Hello Everyone. I would appreciate if you would be willing to share your top three favorite cities/villages/locations (or more) in the Dordogne region. I will have a car so transportation won't be much of an issue. This will be a spring/summer trip. Thanks to all in advance.
Posted by
Chicago
7839 posts
Sarlat
La Roque Gageac
Montignac (Lascaux)
Posted by
Portland, Maine
2916 posts
Sarlat
La Roque Gageac
Domme
But there are many others that are close. You can hardly go wrong in the Dordogne.
Posted by
OP
Fort Myers, FL
1671 posts
Thank You All for your suggestions.
Posted by
Chicago
8055 posts
The place is full of tiny medieval towns. Here is one we enjoyed for a country stroll and a small gem of a church:
https://janettravels.wordpress.com
We stayed in Caouin which has a lovely old Abbey and is on the pilgrimage route that goes into Spain.
There are loads of well known old fortress castles; here is one that is in ruins and less well known but features in a recent book by Martin Walker who writes mystery novels set in this region:
https://janettravels.wordpress.com/2017/07/25/perfect-place-for-murder-commarque-chateau/
A must is a canoe trip on the Dordogne (not the Vezere which is boring IMHO). We put in above le Roque Gageac using a vendor stationed just below that town -- he drove us up river to put in. Heavenly.
The museum at Lez Eyzies is a must and the Font du Gaume nearby is if you can get one of the rare tickets. Definitely catch the reconstruction cave Lascaux IV at Montignac.
Note that in summer small villages have 'night markets' where you bring your own dishes and buy foods from vendors and sit at communal tables, dance and enjoy the town square at night. You can find schedules for July and August on line. We did the last one of the season a couple of years ago and it was amazing. There are snapshots in the commarque post above.
There are tons of options -- I'd go to one garden, one chateau, do the river, visit a couple of small towns, visit a couple of caves and the pre-historic museum and select from the options that are convenient on chateaux.
Posted by
North Carolina
106 posts
Sarlat, for sure.
Posted by
West Coast of Canada
38 posts
To add to the other places listed above, we thought La Roque St Christophe was phenomenal.
Posted by
Olympia, WA, USA
6502 posts
Sarlat, Beynac, Domme for villages (Sarlat is bigger than a village really). Lascaux II and Font-de-Gaume for caves. The prehistory museum at Les-Eyzies for museums. Castelnaud and Beynac for castles. LaRoque-Gageac and Rocamadour for vertical villages.
Posted by
Massachusetts
847 posts
Sarlat was my favorites. Liked all the other villages and towns, not sure I could rank them. Here's my trip report, maybe you'll get an impression from that - https://www.fodors.com/community/europe/photo-safari-to-the-south-of-france-the-italian-rivera-and-the-swiss-alps-990300/
My photos of the Dordogne are here: https://andiamo.zenfolio.com/p892967915
Posted by
OP
Fort Myers, FL
1671 posts
Thanks again everyone. Isabel your pictures are superb!!!