Base for a Visit to Dordogne & other related questions!

Went to the Dordogne 2 years ago and loved it. We flew into Paris, spent a night, trained to Tours and picked up our rental car. We drove to Sarlat where we based for a few days at the La Lanterne B&B ….loved it. Its market is great and found a wonderful small bakery with a delicious breakfast and ate there everyday……saw the Gardens of Eyrignac Manor and enjoyed driving the countryside during the day. Drove to Beynac where we stayed at La Source B&B and it was delightful…..Marqueyssac Gardens, Canoe ride to La Roque-Gagaec. The canoe ride had a small problem glitch I can share with you later if you are interested……drove to Amboise, spent a few days there as we love the chateaus and went back to see Villandry again, Chenonceau…….then home to Paris a few days before flying home……we LOVE Paris and don’t ever mind staying there a few extra days before heading home. I think October is fine. I know the caves in the Dordogne are wonderful but we did not prioritize those.

Thanks so much, Jane! Such helpful advice. What time of year did you go?

Taking a train (or flight) to Bordeaux and then renting a car is a good option.
There is also the option of taking a train to Brive-la-Gaillarde and renting a car there. The train journey being 2 hours longer because it's not on a TGV line but on the other hand in Brive la gaillarde you will be less than an hour from your destination.
while from Bordeaux you still have at least 2 hours of driving to the Dordogne

Anyway you can't visit the Dordogne without a car

The weather in October is generally quite pleasant. Last year there were even a few days as hot as the middle of August.
However, the evenings can be cool enough to light a fireplace.

Most non-European visitors are unaware that the Dordogne valley is not just Sarlat la Canéda and its immediate surroundings (La Roque-Gageac, Domme, Beynac-et-Cazenac, etc.) and imagine that it is the best place to find accommodation.

Which is not necessarily true, or even completely false if you want to avoid the masses of tourists.
Especially since the Dordogne valley is not just this small part of Perigord but extends much further to the East and also includes the Lot valley and the Quercy region.

If you want an overview of the possible bases depending on what you want to do and see, see this map, I have put a lot of information there:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1OdPOg8AgsNn0Jlv1cNHkujaWv9p_Jpc&usp=sharing

Regarding accommodation see the "Gites de France", you will find many more possibilities than hotels in this very rural region.
It's a very old and very well-known organization in France which offers accommodation run by individuals which can range from a simple room to a castle with a swimming pool. These accommodations are regularly inspected to ensure that they meet comfort and service requirements.

https://www.gites-de-france.com/en/search?departments=41&adults=2&children=0&infants=0&seed=7ca9294

Kristina,
Jolui has it all correct regarding the size of the area. Also, I concur with her Bordeaux idea. The drive from Paris will take up a good part of a day. We rented our car in Bordeaux, as we had taken a train from Marseille to Bordeaux, spent the night there, and drove on the D roads to our gite near Vitrac/La Roque Gageac. Returning the car to Bordeaux after 10 days in the Dordogne, we stayed one night again in Bordeaux and took the very fast TGV to Paris (roughly 2 hours) the next day. (The bonus was a chance to see a bit of Bordeaux.)
With a car, I wouldn't bother changing lodgings for such a short stay. Just be centrally located (Sarlat is in the western part of the area) and you will find that most sights are less than an hour away. Sarlat is a beautiful town with "golden" buildings, and definitely worth a visit, but parking, and driving in and out of it, are problematic. A smaller town will be easier to navigate.

For a 3-4 night stay (2-3 full days), I would choose your must-sees and must-dos, and pick my lodging location based on that. When we were there last year for 10 days, we stayed in the western area because all our plans involved activities around there. (Next time we will see more of the eastern part of the region.)
And do check out Gites-de-France for lodging. We use it all the time (at least when we are not staying with family).
You can check my trip report from last year titled "Just returned from four weeks in France...continued". It may give you some ideas.
You are headed to a wonderful place! Have fun!

We stayed in Sarlat in February and it was lovely. We had a different southern route than others what others mentioned. We rented a car in Avignon. There are many lovely towns in the Dordogne and mostly stayed in Sarlat because of the time of year. We were fortunate to get into Font-du-Gaume and it was amazing, and I could go on. If you like museums the prehistoric museum in Les Eyzies was pretty impressive. A car is definitely necessary in Dordogne.

We took the train from Paris to Bordeaux where we picked up our rental car. We drove to Sarlat where we had a rental house that we booked on Vrbo. It was very old and very wonderful! We visited Lascaux 4 and Grotte de Font de Gaume. We also visited Beynac Castle. The area is just very beautiful. Then we drove to Amboise where we visited the house of Leonardo da Vinci, Chateau du Clos Luce. We also visited Chenonceaux, which was magical. (It seems our trip was very similar to Janes!). We left our car at the train station in Tours and took the train to the airport, where our hotel for our last night was. We were there in June, so I can't advise you about weather in October, but the Dordogne is very beautiful and I think you'll love it.

Kristina….we were there in April/May 2022

A visit to Dordogne by car from CDG requires taking the Peripherique around Paris since the airport is north of the city. I did it once and do not plan to ever do it again. It is high stress driving similar to the Washington DC Beltway except you are in an unfamiliar rental car in another country, not devoid of stress. Take the train to Bordeaux or Avignon and drive from there. Sarlat is large enough for an interesting dining scene, a village may be easier to navigate but more limiting. The local cuisine is wonderful. Your location depends on what your idea of a good time may be. The area is delightful. You might read some of Martin Walker's Bruno series to get a taste for the area through fiction. Happy planning!