We're traveling from Avignon to Guillac and will have about 4 days to stay somewhere in between. We have a toddler, so we want to minimize driving time in single days, and are hoping to drive from Avignon to somewhere North of Toulouse and South of Dordogne, where we can stay as a home base and either take cool day trips or explore where we are staying. I'm looking at this map, and there are just so many options! :)
Any tips or favorite spots?
Guillac in Brittany, right?
So you've got about 12 hours of highway driving to do? Why are you not targeting the Dordogne?
Kim,
I am going to assume that you are traveling to Guillac near Bordeaux (which is, technically, north of Toulouse and south of the Dordogne).
In that case, I think your best home base is in the Dordogne, not south of it. There are just more things to see there without a ton of driving. But perhaps the real answer depends on how you want to spend your time.
If the Dordogne is just too far to go in a single haul with a toddler, then consider breaking your trip in Carcassonne or Castres or Albi. But for a base, go to Sarlat or Beynac or similar near the river.
I agree with Adam. It is tough to find a place with more to do within a small driving radius than the Dordogne.
Head for the Sarlat area. If you like a small city then Sarlat. Nice villages on the river are Beynac as previously suggested or La Roque-Gageac. Either of those two would make an excellent base.
@Matt - Guillac near Bordeaux. It's about a 5.5 hour drive straight from Avignon, but we are hoping to break it up into two days of driving with a several days' stopover in the middle somewhere (we have 4 days to play with) - a 5.5 hour drive with a toddler turns into an 8+hour roadtrip day, which we'd rather not do. We do want to go to Dordogne, but that drive is also about 5.5 hours from Avignon, so we were hoping to drive somewhere midway, stay for a few days, and do day trip visits to the Dordogne or other places surrounding where we end up staying. We may do just do 2 days in [midway point we haven't identified yet] and then 2 days in Dordogne.
The Dordogne is a better base. Maybe stop on the way if you must, but base in the Dordogne where you can be to a dozen fascinating place in a half hour of driving. Maybe drive Avignon to Carcassone for one night and then on to Sarlat or a smaller town in that region. We prefer small villages as a base with a car but lots of people prefer the greater variety of amenities in a city like Sarlat -- parking is a bigger issue to deal with so make sure the hotel has access to a parking lot even a pay lot not to far away.
