My wife and I are thinking of taking a 2-month trip to the Dordogne area in March and April 2025, and we are thinking of renting a place for that time in either Periguex or Bergerac (we have already spent time in Sarlat). We are not looking to make a lot of side trips to see the sights (although we may do some), and are more interested in getting to know what life is like in a French city in the Dordogne (we speak some French, enough to get by). Does anyone have any recommendations for finding suitable accommodations for two (nothing fancy) in either of those cities? we need a place without too many stairs, as we are both up in years. We may or may not rent a car, depending (partly) on the public transportation in the city. Also, any recommendations as to whether Periguex or Bergerac is better? Thanks. Peter
Posted by
France Southwest
2518 posts
I don't really understand what you're looking for during this 2-month stay.
"getting to know what life is like in a French city in the Dordogne
"
Do you want to do a sociological study, or work for a local company, or in a farm? Learn the local dialect?
Or maybe during your previous stay you realized that Sarlat and the surrounding area are the Dordogne for tourists but not quite the real one, but in that case why do you only think of Perigueux and Bergerac?
That being said, if you stay two months without a car you will start to understand what life is like in the Dordogne, and I'm not sure that you'll like that. :))
Posted by
Duluth 🛶
8477 posts
Hi adodd, you might want to look at this trip report from a long-time poster here who recently returned from the Dordogne area. I don't know that it will answer your specific questions (and you may want to rephrase your title if you are asking for lodging recommendation), but it should give you some idea of the area. https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/trip-report-part-2-hills-and-castles-dordogne
Posted by
L'Occitanie, France
10773 posts
You will need to look for what is labeled a vacation rental, which should not be difficult at that time of year. French law requires that a furnished rental has a one-year contract, but a vacation rental meets your requirements and can be rented for two months. You have the usual Airbnb, Abritel, Booking.com places to search, but also a respected and reliable French organization called Gites de France https://www.gites-de-france.com/en/search?seed=66301686&towns=44244.
March will be gray and cold still, but in April things will be coming to life.
You will see what it's like to stay, but remember that people living in these cities have friends, family and activities. If you don't want to be alone the whole time, you may want to look up the private English-speaking Facebook groups for the area. They may have meet-ups, book clubs, gatherings for meals together, and tips on apartment rentals, shopping, etc. There's actually a group with 11 members called Americans in Bergerac, but there's another group called South, West, and Rest of France with about 126K members. You can probably find others using Dordogne or other search terms.
Bonne chance.