How to get to Oradour sur Glane with no car

Taxis in the French countryside should be arranged completely in advance. Drivers are rarely available upon immediate request or without reservation. The Office de Tourisme in Amboise should be able to help you with general arrangements, if not you can write the Office de Tourisme in Limoges

You could also contact the Office de Tourisme at Oradour s/ Glane but they seem to be virtually shut down as tourism has recently been nonexistent.

It would be far simpler to rent a car at Amobise, use it while you are there, and drive to Bordeaux, stopping anywhere you like on the way.

There is a bus route, 12, between Limoges and Oradour sure Glane. Takes about 30 minutes.

@Tocard - Thank you! That was exactly what I was hoping to find out. Is the same true for UberX? It gave me a price when I looked it up but I have not ever used Uber in France. As to driving - we don't drive on vacation - just our preference.

@Badger - I will look at the bus again. When I looked before, it didn't seem to run often enough to help us both ways - just perhaps one way with some careful planning.

I have not looked at the schedule so I don't know if it will work. But if the times fit your plan, one trip in each direction is all you need. I have done some day trips like that when the bus schedule was far from frequent, but suited my needs. But if it doesn't work, you can take the bus in one direction and a taxi in the other direction.

In France, I use FreeNow or Bolt, avoiding Uber when possible. However, I have no experience with these services outside Paris. Consider having a backup plan if you use taxi or VTC.

In the countryside, bus service is often established to transport children to/from school. You may use the services, but they are often limited to early morning and late afternoon.

Someone frequently on the forum, ACRAVEN, bused to Oradour sur Glane. She found the day very worthwhile. Hopefully, she'll respond and give you some advice.

With all of your comments, I've gone ahead and priced cabs and decided that if we can't do it by bus, I am going to likely bail on the plan. I cannot find the bus schedule for bus 12. I've gone to what I think is the right website: http://www.stcl.fr/fr/

But I can't get a routing that makes sense. Can someone smarter/savvier/French-speaking see what the timetable is for Route 12?

Rome to Rio is only showing me one departure from Limoges most days. Maybe I am searching incorrectly?
https://www.rome2rio.com/map/Limoges/Avenue-du-10-Juin-87520-Oradour-sur-Glane-France?oDateTime=2021-06-17#r/Bus/s/0

Thank you!!

Valerie, Rome 2 Rio isn't always the greatest. I use it as a first step. I would send ACRAVEN a private message if she doesn't post on this thread. A few days ago she and I were discussing Oradour sur Glane (via messages)

This is the bus schedule from the bus lines website for Limoges to/from Oradour-sur-Glane. You need to open the PDF file for #12. It's in French and I can't translate most of it so it's hard to tell which buses run daily (except Sat&Sun) and which run on just one day a week. Hopefully you can find a way to translate it or if you know French yourself this may help you.

Based upon the schedules referenced in the PDF for line 12 (for buses operating all year - toute l´année).

Traveling from Limoges to Oradour s/ Glane, bus 1201 operates M-F, departs Place Jourdan at 7h57. Bus 1215 operates on Saturdays only, Bus 1203 operates M-Sat (sauf dimanche or except Sunday).

Traveling back to Limoges from Oradour s/ Glane, there is bus 1204 operating M-F departing Champ de Foire at 6h55, Bus 1220 operating Saturday only, and buses 1206 and 1208 operating M - Saturday.

You could take an early bus from Limoges, Place Jourdan for example, arrive Oradour s/ Glane at 8h30 and return to Limoges on buses 1206 or 1208 at 11h55 and 16h55 respectively. The return buses do not operate on Sunday.

I would confirm any of these schedules with the Office de Tourisme.

I might add that the Office de Tourisme at Oradour s/ Glane does not currently have tours, but they offer folding maps to explain what you are seeing. I am sure that the maps are available in English.

@Tocard - Thank you so much! That's the piece I could not sort out on my own! All right - I'm going to mull this over to see if it's just too much of a detour for that 2 nights.

Thank you all!!

Basically, all you need to know is that Sauf SD means except Saturday and Sunday, S means Saturday, and Sauf D means except Sunday.

As Jules said, I did make it work, though I spent so much time in the museum at the site that I had to rush through the abandoned town. It would probably be best to view the outdoor area first if you have a bus to catch.

Lomoges, incidentaly, is worth visiting itself. There's an atmospheric historic center, and the city has good decorative-art museums.