1 night between Sarlat and Saint-Remy?

We did this exact thing last year, although we stayed in Isle sur la Sorgue. We did your 1st option. I think we left the Dordogne mid-morning, arriving in Carcassonne around 3 (maybe we can't remember). Dropped our bags at our rental and walked over to the fortress city for the evening/night. We departed in the morning (maybe 9a) and arrived at Pont du Gard mid-day. We spent much of the afternoon there, including lunch, and then drove the 1 (?) to Isle sur...

That said, we were in the Dordogne for 4, Carcassonne 1, and Provence 4...

The Pont du Gard day turned into a swimming day. We have 3 kids (then 9, 12, 14) and there was a cliff to jump from into the water. MANY people were there swimming. So if you;re with kids, or even if you aren't, allot time for that ;)

edited to add: we opted for no visit to Avignon. Nor to Nimes. We concentrated our time in villages in Provence. But you are there one more night than we were .... I just didn't want to be in a 'city', so we avoided them (maybe bc we also visited other larger cities on that trip, like Paris...)

would you give up a night in Sarlat or Saint-Remy to spend a night in Carcassonne or Avignon

Having been to all 4 places, I wouldn't give up a night in Sarlat or St. Remy for a night in Carcassone or Avignon. I thought Sarlat and St. Remy were great towns, whereas I didn't think much of the other 2. Maybe you could substitute Nimes, or even the smaller city of Sommieres.

More time in Sarlat, if that is an option. you won't regret that unless you find the drive across France to be too taxing.

Driving all the way to Avignon and then stopping would be a really poor decision, in my view. St Remy is like another 20 minutes away. If you need to break the trip (which you might), your Carcassonne plan, with Pont du Gard enroute, is the better choice.

Thanks all

unless you find the drive across France to be too taxing.<<

This is one of my concerns. How brutal is that drive from Sarlat to St-Remy?
We prefer to keep our driving to 3-4 hours but in this case might not work.
We have another long day drive before Sarlat coming from Amboise so breaking this day up with a stop in Carcassonne seemed like a good option. It would only make sense to me to stop in Carcassonne if we left Sarlat after Sat market- Carcassonne only needs late afternoon and the evening.

Our other concern is parking at Pont du Gard with luggage in the car. Should I be concerned? Of course we will have everything hidden but ...

We concentrated our time in villages in Provence.<<

That would be my preference as well- we start in Paris and end in Nice- so that's enough big cities for us!

Still not sure what we will do. We have wonderful places to stay in both Sarlat and St-Remy. I do have that 1 night booked in Carcassonne and will hang on to it for the time being. Trip is in Sept.

Down to these 2 options now I think:

This one solves the long drive issue and the parking at Pont du Gard issue
(before this is Paris, Normandy/MSM, Loire Valley- 7 nights total)
Wed- arrive Sarlat 4 pm? 3 nights
Thurs- Sarlat town and chill, pool, etc
Fri- visit Dordogne villages, boat ride
Sat Sarlat market in AM-- leave for Carcassonne- arriving 3 or 4
Sun Leave- drive to St-Remy 5 nights
Mon SR- town, chill
Tues- day trip Luberon villages or Uzes/Pont du Gard
Wed- SR market, Glanum, etc
Thurs- day trip Luberon villages or Uzes/Pont du Gard
Fri- to Arles in am drop car- 2 nights then off to Nice for 4 nights

This one solves just the parking at Pont du Gard issue
(before this is Paris, Normandy/MSM, Loire Valley- 7 nights total)
Wed- arrive Sarlat 4 pm? 4 nights
Thurs- Sarlat town and chill, pool, etc
Fri- visit Dordogne villages, boat ride
Sat Sarlat market in AM---------->>>what to do this afternoon??
Sun Leave- long drive to St-Remy 5 nights
Mon SR- town, chill
Tues- day trip Luberon villages or Uzes/Pont du Gard
Wed- SR market, Glanum, etc
Thurs- day trip Luberon villages or Uzes/Pont du Gard
Fri- to Arles in am drop car- 2 nights then off to Nice for 4 nights

I stayed at an Airbnb in a little town, Balazuc, near the Ardeche. In the morning, I visited the area before heading toward Arles where I stayed.

Since Ardeche isn't on your itinerary. I'd suggest working your way toward Pont du Gard with an eye toward seeing it later in the day. The evening light on the bridge is really nice. I was there in September. I arrived as most everything was closing but it was fine for photographing the bridge and hiking around a little.

I avoided Avignon primarily because it has the most traffic.

Hi Christine. This is a common question and you will find a lot if great info on the archives of this site. I have done the long drive twice (once from beynac to st Remy, once from beynac to collioure), with kids and did not find it taxing. It is a good highway with great rest stops along the way. My personal opinion is that that dordogne is my favorite and I would not sacrifice any nights there, that Avignon is a traffic headache but definitely doable as a side trip from St Remy.

Matt