From Sarlat-Montpellier-Nice , how to get there w/out renting a car

I would switch things around a bit:

Paris
Sarlat (ideally with the Paris-Souillac train arriving at 13:30 followed by the bus, otherwise via Bordeaux)
Bordeaux
Fly to Nice
etc.

That way you solve the issue of going to Nice.

I also think you could shave a night off Paris at the end, and add it to Nice.
Do rent a car in Sarlat!

And I'm not sure Rocamadour is the must-see while in Sarlat. It's very touristy. I'm not super knowledgeable about the area so I won't make specific suggestions, but I know that there are tons of other villages to see. Beynac is one, there's Domme too.

If you don't rent a car, you only have two "easy" options to get from Sarlat to Nice:

1/ By train with two connections, first in Bordeaux and then in Marseille. The journey takes between 12.5 and 13 hours.

2/ By taking a train to Bordeaux (2.5 hours), then transportation from the train station to Bordeaux airport, and finally a flight from Bordeaux to Nice (1 hour 20 minutes).

You can also find a way to reach Toulouse (which isn't possible by direct train or bus). From Toulouse, it's another 7 to 8 hours by train to Nice with a connection in Marseille.

Keep in mind that in the Dordogne, 90% of the region's attractions are only accessible by car. Once in Dordogne without a car you are entirely dependent on the few public buses, which are not intended for tourism but mainly for school transport and some local workers.

You won't be able to get from Sarlat to Rocamadour without a car, and spending the night there is pointless, it's just a huge tourist trap for organized groups.

Balso's switch-up is a good idea. Train to Bordeaux (TGV just over 2 hours), spend 1 1/2 days (your 2 nights) there. Rent the car at the airport when leaving Bordeaux (a tram goes there from the city and it is easier to leave Bordeaux by car from the airport than from the train station in the city). Drive to Sarlat, visit the area for your 3 nights, drive back to Bordeaux and drop the car at Bordeaux airport and fly to Nice. The drive between Bordeaux and Sarlat is about 2 1/2 -3 hours each way. An early start gets you to a flight by mid-afternoon and into Nice in time for a nice dinner and stroll in the old town or along the beach.

Re your Dordogne segment. To me, Rocomadour is one of the least attractive options in the region and not super close to Sarlat. With 3 nights (2 full days, you could visit 2 caves in one day and the Castle at Beynac or Castelnaud, plus a market at one of the towns or at Sarlat (big ones there on Wednesdays and Saturdays. I see Oct 14 is a Wed.) Lascaux IV would be a good way to learn about the period and also enhance your visit to any other cave. Both of the castles are a real treat, historically and in their presentations. And they each have wonderful views of the river. You don't need a whole day for Font de Gaume and the tours are limited in number and size. Go in the morning, have lunch somewhere, then visit a castle. See Lascaux IV a different day and go to a market. There will be time probably to drive to another lovely town. Domme, perhaps. Or gardens such as those at Marqueyssac. Play with your schedules. Also, a drive to and through some of "the most beautiful towns in France" is easy here. There are many!

You will have a wonderful time! Enjoy!

Thank you all for your sage advice. Will check into flying to Nice.

JoLui knows what s/he is talking about. Having just begun a vacation in the Dordogne and Occitan without a car, I can attest to the difficulty of getting between Sarlat and Rocamadour without a car. It's less than fifty miles but a taxi will be ruinous, and the bus connections are awkward at best. I scheduled an extra stop at town called Brive, so as not to have to wait two hours for a train connection. Good luck.

wmmoeck, I hope you're not planning to take the train from Brive-la-Gaillarde to Rocamadour. The "Rocamadour-Padirac" train station (which is just a house lost in the middle of nowhere) is 6 kilometers from the village of Rocamadour, and the bus 877, which leaves from Souillac station, only runs from June to September.

You might as well stay in Brive; the city is nice, and if it's a Saturday morning, you'll find the George Brassens market there, one of the most beautiful markets in France.

For what it's worth, I confess to biting the bullet and taking a taxi, which had to be ordered in advance, first 1) from Cahors to Rocamadour, which was 140 euros, the lower of two price quotes, and then 2) from Rocamadour cité to Rocamadour train station, another 38 euros, but which, as JoLui suggests, would have been impossible on foot or by bus in May.

So we are now in Brive, which has some wonderful restaurants and first-class food markets, getting ready to go tomorrow to Sarlat, via JoLui's suggestions: 25 min by train from Brive to Souillac and then a 10min wait for the 335 Bus to the outside of Sarlat's pedestrian zone, another 40 minutes, and a fraction of the cost of a taxi. Praying there are no SNCF delays.

JoLui, you need to be in the travel business!

wmmoeck, just to remind you that tomorrow at Souilac station according to published times there is a bus 335 for Sarlat leaving at 6:50 a.m., 1:40 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.

Too bad, the weather forecast isn't looking too great for the next few days. It might even be cold for this time of year, with maybe some rain and wind too.

Thanks for the suggestion about getting into the travel business; I'm going to think about it. Seeing what people spend just to go 25 kilometers in Dordogne, I think I’m sitting on a goldmine with my nice car (provided that my dog ​​doesn't bother my passengers). :-)

Thanks, JoLui, for your advice. The bus 335 from Souillac to Sarlat worked like a charm, and we'll use it again in the opposite direction to get from the medieval town to Sarlat train station. After this, the rest of the trip is an SNCF snap: Bergerac, Bordeaux, Arcachon, where I pray the temperatures will have risen higher than 13 degrees. It seems to have been an exceptionally cool and wet spring in this part of France, which is maybe preferable to the canicule/indendie we experienced in Bordeaux in '22. Again, you really ought to be in the travel business (if you are not already).

There's a web broker called Mon Transport, which allows passengers to type in itineraries and then fields price quotes from different drivers. It worked very well from Sarlat when we wanted to make a day trip to Chateau Milandes. The first driver proposed a round trip of E117 while a second suggested E94, which we accepted. The passenger supplies credit card information upfront and is given a code to share with the driver only after the destination has been reached. At that point, the billing is complete and the driver is paid. You might want to see if they can use you, with the dog! https://montransport.com

The weather is going to gradually improve over the next few days, leading up to summer-like temperatures by the weekend, as high as 30°C (85F). You might even be able to go for a swim at Arcachon beach if you're still around.

That link you shared (https://montransport.com) is pretty interesting, I've never heard of it. Was it an actual taxi with the "TAXI" sign on the roof, or an Uber-style driver (what's generally called a VTC in France)? Did you chat with the driver at all? You should really start a dedicated thread about this, given how hard it is to find a taxi in that area.

Anyway, the €94 fare is pretty close to the official taxi rate for a round trip between Sarlat and Château des Milandes (maybe a tiny bit higher, by about 5%).

I'll think about it; €100/hour is better than taking... hitchhikers for free. LOL

Not a regular taxi but uber style. But you’re given driver’s email/phone contact once you book, which makes specifying pickup location a lot easier. We talked quite a bit by my choice. Very positive experience. I had also begun researching blabla as a possibility but that seems geared to much longer trips.

I was just kidding when I said I’d think about it. Anyway, to be an Uber driver or the equivalent in France, you have to get a specific license (which you have to pay for), pass a medical check, take a written and practical driving test, pass an English proficiency exam, and carry specialized insurance. Too much paperwork for a hobby.

But that option you used, though it’s far from replacing a rental car, seems pretty interesting for occasional use by future travelers without a car.