Driving route from Bordeaux to Sarlat

You will be driving through some of the most beautiful areas of France. My recommendation is to take a slower route on a D road and avoid the faster A roads. Waze calls it about a 2.5 hour drive on the A road from Bordeaux to Sarlat.

I would leave Bordeaux at around 8 and drive a couple hours on a slower road with a targeted village in mind. One of the Les Plus Beaux Village that we visited last month was Ste Leon sur Vezere which is on your way. Research the village and restaurants available, if it appeals to you, make it your lunch stop here arriving about 11 to explore the village. Waze says it’s about a 2 hour drive Fr Bordeaux, add 45 min to 1 hour for use of a D road. Sarlat is only about 30 minutes from there. Keep in mind many shops are closed at noon until around 2.

We just returned from a wonderful two week stay in the Dordogne region ( our base was Saint-Cyprien). Let me know if you would like our favorite villages list.

If you enjoy coffee, head to Brulerie Sarladaise in Sarlat for beans and ground beans to enjoy during your stay. We brought 10# home.

Definitely don't take the autoroute (A89). Don't get me wrong, French autoroutes are great to drive on, but you want to see the countryside.

I've only done the stretch between Bergerac and Sarlat. There was a "scenic route" marked on my Michelin map (I believe the D32), but frankly it was nothing special. I had a much better drive taking the road that follows the Dordogne River (D660). Stay on the north side of the river, when the D660 crosses at Lalinde, to see the Cingle de Tremolat scenic viewpoint.

Beynac is a really nice stop for lunch. It was our home base, and we love it there. The Chateau de Beynac is another great place for panoramic views over the valley.

We stumbled upon this restored Manoir in Saint-Leon-sur-Vezere and did a self tour. Touring castles is not really our thing and we have visited oh so many in the Loire Valley on a previous trip, but this one looked interesting and a self tour was for us.

https://www.manoirsaintleon.com/

We also re-visited Beynac as well as La Roque Gageac on this trip and were surprised and disappointed to find both full of tourists and tour buses. The last time we had visited was about 13 years ago, so I guess this would be expected. IMO, your first stop would be so much easier and more enjoyable in a village that is less of a “destination” , easier to get into the restaurant of your choice and not negotiating crowds.

Keep Beynac on your list for a later visit, the views of the Dordogne from the castle are magnificent. We
Took took our Xmas photo there in 2009 with the hot air balloons in the background.

I second the suggestion "taking the road that follows the Dordogne River (D660). Stay on the north side of the river." My wife and I did that that route several years ago, and were delightfully surprised at how scenic it was. Peter

Thank you, thank you, thank you. This all was wonderful information. JHilts, yes please send me your favorite villages list. With so many lovely places and so little time it is hard to decide. I particularly want to thank you for the coffee suggestion. We are suburban Seattlites and love our morning coffee so we will hone in on Brulerie Sarladaise.
We will stay in Sarlat on the mornings of the Wednesday and Saturday market. On our Thursday we will have a separate trip to Beynac with lunch in Roque G at La Belle Etoile and then, if it works, a gaberre ride along the river. If timing and energy hold out we can visit Castelnoud on the way back. I heard this is lovely in the afternoon. I understand that Sarlat is sleepy on a Sunday so will plan to visit a cave on that day unless that is a day when EVERYBODY is visiting caves. I keep looking for September to open up on the ticket site for Grotte de Gaum. If that doesn't work I will try Lascaux. Not sure if II or IV would be better for us but I'm sure neither is a wrong choice.
Next step is to check out Vezere. It is one of the villages I wanted to visit but have not done any research on it.

Does anyone know if the really detailed Michelin maps are still available in France? We really like old-fashioned maps and relied on them heavily on previous trips in France.

Again, merci beaucoup.

Ha! I'm laughing because I looked at the restaurants in Ste Leon sur Vezere and Lou Camillou caught my interest for a quick bite along the way. They do burgers and salads, not particularly French, but well executed. I'm thinking we will be wanting a break from duck and foie gras and I do not want to do a coursed meal for lunch with a drive and navigating Sarlat ahead of us. Thoughts?

Michelin maps are available at Amazon, as well as Barnes and Noble. I recently got the one for Dordogne/Correze (#329), as well as a new copy of Provence-Alpes-Cotes d,Azur (#527). Each one was under $15.00. We love the Michelin paper maps and never toss them out. As with our U.S. and California road trip AAA maps, we trace our journeys and side trips on the maps and keep them as a memento of our journeys. Plus, it is much easier to plot our days when we can see the area spread out before us. Google maps and the computer/phone options just don't show you the sweep of where you are and where you are going. Viamichelin does show some scenic options, but the wonderful advice given on this forum is the best!
Four days from now we will be on the plane, on our way to four weeks in France, 10 days of which will be in the Dordogne. Hooray!

Thank you for the map options. I had casually looked on Amazon but couldn't find the regional map type we had found so useful in Provence. I searched a little more thoroughly and asked for the specific regional maps I wanted and that did the trick.
Enjoy your trip!

Update: Went to viamichelin on line and found a nice driving route out of Bordeaux to Sarlat on N and D roads. We will be picking our car up at the Bordeaux train station shortly before noon so we won't get an early start. I've learned In France one needs to lunch between noon and 2:00 so I've been looking at places along the way that we might arrive at during that time frame. Libourne popped out as a possibility. Anyone with experience with Libourne? This would allow us to have lunch and possibly take the RS scenic tour around StE and then continue on to Sarlat. We'll go back and visit some of the charming smaller towns from Sarlat.

Honestly, based on our experience doing this recently, I would plan to eat at the restaurant between the train station and the parking garage where rental cars are located. You said you were arriving shortly before noon. We arrived shortly after, and there was a line for rental cars (this was after we'd been to the desk in the station, i.e., a line for picking up the car in the garage), they needed to clean a rental car for us, etc, etc, so we went back and had lunch and then set out. There is considerable construction around the station and getting out of Bordeaux, so it may take you longer than you think just to get on the road, across the river and on your way. We rather wished we'd taken the fast route rather than the one through small towns, which made for more difficult driving and a later arrival in Sarlat than we'd hoped; it appears the car GPS had been programmed to avoid toll roads. Be SURE you know how to get back and return the rental car, as construction blocked the way and there was no useful signage. Thankfully my husband is fluent in French and we were able to call the rental company and get directions around to the other entrance--but were glad we'd allowed plenty of time. (Waze was zero help as it kept routing us back to the blocked entrance.)

Saint-Emilion is lovely, wine or no, though I'd skip the tourist train through the vineyards if you're not interested in wine. See if you can get one of the afternoon (English) tours of the monolithic church by going by the TI office. Even if in French, they do have English handouts and it's well worth the tour.

And we visited Lascaux IV on a Sunday and it was great--we spent several hours there and ate at the cafe at a table outside. I imagine September will be even less crowded than June. It was the hottest day of our trip, so it was nice to be in the cave, which, replica or not, was quite cool (in both senses of the word).

meg99, many thanks from the report back from the trenches. What car rental agency did you use? I'll see if I can get some clear directions ahead of time for getting out of Bordeaux and then returning the car. Did Lascaux feel like Disney as RS's book describes? Sounds like it is well done though and worth a visit. No French speakers in this family and I just sort of muddle along. People can understand me but the difficulty is me understanding them.

We stopped in St Emilion on the way to Sarlat from Bordeaux and had lunch at Amelia Canta right across from the monolithic church and then took an English guided tour of the church. If you have time, the church is a fascinating stop.

We also went to Lascaux and I guess it can be compared to Disneyland in that ii is well organized and clean? Although you cannot tour the original cave, the replica was great and a guide will walk you through it. Afterwards you go to a room with yet pieces of replicas and exhibits that you can take pictures of. You’re not allowed to do that on the cave.

If you have time, go to the cliff dwelling at La Roque St Christophe. It’s truly unique and the view from the cliff dwelling is beautiful. The dwellings were occupied from prehistoric times! There’s so much history in the Dordogne.

A suggestion for lunch at St Leon Sur Vezere- a little spot called LE Dejeuner sur L’Herbe. It’s right on the river bank and serves home made quiches and salads. They have tables with umbrellas set up outside and it was just lovely watching canoers go by.

Just a mention of our drive from Bordeaux to La Roque Gageac...we took D roads, and went through really nice countryside, especially when we were following the Dordogne River. We stopped for lunch at "Le 8", in Ste.-Foy-la-Grande, just before they closed at the end of the lunch service. It was economical and delicious. We were the last customers and by then there was no choice on our meal, but it tasted just like homemade...soup, chicken with vegetables and potatoes, a cheese course (three each, small pieces but sufficient), and a tasty chocolate lava cake. With two glasses of wine, we spent just 39.50 euros for two. Ste-Foy-la-Grande is just a sleepy town in rural France, and we enjoyed it very much. People at the the two other occupied tables on the patio were finishing their wine, and by their conversation, were locals. The dinner menu looked good, and there were quite a few tables inside so I imagine they can have lots of customers on a Saturday night.
It made a nice stop.

We had a car through Costco with Alamo, but I believe that all of the rental cars are in the multilevel parking garage next to the train station.

We found Lascaux IV fascinating, both the cave itself and the exhibits afterwards. Not sure what RS means by Disneyland except for the tablet devices (in your chosen language) that give you info as you get close to the exhibits. There are also some interesting short movies that I think possibly had holograms; that's probably what he's referring to. There were certainly not Disneyland-scale lines/crowds when we visited.

I wouldn't worry about your French. The rental car employees and those at tourist destinations speak English. We took the English tour at Lascaux IV, which was at 11:10 at that time of year; not sure when available in September. If you can't get on that one, I would guess that the devices they give you (you wear headphones so the guide can speak more softly) offer an English audio tour.

meg99 is correct about Lascaux IV. Disneyland it is not (and I live about 20 minutes from the ortiginal). I had feared that it would be too gimmicky, but everything we saw and experienced was well done and educational and enjoyable. The cave recreation was better than Lascaux II, which I saw in 2001. Our guide was excellent. (We also has the 11:10 English language tour) and our 9 and 12 year olds learned a lot and were engaged in the displays as well as the "cave". They had previously been to Font de Gaume on the English language tour, and they DID understand the difference between an original and a recreation. They liked both experiences.

Re car rental. We had Avis and we picked up the car on a side street from the Bordeaux train station, about a 5-8 minute walk. We returned it at the same street, just on the other side. The gps in the car got us through the complex streets after pick-up and to return it.

Oh that is good to know about Avis. Really hoping GPS will be working well. Been going over and over our plans and can't wait to actually get there. Again, many thanks to all for your amazing input.

Bergerac, Les Eyzies & Montignac would be good stops along the way.

So would Chateau Milandes and towns along the Dordogne from Beynac to Domme.

In May, we bicycled from Bergerac to Sarlat via the Dordogne and Vezere rivers, with stops along the way at Le Bugue (overnight), Les Eyzies (on the way to Montignac; mid-day) & Montignac (two nights), where Lascaux is located. If you are interested in Cro Magnon history, RS' Dordogne page lists a good number of sites. We quite enjoyed several hours that we spent in Les Eyzies at the Museum of PreHistory, as well as Grotte de Font-de-Gaume. We biked right past Le Roque St. Christophe and I am sorry we passed by without stopping to look more closely at the caves, there. Montignac was charming.

From Sarlat, we cycled down to Roque Gageac on the Dordogne and back to Sarlat. And then, the next day from Sarlat to Castelnaud la Chapelle (on the Dordogne, just downstream from Roque Gageac) and then on to the hilltop town of Belves via Chateau Milandes, Josephine Baker's home. After the night in Belves, we headed back to Bergerac, via Beaumontois en Perigord.

I would absolutely recommend spending a few hours in Les Eyzies on your way to Sarlat. Getting into Font de Gaume is challenging and requires advance ticketing via the website. Check https://tickets.monuments-nationaux.fr/fr-FR/familles The Museum of PreHistory does not require advance ticketing. Lascaux is easy as well and Montignac would be an easy day trip from Sarlat, in the opposite direction as Rogue Gageac, Domme, Castelnaud la Chapelle & Beynac. I think many of these towns have more to offer than Sarlat, in a number of ways.

In Sarlat, we totally enjoyed our dinner at Le Grand Bleu. It is not in the medieval part of town; it is near the train station. But it was a wonderful restaurant.