We plan to visit the Dordogne region in mid June 2010 and we would like to stay in Sarlat.

Will Sarlat be overrun by tourists in mid June? Does it get quieter at night?

If Sarlat is too busy, can you recommend another town that is central to stay for one week?

Thanks for your help.

Sarlat will be busy, but not over-run in June. The main tourist season is mid-July to mid-August. The busiest days are obviously market days - Wednesday and Saturday mornings.

And yes it does get calmer at night. It's wonderful to walk around by gaslight under the moon and the stars.

Because we live here we often forget how magical Sarlat can be - I'm usually rushing around to have my hair cut, go to the dentist, or other mundane occupations, but every now and then we just stop and admire. It's still great.

If you do choose another town, you may still have traffic issues - Beynac and La Roque Gageac are lovely, but both have one main road along the river, which all season is clogged up with tourists, residents,and trucks all trying to go somewhere. SO be careful where you stay.

Finally, we always tell people that a week is not enough. This is one of the most varied, beautiful parts of France and you can hardly touch the surface in one week.

Come and enjoy

We just returned from 2 weeks in a Gite near Sarlat (close to Cenac). We were there from June 13 through June 27. Crowds were light - except at the St Cyprien market at 11am. No problems at all driving around Sarlat. One morning we visited Sarlet and there were hardly any people there at all (more in the afternoon), Walking to & from dinner in Sarlat was delightful. We had to drive on the roads through Roque Gageac & Beynac several times a day - no problem with traffic at these spots either. Restaurants were't crowded in most cases.

On a week day, we visited Chateau Hautfort. We got there at 10:15 am - 45 mins after the castle opened. There were only 2 other cars in the parking lot. We didn't encounter a single person while wandering inside the chateau.

This was our 9th & 10th week vaacationing in the Dordogne.

Stu Dudley

<i>We didn't encounter a single person while wandering inside the chateau.</i>

You don't have to take a guided tour anymore?

Nope - not now. The previous time we were there you could only visit on a guided tour.

Michael - thanks for the recommendation on the Hospital museum in town. It was quite interesting. We took lots of pictures of the "Dentist's office through the ages", which we'll show to our dentist.

Stu Dudley

Sarlat is, and always has been, the market hub of the Périgord, so it will always be busy. But in June it won't be overrun and yes, the evenings will be quiet. On market days (Saturdays and Wednesdays) parking will be an issue, and the roads into town will be clogged at certain times, but apart from that you should be fine. Enjoy.

<i>Sarlat is, and always has been, the market hub of the Périgord</i> <b>noir</b>. I doubt that it is the market hub for the Périgord regions whose centers are Bergerac, Périgueux or Nontron, at least since the nineteenth century.

Thank you for all your advice! We plan to visit the Dordogne area the 1st week of June. I tried to book an apartment in Sarlat, but I was told that they only accept 2 week bookings.

Do you have any suggestions for apartments to rent for 1 week in Sarlat or Beynac?

Thank you so much for your help!\
Laurie

We stayed at a wonderful place, about a km south of cenac(10 minute drive to sarlat). I can't remember the name of it, I'll see if I can find it.

La-gueriniere-dordogne.com They have a B&b but also rent out a couple of houses/apartments. I would highly recommend.

Thanks Leuk2, That does look like a very nice place.

We would really prefer to stay inside a town such as Sarlat or Beynac. Hopefully, I can find an apartment that allows one week rentals.

thank again for your suggestion. Laurie

I wouldn't choose Beynac in June. The road there runs along the river and is extremely narrow. It won't be half as bad as it will be in July and August, but you'll probably be in traffic every time you leave or return to Beynac.

And there's a world of difference between Sarlat and Beynac. Sarlat is a sizable town; Beynac is basically a village, with very little commerce outside restaurants and cafés and souvenir shops and canoe outfits.

If you're looking for a town other than Sarlat, a place that has grocery stores and hardwares and beauty salons and so forth, you should look at Le Bugue, St-Cyprien, maybe Domme, and Montignac (it's a bit out of the way, but has commerce).

Thank you for the information, St. Cirq. I was hoping to hear from you as you were very helpful when we were trying to select an apartment in Paris several years ago!

Do you have any suggestions for apartments in the Dordogne area? We would like to rent an apartment for 1 week during the 1st week of June.

We would like to stay within a town and would like to have a patio or a balcony. A washing machine would also be a very nice amenity. Any suggestions?

Thank you! Laurie

Hi, what do you think of the location of this cottage?

http://www.vrbo.com/73710

Thank you for your help!
Laurie

Hi Laurie,
I'm not certain whether or not either of their cottages is available for the first week in June, but I suggest that you try www.yourfriendsinfrance.org. We have stayed in La Bouquerie several times and will return next May. It is a delightful place to stay! Yes, Sarlat will be busy, especially on market days, but the cottages are on a quiet passageway, and we love Sarlat - for its own charm and its location near so many places you will want to visit in the Dordogne.

Hi, Laurie,

It's a lovely cottage, but it's in a rural village, Sauvignac de Miremont, and I thought you explicitly said you wanted to be in a town.

There have been a couple of trip reports from people staying in Cenac - which I think would be a great location. No decent restaurants (several cafes), but a grocery, several bakeries, butchers, Chicken-a-go-go, produce store, wine shops, news stands, laundries, etc. 15 mins to Sarlat, 7 to Roque Gageac, 3 mins to Domme, 10 to Daglan. On the 'quiet" side of the Dordogne.

Stu Dudley

Stu Dudley

Hi, Thanks for your help. Roamer, that apartment does look great! It is the one that I emailed and they only accept 2 week bookings. Drats!

St. Cirq, we don't mind staying in a village if it has restaurants, a market and a few stores. I emailed them and the cottage is available for our time period, but I don't know if the village has stores and restaurants etc.

Do you know anything about Sauvignac de Miremont?

Thanks, Stu, I will look into Cenac but I would like to stay some place that has restaurants nearby. My husband and I like to have a glass or 2 of wine with dinner and we don't want to have to worry about driving back.

Thank you for your advice! Laurie

Okay, I just found some information about Sauvignac de Miremont.
It's population is only 136 people. It is probably smaller than what we are looking for.

I think I will continue to look in Le Bugue, St-Cyprien, maybe Domme, and Montignac.

Thanks for your help! Laurie

We've vacationed for 10 weeks in the Dordogne (3 weeks middle/late June, 2 weeks last week of Aug,5 weeks early/mid Sept). We've dined at around 25 different restaurants in the Sarlat region. We've "checked out" another 30 others.

Be careful if you stay in Domme, because it's on top of a hill and any gite/apt/B&B may not be within walking distance of restaurants. That may be the case with other cities & villages too. I would not get too hung up on driving 5-15 mins from dinner with only 2 glasses of wine - unless the two of you get "tipsy" with 2 glasses. Sarlat, IMO, is the only location that I would want to stay in with 4-5 "good" restaurants within walking distance of the center of town. Of course, this depends on what "class" of restaurants you patronize.

Roque Gageac has 2 restaurants that we like, but no grocery (closest is Cenac). Domme has one restaurant that we like & no grocery. Sarlat only 2 that we like within an easy walking distance of the center of town, and the groceries are out of town in not-nice areas. St Cyprien has no restaurants that we like, and the grocery is not within walking distance of town.

The area around le Bugue is nice, but I would much rather stay in Sarlat than in the center of le Bugue (within walking distance of restaurants). We've never found a restaurant in le Bugue that we've wanted to dine at (actually, one of our favorites was there - but it recently closed).

If you stay in Beynac, Cenac, Roque Gageac, Domme, or Sarlat there are a dozen or so good restaurants within a 5-15 min drive. From Sarlat south, only Cenac has a good sized grocery within walking distance.

Net-net - if your dining requirements are close to ours, I don't think any city or village in the Sarlat region has several good restaurants and a grocery within walking distance of a gite/apt. Cenac is the only village we've visited that has a grocery in town. l'Esplanade restaurant in Domme is less than a 3 min drive from Cenac (to the Domme parking lot), 2 good restaurants in Roque Gageac are 5 mins away from Cenac, 4 other good restaurants are 7-10 mins away, and Sarlat with 3 restaurants that we like is about 15 mins away.

We were in the Dordogne the middle 2 weeks of June this year. There was very light traffic through Beynac & Roque Gageac every time we passed through (perhaps a dozen times each). Tourism is down this year. We drove into & around Sarlat several times, and traffic was also lighter there than it was during the other 8 weeks we've vacationed in the Sarlat region.

Stu Dudley