During a 10 day garden tour Of Bordeaux and the Dordogne. We will spend six nights in Sarlat. Five of the days we will be taken to see gardens in the surrounding area, but one day is totally free. I would like to do a boat ride on the Dordogne. Is that something I can arrange from Sarlat or do you have another suggestion for that day?

You'd have to get yourself to either La Roque-Gageac or Beynac to take a boat ride.

You don't want to spend a day discovering Sarlat itself?

If not, you could take a train to Les Eyzies or Le Bugue or Le Buisson or St-Cyprien or Siorac or elsewhere.

I think in the 6 days we are in Sarlat I'll have time to see a lot of Sarlat before and after the garden tours. And I know we will visit Les Eyzies the day we tour Lascaux II. Would it be practical to take a cab to Beynac or La Roque- Gageac? Or is there a agency that offers day trips including a river cruise that you could recommend ?

There are agencies that offer those from Sarlat. Here is one example

https://www.getyourguide.com/sarlat-...at-ride-t3327/


there is this one also which appears to be the same company http://tours.france.com/dordogne-tou...r#.VztJkPkrKY0

I do not like to rent cars when on vacation myself, and it often is not that useful if you just want to visit one major tourist site during a city stay. Of all the day bus tours I've ever taken in various countries, I have never once regretted one or been disappointed, in fact. But I haven't been to Sarlat.

Thanks, Christina, that might be the answer.

That's an awful lot of money to get a few kilometers away from Sarlat to catch a boat ride. I would hire a taxi (and you need to reserve far in advance - Sarlat is famous for not having any spur-of-the-moment taxis).