Train from Sarlat
 

Our party of four adults will be travelling back to Paris in October. We will be staying in Sarlat and have a hire car which we need to hand in at a train station. Should we travel from Brive or Limoges or elsewhere to get a direct train into Paris preferably before 5 o'clock in the afternoon ?

Well, when we did this, we had one final morning in Sarlat, then drove in the afternoon to Limoges (about 2 hours) where we dropped the car, and then spent a night. Took a train the next morning leaving around 9:00 and got in around 12.

Bahn.de shows trains leaving at around 9:00, 10:00, and 14:18. (careful, some arrive at Austerlitz station, a few at Montparnasse, if that is important.)

So I suppose you could drive from Sarlat in the morning, drop the car by noon, and after lunch take the train leaving 14:18 arriving 17:18.

I would recommend Brive rather than Limoges--same train, just an hour earlier.

It's also easier to navigate Brive than Limoges.

For train schedules and prices and to buy tickets use www.capitainetrain.com. Buy tickets up to 3 months in advance (when they go on sale) for the cheapest prices.

Thanks to all for the fast response.
It seems Brive is the place to go but I cannot see any direct trains. I had been hoping for not having to change trains as we have one adult with reduced mobility. It seems to be a very long trip, I guess it is not a fast train ?

There are direct trains between Brive and Paris but train schedules aren't available more than 3 months in advance so you can't look for October yet. Pick a date within 3 months from now to get an idea of schedules. It's a little over a 4 hour trip.

Leaving Brive at 9:00 and arriving in Paris at 17:13 with two train changes is a very long day. I think perhaps returning the car to CDG may be a better option, I believe it is a 5 hour drive along the toll road.
Thanks for your help

What website are you using to get your train info? There are direct trains between Brive and Paris every day that, as I already mentioned, take a little over 4 hours. The 9:02 train leaving Brive arrives in Paris at 1:19PM.

FrenchMystiqueTours , I used your link to capitainetrain and put in a date on a Saturday in May.

FrenchMystiqueTours : Just went back into it and tried again and could not find any trains leaving at 9:00 and going direct. What am I doing wrong ?(I put in 16th May as a trial date. We need to travel on a Saturday )

helen_elsom_7

I have had this problem also in the past. I could find a train that goes to Limoges but not Brive (or vice versa) and I now that they are on the same line, with only one hour difference. Here's what I found: http://www.voyages-sncf.com/billet-t...ltats?hid=1BP2

I can see that on your trial date of May 16th there is indeed a problem with the regular schedule on that particular Saturday (there is no 9:02 that day). But you are not traveling until October so try a different Saturday. I tried at least 3 or 4 Saturdays within the next few months and all of them had a train leaving Brive at 9:02 and arriving in Paris at 1:19PM. That being said I also saw that on the 23rd (a Saturday) there was no train at 9:02. And then on the 30th it showed a train at 9:02 but said "non ouvert" (which means tickets aren't on sale yet). Sometimes it is even a little less than 3 months before full schedules are released so I would just check back in a few weeks. You won't know the schedule for sure until sometime in July anyway, whatever date in October happens to be 3 months before your travel date. So don't panic. Just wait.

We did the trip in October. Left Sarlat in the morning, got the 1:00 pm train, booked through, I think it was capitaine train. It was not non-stop. I booked three months ahead, hoping for the lowest price. The price never changed, it was the exact same on travel day.

I have no idea what I did wrong, but we ended up on a sleeper! Fortunately, I booked the lower berth, even though I wasn't aware that's what I booked. it was pretty uncomfortable, no place to sit up. Thank goodness I didn't book second class!

Every search I did came up with the same train and same day, it's not like there was any choice between high speed and sleeper.

I'd booked trains in Italy, and I was expecting the same fast, modern trains, actually sitting up and having someone come through the train with a snack cart.

I hope someone can tell you how to avoid our experience. I thought I'd done my research, obviously not!

Many thanks everyone. I'll hold off a while before arranging where to return the hire car until I can see if there is a suitable train. Organising this stuff can be very stressful, it's great to be able to get advice from people in the know.

If you hold off the car rental you may be paying more on the rental. Rental prices are elastic, and Autoeurope has been offering special rates in February. That there are trains between Brive and Paris several times a day, taking about 4 hours, is an established fact. You could plan on returning your car just before noon and have lunch in Brive. If the next direct train is in the middle or late afternoon, it gives you the opportunity to visit Brive. Don't hold off on the car rental if the cost factor is important to you.

And I'll add that Brive is a nice town and you could enjoy it for a couple of hours if you had to wait for a train.

in your planning remember:you still need an hour to drive to brive (two to sarlat) find a gas station, fill up, drop car, find train station platform. that means a v early start if you want the 900.

be sure to check rental agency times, i still prefer a 'live' dropoff to an after-hours key dropoff.

you may have more choices of rental agencies in limoges as it is bigger than brive. but brive is closer.

As someone who lives 15 km from Sarlat, about 40 from Brive, I would highly recommend that you drive to Brive, allow 1 1/2 hours, for taking car back, etc. The train from Brive to Paris takes about 4 hours with no changes. There are usually some stops, but that is not an issue. Normally there is one at 9, and another at 13h (1 p.m) the latter gets in just after 5.

You may have to wait till closer to the date to check, but don't worry, this train has been going at pretty well the same time for years.

Thank you Carlux, it is great to hear from someone who lives nearby. Just have to make sure about checkin time for our Paris apartment, the later train would save an awful rush in the morning. Can you tell me what station the train arrives at in Paris?