Dordogne travel ideas

We visited the Dordogne in the Fall of 2024 and loved it. In fact it is one of my favourite European trips ever. You'll need a car to visit the small towns. We based in Beynac-population 500 and it was perfect for us. The highlight was a hot air balloon ride one morning as we took off in light fog and the views of Beynac Castle and Castelnaud were surreal. I highly recommend planning some days to see a few castles and then some caves. Here's a link to my Trip Report if you're interested. https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/trip-report-part-2-hills-and-castles-dordogne

Nantes, La Rochelle, Bayonne and Pau would fill the time happliy. I know the first three have hotels with parking - and I bet somewhere in Pau does.

Jane,
When is your trip? What month? I highly recommend combining about 3 days in Bordeaux (4 nights) with 6-7 days (7-8 nights) in the Dordogne. Rent a car as you leave Bordeaux. The drive to the Dordogne Valley area is 3-4 hours by the D roads, which we prefer.
Bordeaux has terrible traffic, but an excellent tram system in town. It has the Cite du Vin, a lovely cathedral, the Museum of Acquitaine, great restaurants, a charming old town, the oppoprtunity to take tours of wineries in St. Emilion as well as the Bordeaux area.
In the Dordogne a car is really necessary. Sarlat is just one town in the region, the most touristy, but it is a beautiful with its buildings of golden colored stone. It is definitely worth a visit, although we chose to stay in a more rural location. We were there for 8 nights in a gite (7 of us). We went to Castelnaud-la-Chapelle, Beynac Castle, Lascaux IV, Font de Gaume cave, kayaked on the river, the Sarlat Wednesday market, Domme, a chocolatier, the Abri de la Madeleine, La Roque Gageac, Les Eyzies.....There are many places we didn't get to (some gardens and other caves and markets) due to not having enough time. And we didn't get a chance to go to the more eastern part of the area or see more of the "Plus Beaux Villages de France".
You can drive back to Bordeaux, return the car, and take a TGV from there to Paris (just over 2 hours). Or you could drive to Toulouse for your stay there, drop the car there (probably a modest drop-off fee, if any). Carcasonne could be a good day trip from Toulouse (1 1/2 hours by car). There is a TGV, I believe, from Toulouse to Gare Montparnasse in Paris (same station as from Bordeaux). That takes about 4 1/2 hours.
If you are going in the winter, some places may be closed (many caves, e.g.) We were there in early June.
Glad to hear you have a month in France. There is so much to see and do within this beautiful and varied and exciting country! Amusez-vous bien!

Thanks for the quick replies. This part of our trip is April 22-May 5. We were just checking trains from Chartres to Bordeaux but will arrive in the evening so looking for areas to stay for several days before picking up a rental car and figuring out how to spend five or six days dropping the car in Toulouse. Is four nights in Toulouse too many? We are thinking of a day bus tour to Albi

The Dordogne area of France is a favorite and I agree with previous comments that it is best explored by car. Most of the sites are not accessible by public transportation. However, the towns are ancient with narrow streets and limited parking, and particularly on market days, driving and parking can be challenging. There is often discussion on the forum about where to stay with some posters recommending the smaller towns and others suggesting Sarlat. I liked Sarlat as a home base because it was just big enough to offer a variety of restaurants, activities, and sites to see. I highly recommend renting an apartment in Maison Pierre D'Or. On the edge of town, it provides free convenient parking, easy access by car to nearby highways and a modern extensive grocery store, but also a short stroll into town.

I don't think 4 nights in Toulouse is too many. It has a lot of interesting sights.

I day-tripped to Albi by train. I don't think you necessarily need to take a tour. In fact, much of what I wanted to see was indoors (museums and cathedral), and I wouldn't have wanted to be tied to the time allocation established by a tour company.

May 1st is a public holiday in France, public transport operates on a Sunday schedule. Banks, post offices, and all public services are closed. There are on-call pharmacies, most supermarkets and shops are closed except in touristy areas.

Regarding the Dordogne, I confirm that a car is essential.

There is no problem finding parking except in Sarlat and a few specific locations during peak season. In fact, Sarlat, in my opinion, is not a particularly interesting place to visit in the Dordogne (except perhaps to satisfy tourism promoters and online influencers) since what makes the region unique are its small, quiet villages, not a medium-sized town which, while pleasant to visit, has far too many shops and restaurants to be representative of the typical local atmosphere. Also, be aware that Sarlat is located at the very western end of the Dordogne Valley, which means you'll have to travel quite a distance if you're really exploring the region.

Note also that the approximately 35 most beautiful villages in France in the region cannot have more than 3,000 inhabitants, while Sarlat has three times that number.

This map with some essential information might be helpful:

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

Four full days is a good amount of time to visit Toulouse. However, the need for a car is the opposite of the Dordogne. Having a car is something to avoid in Toulouse.

If Anita found driving and parking challenging in the Dordogne, I think she wouldn't last more than 15 minutes in the streets of Toulouse :)

So if you're staying in Toulouse, arrange to return the car on the day you arrive in Toulouse, either at Blagnac Airport or Matabiau train station. Visiting Toulouse is very easy on foot.

Some information about Toulouse:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1Z1sSFFM4Injq9W_WArpkpYN_6SanFjw&usp=sharing

We travelled through the Dordogne by e-bike in May 2023. This was a “Self-Guided” tour; the company reserved hotels, provided bikes and route maps via GPS, and arranged luggage transfers. We biked from accommodation to accommodation. Nights were in

• Bergerac
• Le Bugue
• Montignac (two nights)
• Sarlat (two nights)
• Belves
• Bergerac

Seven days cycling. (LATE NOTE cycling on cycle paths or on very quiet roads) Stops/highlights along the way were

• Les Eyzies, Font de Gaume and Musee Prehistoire
• Lascaux IV
• Les Jardins du Manoir d’Erygnac
• La Rocque Gageac
• Castelnaud-la-Chapelle
• Chateau des Milandes (Josephine Baker’s residence)

We’ve become enamored with self-guided e-biking as away to explore regions, get exercise, see Europe through the back door, and lose weight while dining well. We’ve now done such trips in the Dordogne, the Loire Valley chateau region, Burgundy, Alsace, the Mosel River valley in Germany and Puglia - the heel of the Italian boot.

In the Dordogne, we modified the proposed tour so we could add a second night in Montignac and have time to explore Lascaux and spend extra time in and around Montignac.

If this interests you, see https://www.freewheelingfrance.com/ and https://www.levelovoyageur.com/en/homepage/

In our experience, self-guided tours are easily adapted by operators to meet our specific choices and we’ve been able to schedule any start day we choose. We’ve added days here and there and shortened offered tours to fit our schedules and interests. Of course, all this needs to be done when booking, but that’s been easily accomplished.

There are many such options all over France. Shorter, longer. E-bike or regular bike. 3 to 4 star hotels, or 2 to 3 star. Hotels usually are centrally located. And multiple operators as the Freewheeling France website will show you.

In the Dordogne I suggest Cook Dordogne for a cooking class. It takes place at Le Chevrefeuille, near Saint Cyprien. That is a nice place to stay.