Planning an April 2020 visit to the Dordogne and will use Sarlat and Beynac as bases......so am ready to see what to plan for each day as we drive around the area......do I sense that we need an English tour reservation for Font de Gaume? And which of the Lascaux caves do we see......2, 3 or 4.....that is confusing. Already researched a company to take a river canoe trip with but want to make certain I am not leaving anything else out......we want to see the Beynac castle and the Sarlat markets as well......any restaurant recommendations for this area? I know there are a couple of gardens to see....so appreciate your help!
Posted by
Boston
4132 posts
Hi Jane,
I'd suggest keeping it simple and choosing either Beynac or Sarlat as your base, not both. They are close together.
April is off season and the Font du Gaume situation keeps changing. If you can get a reservation, take it! but otherwise be prepared to show up early and wait. And though it is not ideal, a French-language tour is far far better than no tour at all.
For caves in the region, my favorite was Peche Merle, in the Lot. You could make a day trip that included that cave plus St Cirq la Popie, a charming hill town.
Do read several guidebooks to the region--they will have recent information and expand the horizons of your trip.
Posted by
Fort Myers, FL
1678 posts
I spent 11 days in the Dordogne in May. There are a great number of villages to see. I would suggest looking up Cities and Villages in the Dordogne on Google and read about them and decide which you would like to spend your time. Here is a list of places I visited. Some may interest you and some may not. There are many archaeological places you may or not be interested in the valley. I like Sarlat, but I personally didn't think it was as central to the the valley and I stayed about 40 miles west of there and had one base. Many places are close together so you can do at least a couple a day easily. Just a note, the weather in April can be very rainy and cool. It was in May. The crowds will be substantially low at this time of year. As an example, I drove to Lascaux and walked right in to an English tour. Check websites for times. You may want to plan your canoe trip when you are there because of the weather.
Beaumont du Perigord, Belves, Beynac, Biron, Cadouin, Castlenaud, Commarque, Domme, La Madeleine, LaRoque-Gergeac, LaRoque-St. Cristophe, Lascaux 4, Monbazillac, Monpanzier, Saint Cypien (Especially on their market day), Sarlat.
Posted by
189 posts
I would definitely recommend an English tour of Font de Gaume. Be sure and check on reservations. We went in 2015 and I'm sure things have changed since then. Recently we were in this area for a month in May/June, a favorite place for us.
We canoed from Cenac but there are plenty of choices.
We go to the Sarlat Saturday market and the Sunday Saint Cyprien market preferring the later. If you are renting a house pick up a rotisserie chicken and veggies from Eric, the big chicken truck, wine and croissants/pastries(below) for lunch. If it's strawberry season by all means get those, much different(better in my view) than our U.S. strawberries. Our weekly Sunday lunch/dinner.
The Sarlat market is great but much more touristy.
Our favorite pastry shop is les gourmandises de lucco on D703 going into Saint Cyprien. Get there early in the morning or they will be mostly sold out.
Les Jardins de marqueyssac is very nice. Either before your walk or after get a table and have, wine, lunch or ice cream and enjoy the view of the country side and the peacocks strolling around the tables.
Enjoy the region. It's great.
Posted by
Chicago
8092 posts
Things change all the time; the last time I was in the Dordogne the Font du Gaume no longer took reservations. You had to show up very early and there were 60 places on benches out front -- when the ticket office opened at 9 the 60 people sitting in those seats go tickets. Savings seats was not allowed (although once a group was established people might come and go for coffee or bathroom, but one person was not allowed to show up and put coats on several seats.).
It is by far that bet cave experience IMHO. Roffignac has never been crowded when we have been there in May and in September; we just boarded the next tour train. It is also a good natural cave experience. Peche Merle is a beautiful cave but except for the spotted horses has very little interesting cave art. The Lascaux recreations are a must to see what it really looked like back in the day.