Dordogne Itenerary

Before any suggestions, how do you plan to get to Sarlat? Do you plan to rent a car? If so, where will you be picking it up?

In case you hadn't considered this keep in mind that most of the caves, châteaux, and villages are not served by public transport. Consequently, visiting the Dordogne is best done by car, public transport options are virtually non-existent and taxis are scarce,mostly used by locals for medical appointments. There are practically no Uber drivers operating in these rural areas, it isn't a profitable job given the low number of customers.

Yes, will have a car

While waiting for suggestions from recent visitors, you can check out this map. I've included all the caves in the region on it, whether they have prehistoric paintings or not. There is a brief description and a website link for each cave.

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

Regarding the caves, in quite a few cases the scheduled tour times and potential English-language tours won't be available until at least April for a visit in June.

Note that while Sarlat can be convenient for being inside a tourist "bubble," be sure to check parking options because it gets very crowded with tourists. There are thousands of other options that let you be well-located while avoiding the chaos of Sarlat.

pa12sms,
By three days I assume you mean 4 nights (3 full days, not partial ones). Briefly, and arrange how you wish, you could include, with 2 things per day: one of the great castles (Beynac or Castelnaud la Chapelle); 2 caves (Lascaux IV for great reproduction and presentations of info) and another cave of your choice; a market (doesn't have to be the big one in Sarlat); a kayak trip (a good 4 hours, IMO, so a half-day). Also there are: Chateau Des Milandes; Marqueyssac Gardens; many of"Les plus beaux villages de France"; a visit to a vineyard or farm or orchard. Take your pick, but a prehistoric cave visit is the one thing to not miss!

In 2023, our then 9 and 12 y/o grandkids especially loved both Lascaux IV and Font de Gaume caves. Next was kayaking on the Dordogne River, third was a tie between Beynac Castle and Castelnaud la Chapelle. And always, they loved the food! Hubby and I were the two elderly ones along (79 and 80 at the time, with 3 artificial knees between us and one ready for a change-out). Three GenXers as well. Aside from us oldies getting out of the kayaks in a particularly awkward way, we all managed quite well.
Enjoy!

Excellent advice above. We especially enjoyed Les Combarelles and Font du Gaume. The guides were excellent and the small group goes into the actual site. You must book these in advance. We also went to Lascaux IV and were very impressed by the re-creation. Sarlat is very beautiful and Domme is also lovely for a few hours.

I concur about Chateau Des Milandes is soooooo worth the visit. Really liked old town Sarlat and they have a cute farmer's market. We visited Font-de-Gaume cave because we were there in february a couple of years ago. Lascaux was closed. This cave only takes about 20 people a day. A fit senior will likely be able to do the tour. I also recommend the museum in nearby Les Eyzies-de-Tayac-Sireuil (cute little town). Looking for the name I found some things we missed. Driving times are very slow in the Dordogne, and I would be happy to visit again.

We enjoyed Font de Gaume as well as Roque Saint Christophe. Beynac was our favorite castle in 15 countries. I have seen several recommendations to stay in Beynac instead of Sarlat. I wouldn't stay in Sarlat again.

We stayed in a number of towns in the area, including Sarlat, as we did a self-guided walking tour and they had us moving around quite a bit. Sarlat was nice, but definitely the most mobbed with tourists. We really liked staying in Montignac. We went to Lascaux IV, and while interesting enough, for some reason it wasn't a highlight for me. We liked Chateau des Milandes and Roque St. Christophe. There are some great walks to be done in the area and beautiful towns. We didn't kayak on the river, but would have liked to. It's a nice area to just soak up and enjoy, and not overschedule yourselves.

Hello. Rent a kayak in Beynac and take a three-hour trip upstream—a route of about 12 km. It is very easy, and the river views are more spectacular from a kayak than from a car, especially when passing La Roque-Gageac, Castelnaud, and Beynac. It is more convenient to leave your car at the finish point, as you won't have to stick to a strict schedule for the shuttle.