we will be taking the train into sarlat from bordeaux. in sarlat we will have a car for 4 days. on the first day we would like to take it easy. what is the closest place to go from sarlat on day 1. we will have 2 small children.

From Sarlat it is a very short ride to La Roque Gageac, a beautiful village on the river,Domme, high on a hill above the river, Beynac, on the river and Castlenaud. The last two villages were headquarters for the French and English during the Hundred Years War.

St Cirq is the real expert on this area of France.

Have fun,
Larry J

Why are you taking the train to Sarlat, is my first question? Unless there's some new service I don't know about, trains from Bordeaux to Sarlat take forever and stop at every podunk cowtown along the way. There are much better connections to Périgueux. If you're picking up a rental car anyway, it would make more sense to take a train to Périgueux.

But I digress....wouldn't you want to just explore Sarlat the first day if you want to "take it easy?" Go to the really good tourist office and get a detailed map of the town and do a walking tour. If not, as LarryJ suggests, drive to Domme and La Roque-Gageac. Or visit Castelnaud and the museum of medieval warfare. Or Beynac, a little farther afield. Or the walnut mill in Ste-Nathalène.

I trust you have the detailed Michelin yellow map (#379, I believe) of the area.

Why don't you pick up your car in Bordeaux & drive to Sarlat? With little ones on board, it will be easy to stop for a break along the way. Once in Sarlat, park the car & spend the balance of the day exploring the town. It's wonderful!

2010

We shared the river front with and English couple and their two small children a couple of years ago. They had picked up picnic supplies at the Sarlat market and driven down to Beynac to picnic along the waterfront. (We had done the same, then taken a Garbure boat ride on the Dordogne to see the magnificent views of the castles from the river). The kids were having a marvelous time and the parents were able to relax as the river bank was gently sloped and the river was not running high at the time.

If you don't have a place yet, the hotel La Coulverine has a very nice large family room, room #1, which is off to itself on the main floor on the side. It has its own veranda with a gate to help "corral" the little ones. It has a table and sun cover so you can have breakfast there and relax while you people watch and the children play.

That's Couleuvrine, in case you want to look it up. A couleuvre is a large but harmless snake.