Please help with my itinerary in Dordogne -Provence
 

I am trying to plan a last minute trip (Late Oct - Nov) to France that covers sights neither of us has seen before. After a short trip to Normandy we'd like to see some of the Dordogne, Carcasonne, some of Provence & then drive to Grasse before flying back to Paris from Nice. We have about 9 days & were thinking of the caves in the Lascaux area, as well as Sarlat and Beynac. In Provence we were thinking about Pont du Gard, Tarascon & St Remy. I've read over several guide books & the amount of information is overwhelming. I'd like sggestions on how much should we expect to see/do in 1 day & what would you suggest we see.I am depending on all your collective experiences to tell me if I have to cut back or go ahead. Or, if there is something you think is really special that I havne't mentioned in any of these areas please speak up. We have to get from Caen to the starting point in the Beynac area. I haven't really seen a good way. Any suggestions on a feasible combination of trains & car? Thanks.

I can't help with the Dordogne, Carcasonne part, but in Provence, you can easily do Pont du Gard, Tarascon and St. Remy in one day if you pushed it. Pont du Gard is only about 45 minutes drive from St. Remy.

You might consider whether you want to add to your time there to fit in the perched villages of Gordes, Rousillon, Oppiede etc. Or hit Arles or Avignon instead.

Sounds like you are trying to cover quite a bit of ground in a short time.

My advice would be to plant yourself in an area for about 4 -5 days and really explore, rather than keep relocating.

Do you have 9 days total, or 9 days after you leave Normandy?

I sympathize, because trying to plan the Dordogne part of our trip, that included Provence, was the most difficult! We managed Provence/Nice without a car easily, beginning when we dropped off the rental at Carcassonne's airport. We picked up the car in Amboise.

Beynac (we stayed three nights)was one of my favorite places- I did not care for Sarlat, personally. But trying to get around the Dordogne area without a car would be very difficult unless you used tour services from perhaps Sarlat to get to the caves.

The drive from Amboise to Beynac took way, way longer than I anticipated, and that was on the highway. We stopped in Oradour-sur-Glane for a few hours, though. Once you are on the smaller roads it seems to take twice as long to get around- but that is also where some of the most memorable vistas and moments happened.
Maybe: very long day Caen to Beynac
two nights there
one day canoe the river and tour La Roque and Castlenaud along the way (another highlight)
next day whatever caves you can accomplish
third day highway to Carcassonne, drop off car, taxi/shuttle to Carcassone to arrive very late afternoon...one night is plenty (after tourists leave), back to train station next morning, train to Nice (another very long day)
whew! it may be too much...
Anyway, we stayed in Villefrance, also a great bus/train place and got to St. Remy, etc. But I had a full week.
Actually from Carcassonne we went to Collioure which I adored- you might look into that, too, unless you are locked into Provence with your Nice tickets already purchased.
I was also in Arles and Avignon with trains, bus so maybe can help more if you are more specific. You do lose time waiting for them and making the connections, etc, versus a car.

JeStraveler - thank you for your reply. I had already read your report -it was great.
We have a total of 9 days after Normandy- that includes getting to & from Paris.
sglass- thank you so much for your comments. I don't mind driving, I just don't want to spend a huge part of the trip on the highway. It looks like we would have to spend most of the day getting from Caen to Bordeau (via paris)& then drive a couple more hours to Beynac. It seems to be one of those "you can't get there from here" places.
We don't have the ticket for the Nice flight yet but I think that flying is the best way to return to Paris. The only other option is to return to Paris from Toulouse. They are the only 2 cities that have inexpensive flights within France that could work for us. Maybe we could fly into one city, see the sights between & then return from the other. It's just hard to gage how long it actually takes to drive from one town to the other and how much time to allow to see the sites. I need more help.

sglass, I was interested in your comment that driving Amboise - Beynac took longer than anticipated. Approx how long did it take you? I'm planning something similar next year: Paris via St Aignan (near Amboise), St Benoit-du-Sault and Oradour-sur-Glane to Sarlat/Beynac or thereabouts. Thanks.

We usually base ourselves in St Remy in Provence with Tarascon and Pont de Gard easy drives.
We fly out of Marseilles to get back to Paris . About 45 minute drive to the airport.

Just my opinion but I would cut Nice out all together. The TGV from Avignon to Paris is only 2.5 hours.

I would try to spend 3/4 nights at least in the area around Beynac...We had 7 nights in the Dordogne and 3 nights in the Lot and we felt like we just scratched the surface. Loved...Loved...Loved the Dordogne.

If it was my first trip I would try for Font de Gaume instead of Lascaux. It is an authentic cave and that latter pales in comparison...IMO.

1 night in Carcasonne is enough.

I would then spend 3/4 nights in St Remy area as there is much to see there as well. If you really want to see the Med coast, take a day trip from there to Cassis. Car rental can be dropped off at the TGV station in Avignon.

Good luck with your planning and enjoy.

Hi M,

>We have a total of 9 days after Normandy- that includes getting to & from Paris.

Assuming that you have your plane tickets, and have to fly home from Paris, you have 2 days lost in transit; plus I expect that you will want to be in Paris the night before you leave - thus 6 days.

It's an all-day drive from Beynac-et-Cazenac to Grasse.

Thus, 5 days.

I suggest either the Dordogne or Provence, but not both.

((I))

Grimmy - what airline do you fly out of Marseilles? CRAZY4TRAVEL - I was hoping to see both sets of caves - would that be overkill?
I am beginning to agree with ira that we can't do both Provence & Dordgone - it's just so hard to choose!! One will just have to wait for the next trip.
Let me clarify my time table:
I estimate that it will take most of 1 day to get from Caen to Beynac or what ever town in Provence we may choose. We need to be back in Paris on 11/7, but we stay in Paris for several more days. So that leaves 7 full days. I thought we'd have at least part of the last day if we flew to Paris from Nice.

I need help choosing an itinerary for one of these areas. I don't particularly want to visit Nice or the other coast towns (at least in Nov). I did want to see Grasse & other towns further north. We would only be going to Nice for it's airport. I've read several trip reports for Provence but not many on Dordgone. Help me decide.
What would you do with these 7 days?

I agree with ira. You don't have enough days to do justice to both the Dordogne and Provence. Pick one and plan to go back to see the other when you have more time.

You really need a car to enjoy either area, but particularly the Dordogne. Public transportation is pretty much nonexistent.

I also suggest one region or the other to make the most of your stay. If you are spending the duration in the Dordogne, two caves would not be overkill by any means. My favorite two were the Font de Gaume and in the Lot the Grotte du Peche Merle which is close enough to visit as well...both authentic caves. Lascaux II was interesting but a fabricated replica. Although it is supposed to be an exact copy, I just couldn't get past that fact so it didn't have the same impact for me.

There is so much to see in the Dordogne. From caves, castles and markets to many quaint towns. My trip report can be found here:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35008050

and my photos can be found here:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/crazy4travel

hi, mimmel,

I second [or is it third?] the dordogne or provence idea - either but not both, especially if you want to see carcassonne as well.

IMO you should try to see all three caves - they are all different and fascinating in their own ways. Also the gouffres de padirac if it's open. [it was shut a little while ago]. there are also so many castles and gaedens to see, plus rafting..quite enough to fill the time you have.

or go east...less is more.

regards, ann

After you visit Normandy, have you considered staying overnight in Rennes instead of Caen?. I think Rennes is a much more interesting city - and there is a TGV train directly to Provence with no train changes. It leaves at 9:15 and arrives in Avignon TGV at 2:51 - so it won't consume an entire day. There are later trains with only 1 train change - check connections via Lyon on http://www.reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en

Like others have stated, only visit 1 other destination. Do you have my 20+ page itinerary for Provence & Cote d'Azur, or my 20+ page itinerary for the Dordogne. If not, e-mail me at [email protected] & I'll send you one or both.

Don't know which area I would pick for November - perhaps the Dordogne because there are more things you can see if the weather is foul (caves & castles). Also, IMO the food is better in the Dordogne.

Stu Dudley

OK, I am convinced & I'm leaning toward Dordogne. So far the plan is to take the train to Rennes , rent a car & drive to Mont St Michel. I understand that the tides do something special when we're there, otherwise we could do the trip in reverse & leave from Renne as was suggested. We then drive to Bayeux for 2 nights. That's definite. Every thing else is flexible. We may only be in Caen long enough to drop off the car & catch a train, unless the weather is bad & then we could visit the museum.
The downside of the Dordogne region is that it's so hard to get to. I plan to rent a car once we get there, but Bordeau seems to be the closest TVG station. Would you rent in Bordeau & drive, or transfer & take a train into Dordogne & rent there? There must be a better way to get to Beynac. Any more ideas?

Easyjet has flights from Toulouse back to Paris Orly for very low prices which you may want to consider if you decide on that region.

I think there is more to do in the Dordogne in off season than Provence. Padric was open when we were in the Lot and we found it quite interesting as well. They say that Font de Gaume may close eventually so it was very high on our list. Peche Merle we found to be the most interesting of all with both cave drawing and some interesting formations.

We visited 5 castles between the Lot and Dordogne. I'm not sure about gardens and canoe trips in Late October and early November but there is certainly many points of interest.

We left Amboise about 9:30 in the morning (an hour later than planned, of course, due to the usual rental car drama)and did not arrive in Beynac until almost 9 at night. We had the advantage of the summer sun lasting until then, however...

This included about two-and-a-half hours at Oradour-sur-Glane and a dinner break (pizza in Celenac? can't remember but it was charming). It was pretty fast going on the highway south from Amboise, but once on the road to Oradour the speed limit dropped considerably. We maybe should've just backtracked to the toll road, after, but it looked so tempting on the map to take the back roads! It probably wouldn't have taken as long- nonetheless, it will be a long day.

The caves (especially Font-de-Gaume and Peche Merle) were highlights not only of this trip but of my whole life. If you are not especially interested in Nice/the Riviera, at least for this trip that is in November, and given that you want to see the caves, I agree that staying in the Dordogne region with the car for a week is what you should do.

Carcassonne was very cool to see late at night when the tourists had left, but if I had to choose between that and the day spent canoeing on the Dordogne, I would choose the canoe day, for sure! It was unique, a fun way to tour the castles and a nice break from being underground. I would also highly recommend Rouffignac (that is spelled wrong?) or Padirac, too. We also spent a day driving a modified version of Stu's itinerary along the Lot River- gorgeous!

hi, mimmel,

based on what another poster had said elsewhere, I looked on the SNCF website, and found that you can get a direct train, admittedly not TGV, from Paris to Brive which takes about 4 hours. Much better than driving. it is a short drive from there to Sarlat, etc.

you could wander through the dordogne to touoluse, then train back from there.

regards, ann

You can also take the regular train to Périgueux, which puts you right in the heart of the Périgord Noir, where you want to be.

I have finally decided to see Dordogne only. I can't imagine what I was thinking to have included Provence as well. Planning this trip has been overwhelming. I have never had such a hard time before & with out the help of all you, I think I would have given up.

CRAZY4TRAVEL - your report was so helpful. Your pictures made the descriptions in the guide books come alive.
Annhig - thanks for the tip about Brive. I think I'll take the train back to Paris from here instead of driving back to Toulouse. The fare is only 29euro.
Here's my tentative & vague itinerary. I still need help deciding how much time I need to allow for various sights & I have no idea about hotels/B&Bs. It seems much closes in November.

Day 1: Orly to Toulouse arrive at 8:05. Pick up rental & drive to Carcassone. See the fort & town. Drive to Albi. Stay the night.

Day 2: See Musee de Toulouse Latrec & church. Drive to Cordes-sur-Ciel. Short stop (? how long). Drive to St-Cirq-Lapopie .See the some of the town & stay the night.

Day 3: See Pech Merle in morning. Drive to Padirac & see cave. Stay the night in the area or drive to Carennac.

Day 4 - 7 Stay in the Sarlat area & do day trips. (Need lots of suggestions here)
Not sure if Font de Gaume is still open in Nov. Would seeing 2 more caves - Font de Gaume & Lascoux ll - be overkill.. I would like to see the museum at Les Eyzies de Tayac, Beynac & the castle, La Roque St Christophe, Chateau Castelnaud ( confused about which one is which - it seems that there are 2 with very similar names). I would like to include the market at St Cyprien. Other towns include: Le Roque Gageac, Rocmadour & a tour of Ferme Auberge Moulin (what town is this in?). I think it will be too cold for a canoe but the Gabare sounds good. How can I find out if it still operates in Nov?

We will return to Paris via Brive either late on 11/6 or early on Day 8 or early on Day 9. Several of the hotels mentioned in the posts close in Nov. I really need help with accommodations. Thanks to all.
Mim