Dordogne

In the area around Sarlat would be nice.

I agree. Sarlat would be hard to beat. It’s very pretty and well located. It’s just big enough to have everything you need (including a McDonalds if the kids can’t stand being without). It will put you close to all things you want to see.

Stay in Sarlat. The medieval center is lovely and around the edges are all of the modern amentities. It is a small city of about 10,000 but the center feels like a small village.

I would stay in beynac. You can walk to and along the river and it doesn't have the traffic congestion of sarlat. It is Central to all major destinations and close to the beach in vitrac. You have a knockout market on Sunday and a supermarket in nearby St cyprien, and my favorite butcher and pattisseri in all of France in town. I've spent 2 weeks there with my kids and they love it.

Matt

I'm not sure you can go too far wrong. The distances are very short between all these places. Having walking-distance access to the river would be a priority for me with the young boys, as it offers instant entertainment, even if it's just rock-throwing. My 12yoa son and I have been in Sarlat old town for two weeks, and I wish we had stayed someplace on the river.

I agree with Matt - stay in Beynac rather than Sarlat. Much more charming and closer to canoeing activities and such. Easier to get in and out. You can visit Sarlat, but it's the countryside in the Dordogne that is so inviting.

Hard to go wrong with either Beynac or Sarlat. We stayed in Beynac for a week last year and loved it. Partly it depends on what your children like to do. Sarlat might be better for that reason. There are many other places to recommend, but I wouldn't suggest staying to far to the West. Many years ago we stayed in the direction of Bergerac, and we spent most of our time driving towards Beynac, Sarlat, La Roque Gageac, Domme, etc.

We loved Beynac, you might also consider Castelnaud a short distance on the south side of the river. Beynac and Castelnaud have castles that will fascinate your boys (they fascinated me as a 68-year-old boy). Sarlat is nearby and definitely worth a day or two, especially one of the market days, but using it as a base would mean driving in and out a lot.

Will this be next summer? A rural or small-town base will be pleasanter in nice weather. If you're looking at winter, you might want to consider Sarlat.

Gites de France is a good source of rental houses if you don't have something else in mind.

We've rented a gite near Cenac which is just south of Sarlat. You want to be a short driving distance from Beynac, Sarlat, Le Roque. Be sure and hit the Sunday morning market in St Cyprien for lunch/dinner fixings. We spent 4 weeks on the first trip and two weeks on the second. Hopefully we'll be there for 4 weeks next year.

We like Sarlat a lot but wouldn't want to stay there for a month. We prefer to enjoy the quiet countryside.

Not that you want to stay there, but be sure to visit Perigueux, which will be the site of the 100th Felibrée in 2019. This year, it was in St. Cyprien, and three months later, when we arrived, the city was still draped in artificial flowers. Super charming.

We stayed in St. Vincent de Cosse this past July for 1 week in a charming gite. We had a large yard with 2 trampolines, a slide, and a treehouse, and lots of space for our kids to run around. There were also chickens that roamed free in the yard and were fun to watch. The yard was shared with about 3 or 4 other gites so our kids got to play with other kids too. It was maybe a 7 minute drive to Beynac, and a 10-15 minute drive to Sarlat. A few minutes in the opposite direction brought us to a place on the river where there was a little beach for swimming and where canoes and kayaks could be rented.

This sounds like a marvellous trip- I am trying to figure out a way to take our family back there already!! :)

Beynac is much smaller than Sarlat. I can't recall a grocery store there?

I'd go with Sarlat, it's more a place you could make a home for a month. There will be plenty of services.

Another place I really liked was Domme. It's bigger than Beynac but smaller than Sarlat. I can't recall seeing a grocery in Domme either but it's the size town that would probably have one (maybe even two?).

Wherever you go, try to get designated parking. These are tourist areas and most of the parking is either paid parking or for local residents only.

Beynac has a small grocery store in the same plaza as the bakery and butcher shop. You wouldn't want to do all your shopping there but it is fine to buy a few things. The drive to the full supermarket in saint cyprien is on the order of 13 minutes. Sarlat has all of the big supermarkets but they are likely not in the places where you would be staying. So you can figure at least an 8 minute drive from the old town to the market.

Last September, we went to the Dordogne with another family. We were 8 in total, 4 adults and 4 kids, 16, 16, 13 and 12. We stayed at a gite near Bergerac. As a place to stay and go to Sarlat everyday, not a good choice. But the place we stayed at was on 5 hectares, and had a swimming pool. The house was actually two that shared a kitchen, so we had enough privacy.

It is not far on the map to Sarlat but the roads is not the greatest so that will take a bit. But it was only a few km from Bergerac so you have all the big stores close by. Also you can get kayaks from there to go down the river. The market in Sarlat in impressive, but many villages in the area have their own market days. We went to the one in Issigeac and in Eymet. There were also some small wineries in the area and some chateaux to visit. The Château de Monbazillac has visits to the Chateau and to it´s winery.

One place I would highly recommend, especially with young boys is the Chateau de Bridoire It is a Chateau that they have turned into a medieval games place. There is also a forest maze that is quite big, with all kinds of things to discover. In the grass field before the castle, there had a large chessboard on the ground with lifesize pieces. Our 16 yos had a lot of fun playing chess, standing on the board being in the game instead of just moving pieces on a small chessboard.

The Château de Monbazillac has visits to the Chateau and to it´s winery.

Some very good (sweet) Monbazillac there, and a kitten that climbed up my back. But that was over 20 years ago, so it's probably no longer there. But he wine will be.
And I'll agree about the driving from Bergerac towards Sarlat. It's not so much that the roads are bad, it's that they're so curvy because of the river and geography. Driving most days from our gite east of Bergerac towards Sarlat, Domme, La Roque Gageac, etc. took a lot of time. So last year we stayed at a gite in Beynac instead.

Robert, it wouldn't surprise me if there are still cats there, but as we were on a family vacation, and our dog is family, I'm sure that any cats that were there stayed away from us.