Hello travel friends,
My family of 3 adults are on the RS South of France tour. We will be spending a few days in Sarlat, one full day on our own. I am trying to find things to do for that day. I plan on doing the RS walking tour but I understand that doesn't take very long. Does anyone have any suggestions from when they did this tour, both inside or nearby the area? We would like to avoid renting a car.
Thanks
Tara
When we took this tour a couple of years ago, the market was happening during our free tour day. We spent a lot of time there; it was fun! We also did the RS walking tour and just enjoyed the ambiance, a meal, some wine, etc....Lovely day in spite of some rain!
Rent a car for a day and go explore the towns in the eastern Dordogne or along the Lot river. You can pick up and drop off in Sarlat.
Take a canoe trip down the Dordogne. We beached our canoe at La Roque-Gageac for lunch and then continued down the river to Beynac. Spotted 5 castles from our canoe.
Hi Tara, we took the RS South of France tour in May 2014 and had a great time. From reading some of the reviews, I got the impression that there wasn't much to do in Sarlat. I had also given some thought to what we were going to do, should we rent bikes or figure out a way to get "out of town" for the day? Well, none of that panned out, and we discovered that we loved Sarlat!
Like the earlier poster, we spent the better part of our free day at the market. We also wandered around the back streets and took lots of photos. A boat ride and picnic were on the itinerary for the next day so we shopped for what we were going to have for lunch. The hotel provided boxes and refrigerated everything for us (duck sausage, fruit, wine, candy). Our tour guide also arranged a game of boule at 5 p.m. for anyone who wanted to show up. Everyone showed up!
There are many nice restaurants and bars in Sarlat, our guide pointed some out and some we found ourselves. We had a group dinner at Le Regent Restaurant. I chose the foie gras, duck, and walnut cake for dessert - it was the best meal I've ever had in my life.
I hope you enjoy the tour (and Sarlat) as much as we did!
I would opt for renting a car, and getting out,, you would enjoy a lunch in Domm, the hilltop town, overseeing the river, and great views. There are plenty of interesting towns around Sarlat
FYI to all, on the previous day, the tour will visit one prehistoric cave (Rouffignac) and will do a canoe ride (weather permitting). The market day is great, so that could easily occupy much of your morning.
I'm one of the people that took the RS South of France tour and thought there wasn't enough to fill an entire day in Sarlat. If you want to see an aerial shot of Sarlat, look at https://goo.gl/maps/n3QCUkzRWFp Note the scale of 200ft at the bottom right. The market is enjoyable, but it didn't take the full day to visit, and outside of the town core there are rural residential areas.
If I could do it over, I'd make plans to get out of town. Since you don't want to rent a car, I'd say open your favorite map website and start looking for neighboring cities and towns that have a train station. You can find other websites with this info such as http://www.france-voyage.com/cities-towns/sarlat-la-caneda-6405/train-station-sarlat-613.htm or rome2rio. Use the sncf site to look up train times, planning on leaving around noon so you have time for the nice market in the morning. You can also use the sncf site to find cities along train routes to visit. Bordeaux is too far away from Sarlat by train (about 3 hours) but if you pick a direct train and expand the schedule you can see the cities it goes thru.
Tara,
Between taking pictures of the market, exploring the town and doing laundry, that filled in the free day quite nicely.
