Dordogne Itinerary

I hope the specifics you have listed for each day are just possibilities for consideration. There is no way you can cram in all those stops. One thing to keep in mind is that driving will be mostly on 2 lane, winding roads; and, therefore, it will take longer than the distances suggest. Check a site like viamichelin.com, and then add about 25% to get a sense of how long travel will take.
We liked Les Milandes a lot. The interest there is the incredible life of Josephine Baker, told through artifacts, recordings, photos, and film clips. I found the film of her receiving the Legion d’Honneur from Charles DeGaulle and the picture of her standing with M. L. King at the great March on Washington very moving.

When you pull in with your canoe you have to secure paddles and life jackets and your barrel safe and wandering around a town with those seems untenable to me. when we did it, we just pulled the canoe up near a terrace restaurant near the water and hauled our stuff to the terrace by our table. I would visit towns with the car and not have to worry about security with a canoe.

This is a lot of stuff but mostly good stuff -- I'd be prepared to relax a bit and maybe group some things. We did Marqueyssac and Milandes on the same day. Colognes la Rouges which we did decades ago was a tourist trappy nightmare then; can't imagine what it must be like now with the bus tours and tat shops. I'd aim for less well touristed villages. Here was part of an idylic day we took with friends; after this deserted village and interesting medieval church we went on to another small town that was a little livelier and also had an interesting old church.
ttps://janettravels.wordpress.com/2017/08/01/montferrand-du-perigord-and-its-12th-century-stone-church-st-christophe/
We also visited Commarque and found it very interesting; be sure to go to the nearby Abri du CapBlanc with its prehistoric horse friezes:
https://www.northofthedordogne.com/abri-du-cap-blanc.php
Here is our visit to Commarque
https://janettravels.wordpress.com/2017/07/25/perfect-place-for-murder-commarque-chateau/
You will be too late for the night markets but be sure to visit one of the large day markets.

And I would not miss Font du Gaume and the nearby Prehistoric Museum in Les Eyzies. Font du Gaume is the best genuine cave art in the area although Roffingnac is also very interesting -- you ride a little train under ground. It is easier to visit and they have great souvenir T shirts. IMHO Pech Merle is not much although if in the area might as well. Pretty natural cave but except for the spotted horses (which to my surprise as I had always considered them a hoax, are apparently genuine according to recent carbon dating) there is little cave art.

We loved Peche Merle; it was one of our favorite caves with original drawings and paintings. We especially loved the spotted horses panel, the handprints, and the footprint of the adolescent boy. There are also stalagmites and stalactites. So, different strokes for different folks, which is a good thing, right? We also loved Grotte de Rouffignac, where you ride the train through the cave. There are original drawings, domes on the ceilings, and hundreds of bear nests/beds. Another favorite is Gouffre de Padirac, with its spectacular gigantic stalagmites and stalactites. You descend into a sinkhole via a combination of elevator and stairs. then take a small boat along the subterranean river. When the boat ride ends, you walk up and down many stairs to see beautiful and huge formations with high ceilings.

We drove through the countryside to visit villages. According to my notes, we visited Loubressac where we had lunch and enjoyed breathtaking views. We stopped at Autoire and then Carennac, both beautiful towns. So we had time to visit 3 villages.

Lascaux and Font du Gaume are artistic tours de force -- Roffignac is very interesting and full of drawings but less artistically interesting than the first two. IMHO Peche Merle except for the spotted horses is not interesting (but beautiful cave). No tourist can visit Lascaux or Chauvet but the replicas are quite wonderful and certainly give an idea of how powerful the art was. Font du Gaume is damaged by weather, but also full of amazing artistic material and the best 'real deal' I have had a chance to see.

In regards to the caves - I had entertained the idea of Font de Gaume - and maybe we should find a way to include it. We’ve never been in anything remotely like these caves in the Dordogne so I have no idea if it is something we will enjoy beyond visiting one or two of them. Pech Merle seems to be very well liked by many; the horse art and the geological formations do pique my own interests. Also, since it is so very close to St Cirq Lapopie, it seemed logical to include it. I was hesitant to commit to touring three caves as it seems like a lot for the time we have and we don’t know how much we will like them. As FDG is only possible by getting up early and queuing, maybe we could just play it by ear and find a place to fit it in if we feel like it is a must-see after touring the others...and we will plan to save any other caves for a return visit as we have limited time. Though they all sound interesting in their own right!

Janet - thanks for the pointers on the canoe ride. I had been wondering about how to deal with the gear. RS notes in his book that the canoes/kayaks are not valuable enough to steal - but perhaps that doesn’t pertain to the gear that’s associated with them. I think we will stick to a shorter, half-day route. This will allow us to tour a village or two via car during the other half of the day. Would a morning or afternoon float be better in September?

Kmkwoo, do you remember what all you did the day you visited the three towns? Was it just touring the towns or more?

Rosalyn, yes, not all of the days am I planning to be able to fit everything in. I like having ideas of things to do and be able to adjust and mix/match as needed while actually there. It’s been helpful on past trips for sure. I’ve ran across a few trip reports where I’ve read conflicting information as far as timing. Some people spend an entire day in one village while others visit 2-3 plus a cave or a castle. So it’s a bit difficult to ascertain what might be reasonable for us since everyone travels differently.

Julie, according to my journal, this is what we did the day we visited the villages:

First we visited Gouffre de Padirac, and the tour was about 90 minutes long. We were there in May, so it was not crowded at all. After visiting Padirac, "we began a drive to some beautiful villages in the area: Loubressac, with its breathtaking views, where we had lunch at the only hotel/restaurant; then on to Autoire, very tiny & maybe not as "well-groomed" as Loubressac. And our last stop is Carennac, where we followed our daughter's guidebook and did our own walking tour - another beautiful town!" That is all I wrote. When we visit villages, we typically walk around, take photos, and have lunch if it's lunch time, perhaps stop for a drink in a pretty setting. We use guidebooks for walking tours. If these villages have Tourist Information offices, you could get walking tours from them, I assume. I'm not sure if there would be guided walking tours, but I don't think that would be necessary. We even like to visit pretty and interesting cemeteries, if we come across any during our walks.

Regarding Font du Gaume, I did write down that we stopped there when we were in the area, but they were already full for the day. They only allow 180 people in the cave per day.