One day drive from St Remy to Castels in Dordogne

If Carcasonne calls, spend the night. The crowds go away then.

Agree with Carcassonne.
It can be crowdy, touristy but still it is amazing.
If you're into small villages, we fell in love with St-Cirq-Lapopie, a gorgeous village close to Cahors.
One of the nicest we've seen, no doubt.
In the Dordogne region, you probably know that these are nice villages/towns: Domme, laroque-gageac, benac et cazenac, sarlat.
Have a great trip
Claude

Thank you so much.
Adam—Unfortunately, we have already booked a place in Castels, Dordogne so we can't spend the night in Carcasonne, which otherwise would've been a phenomenal idea.

Claude—Wow! St Cirque looks to be incredibly beautiful. This could be the way to go. Appreciate it!

Pech Merle caves are near St Cirq Lapopie. Both are phenomenal. Cave tours are limited to 50 minutes. St Cirq is as cute as the pictures - you'd probably spend about 2 hours if you take lunch there. You also might see if you can drive by Rocamadour on your way to Castels. If it is a Sunday or Monday, I'd check before hand if there are restaurants open where you are going.

We did a similar drive from Cahors to Arles in early March on a Sunday, and when I planned the route, I made sure we went through a medium size town for mid-day options.

Thanks so much, Gail. Yikes, it IS a Monday but I think I found a few restaurants that are open. I always forget about Mondays. And for the Peche Merle recommendation also. Great suggestion. I was unable to get reservations at Font de Game and hope to arrive early in case I can score one of the daily 52 tickets, but maybe we can hedge our bets with Peche Merle!

I always feel silly asking my small questions on this forum, but inevitably my trip is better when I do :)

Good advice for pech merle, it was a great visit. Agree that 2 hours is about what you need. You'll be taking tons of pictures. :-)
Rocamadour is spectaculare when you approach.
I didn't like that it was over touristy, charging for absolutly everything, I felt like a was in a tourist trap, but can't say it's not pretty.
The castelnaud castle is a must see
Also further south, bonaguil castle is amazing is well. Not as well maintained but it'certainly part of the charm.

We did this in 2015 and have the boring recommendation to just power through the drive. The rest stops are amazing. In caracassone you will worry about your luggage in your car and all other places will turn your 6 hour drive into an 8 hour drive.