Cameron

We will spend one week in St Crepin et Carlucet, near Sarlat, and one week in the Lot, likely Figeac, in October. We can't possibly visit all the towns and villages that have been recommended by Fodorite's, so please help me eliminate some of these. Thanks!

St Amand de Coly, Le Bugue, Martel, Lalinde, Beynac, Collonges la Rouge, Rocamadour, Padirac, Monpazier, Bigaroque, Montignac, St Leon sur Vezere, St Jean de Cole, Beynac, La Roque Gageac, Belves, St Genies, Tamnies, Meyrals, Beaumont, Cadouin, Pujols le Haut, Sarrant, Auvillar, Chateauneuf en Auxois, Limeuil, Montreal du Gers, Bonaguil, Autoire, La Roque St Christophe, Loubressac and....

Villefranche de Rouergue, Rodez, Conques, St Cirq Lapopie, Cajarc, St Antonin Noble Val, Feneyrols, Castelnau de Montmiral, Cahors, St Cere, Gaillac, and Castelnau Bretenoux.

It will be a great help if you would tell me which you would eliminate rather than which you like. It's easy to see why these areas are so well loved! Thank you!

3gigs

That's a pretty tall order, narrowing down your selection of places to visit from such a long list. Let me make a suggestion that might help you to decide on a place to use as a base from which to see the Lot region. Get and read "From Here You Can't See Paris" by Michael Sanders. It's his tale of spending a year in a town by the name of Les Arques and the town's rebirth because of its new restaurant, La Recre. Rather than starting with the whole region and striking off names of numerous places you don't want (or won't have time) to see, try using this book to give you an idea of a few good places you'd want to see. We haven't been to the region yet but it's my plan to visit Les Arques (in the next few years), eat at La Recre, and enjoy the atmosphere of this rural area as described by the author.

cigalechanta

I was staying in a nearby town, Cazals and could go to les Arcs and other villages easily and not much traffic.
'We also stayed in the Beautiful St Cirq Lapopie, a perché village filled with artisans, and also stayed outside
Brantome at a beautiful moulin

Judy

Cameron, we spent a week in May based in Le Bugue. While it was a convenient base to see the Dordogne, there wasn't enough there, in my opinion, to warrant a separate visit. There were a few of your destinations that we didn't get to see, but, of those we did see, I would eliminate Beaumont, Meyrals, Lalinde, Martel, Cadouin, and Limeuil. There is really nothing unappealing about them but the others were more compelling.

Judy

I just reread your post...we didn't find much of interest in Belves either.

StCirq

A lot of the places you mention don't deserve more than a 10-minute stop, so maybe you should start with that outlook. Those places include St-Amad-de-Coly, Lalinde, Bigaroque ( 5 minutes maybe - was there today, it's a speck on the map),Belves, St-Genies (why even include it?), Tamnies (had lunch there yesterday - there's nothing there, why is it on the list?), Meyals ( sleepy artisan town with nothing doing), never heard of Auvillar of Montreal du Gers; skip Bonaguil and Autoire and Loubressac.
St-Cirq-Lapopie is IMHO vastly overrated. St-Antonin-le Noble was grim when I passed through last springt hoping to find what other visitors had raved about. Castelnaud de Montmiral is beautiful, but it's tiny, tiny, tiny, so don't expect much. Gaillac is a good place for lunch, not for much else. Feneyrols has a pretty bridge and that's about it. Cahors is wonderful. St-Cere has those tapestries that are worth looking at.

progol

You know, I think it's less important to try to see all the particular towns than taking a drive and enjoying wherever you find yourself. I just returned from a trip to France which included 4 days in St. Crepin-Carlucet; one of the most enjoyable days was the day we went to Lascaux-2, and stopped in St. Genies (for a great market), St. Amand-de-Coly with its lovely abbey, and then a turnoff to see a small castle in a valley, and Montignac. Though none of these are the stellar towns that have been mentioned, they all have their quiet pleasures. The St. Genies market was wonderful-- although there were tourists, it was not at all overwhelmed by them (us!); and though St. Amand-de-Coly is a small town, it has a beautiful abbey-- and few tourists. We really enjoyed the experience of being there and not being trampled by others, like us, trying to "experience" the best that Perigord has to offer. And even Montignac, which no one seems to especially like, was fun for us-- and I had a GREAT ice cream cone -- NOIX, which is walnut, a regional specialty.

We also did the great Dordogne drive-- after Font de Gaume, we went to Beynac, Roque Gageac and then Domme; but even at the end of the day, Domme was still filled with many tourists (and we were tired), that the experience was less than thrilling at Domme.

DO make time to go to at least one of the caves; and if you limit it to only one, definitely see Font de Gaume. Though I enjoyed seeing the images at Lascaux, there is something remarkable and exciting about seeing the original painting on the walls, and walking through the actual cave, feeling the dampness and texture of it.

And you didn't mention Sarlat, which I figure you will certainly include. We tried to get there for the market, but it was WAY too crowded; we did go there for dinner one evening, and that was wonderful. The town is lit so beautifully that walking through it after dark was simply magical.

My point is, don't worry about trying to see them all. Perhaps make a decision to focus on one special place in a given day, and then see which places are around that one place. As St. Cirq has said many times, you'll be surprised just how long it will take to get from one place to another, and just getting in the car and driving all day is not at all fun.

What really struck me about the region (and it was definitely the high point of our trip) was just how saturated the place is in these wonderful sights, both large and small. There are so many, countless caves and castles at every turn! And often, the smaller ones are as much or more fun than the larger ones; they may not be in the major tourist guides, but they'll also be a whole lot less crowded, and you may find that you can have a more intimate experience.

Of course, I don't advocate ignoring all the hot tourist attractions-- we did go to Beynac (loved it) and we did go to Roque-Gageac (loved that place, too). They are major attractions for a reason, but they are also going to be a whole lot more crowded. We found the smaller places often more accessible, and it gave us a connection and feeling about the region. It was also fun to just discover places that weren't major sights.

Are you staying in Les Granges Hautes? If so, it is a wonderful place to be, and worth just relaxing at as well.

Cameron

Thank you for your thoughtful replies. Obviously, the old adage is true about "different strokes...", some people love a place while others see nothing of redeeming value in it.

We'll probably spend some time hitting the hot spots, some time wandering by car or on foot and enjoy getting lost, and also some time just enjoying doing nothing.

Thank you everyone for taking the time to answer this.

progol - we are spending a week at Les Granges a Carlucet, I believe this is a differnt B&B from Les Granges Haute. This is the website of where we are staying.

www.carlucet.com

jody

This is a post worth saving for travelers to this region! Thanks

ira

Hi Cameron,

This site might help you with picking and choosing.

http://www.webtourist.net/knowbefore/yougoto/france.htm


Progol:

Where did you stay in St. Crepin-Carlucet?

progol

Cameron,
I stayed in Les Granges Hautes, which was wonderful. You are right; Les Granges a Carlucet and Les Granges Haute are different places. The location, though, is superb. Not dense with traffic, but a very lovely and convenient region. I don't remember your place, though, so I couldn't speak about it directly.
Paule

tegucigalpa

Go to your local bookstore and find "The Most Beautiful Villages in France" some of the towns you mentioned are in this book with photographs of each village.

jal52

Cameron, we toured these areas by car last October and had a fabulous time! What a beautiful part of the world this is! My recommendations are:

Dordogne: La Roque Gageac, Castelnaud, Beynac, Domme. We thought La Roque Christophe (prehistoric site) and Lascaux II were wonderful introductions to the area, see before you go to any other prehistoric sites. We were not impressed with Font de Gaume, though I know others on this forum love it.

Rocamadour: Loved staying at La Rhue Domaine and then going to Gouffre de Padirac. Also loved Collonges la Rouge, a very different town with its red brick houses, and Martel.

I highly recommend stopping at the Peche Merle caves near St. Cirq Lapopie, which have THE best prehistoric paintings IMHO.

Cordes Sur Ceil is another wonderful hill town; be sure to stay and have dinner at Hotel Du Grand Ecuyer. Fantastic!

Albi does have a terrific cathedral.

Carcassonne was very interesting; be sure to take the tour which goes up on the ramparts.

You will need to get reservations for Lascaux II and Peche Merle caves, which you may do online.

Cameron

Thank you everyone for your replies. I wish we were leaving tomorrow!

cigalechanta

jal, good suggestions where we enjoyed ourselves.

StCirq

Slight correction: The name of the place near Rocamadour is La Domaine de la Rhue - lovely place.

Progol has it right - the Dordogne is not a place to tick off destinations; rather it is a place to wander and delight it what presents itself to you. There is something of value in even the tiniest village, whether it be the flower displays or an ancient abbey. And it takes time to get around, so don't go with a list, just go. Whatever you discover will be special to you at the time.

judyrose

I also agree with jal. We did almost the exact trip. Loved the castle at Beynac-it was lit with torches and gave a really atmospheric feeling. I have to say that after 2 weeks, I was longing for Paris. Although everything was charming and beautiful, it started to look at lot alike. But again, it depends what you like.

Michael

Unless you are in the Brantome area, St. Jean de Cole is really out of the way.

La_Tour_de_Cause

If you do swing past Meyrals in your wanderings, maybe en route to Les Eyzies, try to take 15 minutes to see their fabulous exposition of wildly creative scarecrows, going on right now and for at least another month or two, I think. It's free, and you won't find anything like it elsewhere.

Peteralan

Whichever place you eliminate don't make it Beynac!Have a wonderful time...you won't be able to help it.