JulieVikmanis

My initial thought for a 7 - 10 day trip in February is to fly into Toulouse and drive to Sarlat for 4 or 5 days to explore the Dordogne, then drive to Lagouile for one night to pay hommage to Michael Bras at his 3 star restaurant, staying in his hotel, and then finish off with 3 days in Lyon and flying home from there. Lyon because I am something of a foodie and have always felt a bit guilty about never going to what is ostensibly the food capitol of France. If I devote 5 days to Dordogne, can I reasonably see much of it from a single base in or near Sarlat, or should I break up the five days into 3 in Sarlat and 2 somewhere else? If 3 and 2, where should the two be, given my intent to move on to Lagouile after the Dordogne? Reading the Sue4 thread, one possibility seems to be spending the 2 nights in Domme. Is that the way to go or is there another place that fits the rest of my proposed itinerary better? Thanks.

StCirq

No need to break a 5-day stay in the Dordogne into two places. Stay in the Sarlat area. Domme is 10 minutes from Sarlat and would be a good choice.

Be aware that many things will be closed in the Dordogne in February - hotels, restaurants, shops, etc.

If you're going to fly into the SW, Bordeaux would be closer than Toulouse.

Michael

You might want to break it up if you want to visit places like Brantôme and Bourdeilles, although they can be seen in a long day's tour that could include Périgueux.

ira

Hi Julie,

Get the Michelin guide to "Dordogne, Berry, Limousine".

It has suggested driving tours as well as descriptions of each town.

Here are a couple of sites to get you started:

http://www.dordognerental.com/idor.html

http://www.best-of-perigord.tm.fr/ba...s/anglais.html

http://www.leseyzies.com/accueil_gb.htm

Have fun.

StuDudley

>>If you're going to fly into the SW, Bordeaux would be closer than Toulouse.<<

I'm not sure that's true anymore. Bordeaux is certainly closer, but with the completion of the freeway over the Lot, it's all freeway from Toulouse to Souillac and then perhaps 30 mins from there to Sarlat. This route may be shorter time.

The drive from Bordeaux can be quite slow & I've hit traffic jams around Bergerac. I also was stopped on a bridge in Bordeaux for 40 minutes because of a strike, but that could happen anywhere. I think the drive from Toulouse is certainly easier - especially if you sill have some jet lag.

Julie - Bras does not open until April, according to my Michelin Guide.

Stu Dudley

JulieVikmanis

Sorry for my confusion. We will be going to Dordogne in April not February. Thanks for the recommendations and guidance.

Michael

You might want to look at photos from other travelers to get avisual idea of what exists beyond the guidbooks:

http://www.ofoto.com/I.jsp?c=j4n04qu...0&y=wwx1vv

http://www.ofoto.com/I.jsp?c=j4n04qu...&y=-wl70uc