We have 3 weeks in France next May. After a week in Paris, was thinking of taking TVG to Bordeaux and renting a car somewhere there and griving to St Emilion., then to other places in the Dordogne as yet to be determined, then dropping car and training back to Paris the day before we depart. First of many questions: how much time should we allocate to St. Emilion?

St-Emilion gets mixed reviews on Fodor's in pst posts. Many including some denizens of the area who say in recent years tourisme has taken over the town and basically ruined it - at least in tourist season. I drove to and stayed in St-Emilion in Aug 2007 and really loved the town - its ancient town walls literally had vineyards practically right up to them in every direction. And the town even seemed a bit sleepy. But we arrived in late afternoon and left in morning so maybe just missed the onslaught of tourists and tour buses.

So, it could that Jekyll and Hyde type town that is best savored by staying the night so you can see it and the distance vineyards on all sides without mobs of tourists - to me at that time St-Emilion was one of my very favorite stops of several in the Dordogne or is it the Bordeaux region. We had a swimming pool at the local municipal camping that sat above the vineyards that stretched for miles in all directions. Surreal is that warm August sun.

I did not visit any wineries and doing that could be neat too.

Local resident St-Cirq will give you the full dope on St-Emilion of today.

St Emilion is quite touristy - with a definite wine focus. Some people love it & others hate it. We were a little "tired" of the wine shops & tourists after about 2 hours of walking around. We stayed overnight. If you are wine enthusiasts and want to do some tasting - then a longer visit would be fine. I would not use it as a "base", however.



Stu Dudley

The town is built into a cliff with the railway at the bottom and very steep hill past inumerable wine shops to the top where there are more wine shops and a small cloister. The views from the top can be good and because the cliff forms a bowl it is possible to scoot to the west and take some nice photos of the main village. Crowds for sure.

I might go in the evening however there are plenty of famous wine towns/villages in the area which are a bit nicer to visit/stay. For instance the tiny hamlet of Montbazillac not much to look at but the chateau visit is nice with similar fine views from above the haha and a nice little restaurant in the old centre or two. Bergerac of course suffers a fair bit from tourism but is more of a town with a medievel centre. Royan is especially nice with a fortress and a Blaye communal wine shop while i also like Cadillac. Finally you could seek a Bastide town. (google it)

We visited St Emilion as a day trip by train from Bordeaux in early July this year. We really enjoyed our visit to this lovely village. In our experience it was not over run by tourists, except for the area around the tourist office which was busy. The rest of our village walks were often just hubby and I with few other people around.

We arrived about 10.30am and left again around 3.30pm. This gave us enough time to explore independently, enjoy a relaxed lunch, do a tour of the Monolithic Church, wander some more, and enjoy a leisurely glass of wine before heading back to the train station.

<<: how much time should we allocate to St. Emilion?>>

I'm hard-pressed to give it more than 10 seconds.

We've visited St Emilion as a day trip from Bordeaux by train, and found that adequate. I suppose you could break journey there and spend a night en route to the Dordogne, where there is so much more to discover. With 1 week of your 3 weeks already allocated to Paris, you will have your hands full with the Dordogne itself for the balance 2. Incidentally, we were in the Dordogne in May 2017 and my prior post Visiting the Dordogne/Lot may be helpful - with lots of input/advice from local experts and forum regulars, including those on this thread.

Well, it seems like St Emilion might not be our best choice. How about a train to Brive, renting a car there and basing in one or two places in the general area?

If your real question is "where to base" - it depends on how long you will be visiting the Dordogne region.


1-4 days - just stay hear Sarlat


4-10 days - spend 70% of your time near Sarlat and 30% near St Cere, Carennac, or St Cirq Lapopie.


10-15 days 50% near Sarlat, 30% near Carennac, 20% near Brantome.


You can get to Sarlat from either Toulouse (preferred) or from Bordeaux. You can depart the Carennac area from Brive la Gaillarde.


My wife & I have vacationed for 13 weeks in the Dordogne area plus another 4 weeks just south in the Lot. I developed a 20+ page itinerary that describes our favorite villages, scenic drives, markets, sites, caves, Bastide towns, etc. I've sent my various itineraries to over 6,000 people on Fodors. If you would like a copy, e-mail me at [email protected] & I'll ttach one to the reply e-mail.


Stu Dudley



My w

If you want to go to Dordogne yes picking up car at Brive would be great and then head to Sarlat area - Sarlat is a really nice town that would make a great base - anyway book TGV and other long-distance trains early to nab neat discounted fares - www.oui.sncf official site of French Railways - many recommend also www.trainline.eu - same fares and easier to book for foreigners they say. www.seat61.com has loads of advice on booking own train tickets - general info what to expect on trains - www.ricksteves.com and BETS-European Rail Experts.

If we wished to base in or near Sarlot, would it be best to pick up car in Toulouse, or Brive. Also, how hard would it be to spend a few days in Dordogne and a few in the Pyranees? Have received great advice oo far; thanks all.

What's "a few days?" And where in the vast range of territory that constitutes the Pyrenées?

It's spelled Sarlat. Where you pick up the car depends on where you enter France. If you fly into Toulouse, pick the car up there. If you fly into Bordeaux, pick the car up there. If you fly into Paris and have a choice of places to take a train to, take it to Toulouse if you can, 2nd choice Bordeaux, 3rd choice Brive.

We stayed in S Emillion about ten plus years ago. We did not stay in the Village (which I didn't particularly care about one way or the other). We stayed in hotel with x number of stars that was a mile or so outside of the town. There are a number of such places. It was the highlight of many trips to France and staying in many places.

The reason we loved the accommodations was because the rooms were huge, had two huge bathrooms, a sitting room, outdoor patio and was stunningly beautiful. It was August and hot and they had an in ground pool and we just laid on our backs and floated looking up at the blue skies. The dinner was served on the patio and started at 7 and we didn't finish until midnight. We had unobstructed 360 degree views looking out over miles of vineyards without another building in sight.

We stayed in a similar place, nanabee, about 12 years ago, on the grounds of a small wine chateau that had rooms to let, maybe 20 miles from St-Emilion. We were there (there being Castillon-la-Bataille) to see the recreation of the battle of Castillon, which is one of the most spectacular things one can attend in this region, which we've seen twice since. There are indeed lovely places to stay in the region around St-Emilion even if the village doesn't interest you (as it doesn't me).

Yes I agree St. Cirq that area is so lovely. Makes me want to plan another trip now!

St Emillion is worth a visit. We were just there yesterday and it wasn’t crowded with tourists. I think it is a charming little town. Be ready to fall in love, Dordogne is absolutely gorgeous! I wish we allotted three weeks here instead of two.

I loved St. Emilion. It was a day trip from Bordeaux and that was enough as I didn't take any vineyard tours. FWIW, here's my TR-just search for St. E:

April in Paris...with a Side of Bordeaux

As frequently happens to those who live near "tourist destinations" in their country, the appeal of such places wears thin quickly. BUT to visit Dordogne, I would think you're doing yourselves a great disservice to skip St. Emilion. We took the train from Paris to Bordeaux, spent 3 nights there, touring the best of the best wineries -- Margaux, Lafite Rothschild -- loving Bordeaux before crossing the river and having lunch, ambling around St.E for a few hours before continuing on to Sarlat, where we spent 5 nights. Had a wonderful lunch at L'Envers du Decor, it was rather hot, not terribly crowded, and yes, parking was difficult but not unusual for us who are used to living in a major metropolitan area. Sarlat provided an excellent base, we then travelled east and south with couple nights here and there, before another stop in Toulouse, then over to Provence. Allow St. E a half-day.

Well, the appeal of Sarlat hasn't worn thin for me after 27 years. And Périgueux gets more wonderful every year.

It is possible to get confused, neither St Emilion not Bordeaux are in the Dordogne, while places like Margaux (the Aoc and the Chateau) are in the Haut Medoc with very different geography to St Em. I'd prefer to be in Dordogne for a trip than a lot of Bordeaux if I was going there as a general tourist..