeaux - what others? Members of your party? People here on Fodors?

There are innumerable threads on here right now about train travel from Paris to the Dordogne. There are many ways to do it - all of them easier than driving.

Hello all,
Sorry, haven't visited this thread in a bit. More great advice and information!

One comment - Ingrid, we have not gone to France yet, we will be traveling in June (I'll be sure to update info when I return).

One question - seems the train from Austerlitz to Souillac isn't available the Saturday we are traveling (maybe rail work?). Looks like we have to take the train from Montparnasse through Montauban. Any other suggestions?

thanks!
Faye

Which Saturday? For June 11 there are multiple trains and fares available between Paris-Austerlitz and Souillac.

I haven't found any trains between austerlitz and souillac on the 11th. Can you tell me which website you wre using?

I looked on raileurope.com and voyages-sncf.com. Both start me at montparnasse even though i specifically enter Austerlitz.

thanks!

Just a comment based on discussions with a cycling couple we met: get plenty of practice going uphill.

I found one train at 6 p.m. arriving around 11 p.m. going from Austerlitz to Souillac. That was the first entry when I entered the information on sncf.com. But my apologies for not noticing that the rest of the entries were from Montparnasse.

The Montparnasse connection is shorter to Brive and Périgueux. Why Souillac?

I'm really confused, and don't understand the stations and trains well enough to use the websites suggested effectively. I need to leave Disneyland Paris on 20 September 2011 and arrive in Les Eyzies the same day. If you feel the drive is boring and longer than the train, please can you tell me which station to leave from and which station to arrive at?

I realise this is a tedious question but I've spent so much time researching my trip and I just can't seem to find trains that get me there faster than a car, despite lots of posts telling me I can! Any help, very much appreciated ;-)

Fayew, have a great time!

You will want to arrive in Périgueux or Brive-la-Gaillarde.

Leaving Disneyland you will leave from Marne la Vallee station, change at Bordeaux, and change again at Perigueux for Les Ezyies - although you could pick up a rental car in Perigueux and drive to Les Eyzies. This will take 7-7 1/2 hours, as shown below
http://www.voyages-sncf.com/billet-t...ultats?hid=KN4

It will probably take a little less time to drive, and so it's up to you which is preferable.

If you go to Brive la Gaillarde,you have to change before getting to Gare du Nord and change to Gare d'Austerlitz - probably too complicated.

The train is usualy the most direct - but not always

Thanks Carlux! I thought I must have been doing something wrong as I couldn't find a way to get there that took less time than driving. Driving is only 5 hours and as much as I would prefer to go by train I don't want to waste the whole day doing it. I think if I went via Bordeaux it would be overnight as it's a Sunday that we're traveling.

Anyway, thanks again. Am going to stick to the car.