Sarlat or Surrounding Area for Dordogne Lodgin
 

We are planning on spending five nights in the Dordogne in mid-September 2018. We will have a car. Considering an apartment in Sarlat or a B&B near Beynac. I've read that driving in and out of Sarlat can take some time due to the one lane roads and number of buses / and general traffic. Appreciate any feedback on staying in Sarlat relative to traffic issues and any general comments about Sarlat vs. near by countryside B&B's. Thanks.

Staying in Sarlat served my needs for the Dordogne quite well. I also thoroughly enjoyed splurging for L'Esplanade in Domme.

We stayed in the outskirts of Sarlat, about a 20 minute walk to the market. No problems driving out of town over our ten day stay. Nice to be close to downtown and there are several large supermarkets such as a Leclerc, Casino and Carrefour if you are cooking in.

We stayed a week in Sarlat n Sept. The only day we had any trouble leaving was on market day and that was caused by us taking a wrong turn. Never had any issues on the return.

We stayed here a few years ago and loved it

http://les-granges-hautes.fr/welcome/

In September Sarlat will be busy but not daunting. You will have many more choices of restaurants and cafés and shops than if you stay in the countryside, though the country is beautiful.

We rented a house in Beynac for a week, loved it. That being said, we did have a car so we covered lots of ground in that time and found it nice to return to a relatively quiet Beynac at the end of the day. A very picturesque town but rather limited on restaurants however we thoroughly enjoyed being there. I agree Sarlat is much busier with many restaurant options and things to do but unless parking is included in your stay it may be hard to park at times. Enjoy your planning and your travels.

There is a free parking lot that is convenient to the main area in Sarlat. It was very easy to park there and walk maybe 5 minutes or so to our apt right near the Cathedral. Wherever you stay can direct you to it.

I debated like you whether to stay in a town or go out into the country. Decided to stay in Sarlat for the choice of restaurants and eliminating driving at night from dinner. I was happy with our choice. As I said we were there late September and it never felt crowded (Saturday, market day did get crowded, but not horrible.) In the evenings it was fairly empty and it was lovely to wander the streets with hardly anyone out. On the Saturday evening there was some sort of festival, but even then it wasn't crowded except at the park where the festival was going on.

You won't go wrong with either choice. Its a beautiful area. We had no traffic anywhere we drove.

We stayed at the inn that Jamikins recommended and loved it. It was about a five mile drive to Sarlat. Our window on the back opened to a view of a garden of artichokes in full bloom. Would stay there again for sure.

We stayed in Sarlat in June and never had any traffic.

Like jamikins, we also stayed in Les Granges Hautes (too many years ago) and loved it - it’s a short distance from Sarlat, with beautiful grounds and lovely people.

But, if I were to go again, I think it would be fun to stay in Sarlat proper. It wasn’t bad driving into Sarlat most of the time, except on market day, when parking was impossible. We were there in the summer and I lived bed having the beautiful grounds and a small pool to enjoy, but yestravel’s Points are the reason that I’d stay in town if I went again.

I've enjoyed staying in Sarlat and having a wide choice of restaurants - town has a certain ambience too.

Like Jamikins and nini, we, too, stayed at Les Granges Hautes. Our stay was in one of the gites. If you click on my username, you will find a trip report with a full description of the apartment there. It was perfect for our needs.

Staying in Sarlat for 5 nts was perfect for us in mid-September 2015. We stayed just on the south side of old town giving us a 5-minute walk to dinner after spending a long day exploring the countryside. No traffic problems ever.

Sarlat's traffic no doubt is much more in July and August than mid-September as St-Cirq- a local resident says - but staying in a gite in a small lesser known village could be really cool too! Maybe a little of each?

Sarlat has a really nice atmosphere in the evenings, and a good assortment of restaurants. Even so, consider reserving, as the better restaurants do get booked up.

Agree with yestravel, we were also there in mid-September this year, and did not find it overly busy. We did have to wait maybe 5 minutes coming into town one evening, but there was a festival happening, so that could have been it. Also, as others have said, parking is difficult during the market. Just be sure you have a good spot the night before.

We find we like staying in a bigger town than in the country, but to each his own. It depends how you like to travel. We keep quite busy, so not a lot of time for hanging around enjoying the ambience at a B&B.