Paris to Dordogne: train to Bordeaux or drive down?

I took the train from Paris-Gare de Lyon to Brive (about 4 hours). In Brive I rented a car (Europcar is across the street from the train station) and drove the remaining 90 minutes to Beynac. Easy peasy with GPS, but no kids, though!

I think your kids would enjoy the train to Bordeaux and it’s easier for you instead of dealing with two little ones strapped to seats for 4-5 hours. Note that Saturday mornings in late June can be heavy traffic leaving Paris. There might be more to do with children in Bordeaux: parks, boat ride.

Last September, we drove from Sarlat to Paris, so the opposite direction of your travel but we faced the same decisions. In planning our itinerary, we had considered a few different options. One would have involved driving from Sarlat to Bordeaux, returning the rental car, spending a few hours there, then taking a fast train to Paris. Another would have involved driving from Sarlat to Brive, returning the rental car in Brive (in the Dordogne) and taking the train to Paris from there. However, it's a regional train and would have taken 4 to 5 hours. In the end, we figured that if we were going to have a five hour journey, we might as well keep the rental car, make the drive, and be in control of our schedule, with the ability to see some things on the way. And then we decided to drive only as far as Chartres, stay overnight there, return the rental car in the morning, and get into Paris by train. We left Sarlat in the morning and after a couple hours of driving, we stopped to visit the village of Oradour-sur-Glane, and spend time in the memorial museum there. We had a picnic lunch for our next stop. We got to Chartres by 5 p.m., and the Cathedral was still open for 2.5 more hours. We had a lovely evening in Chartres, experiencing Chartres en Lumieres (many historic buildings beautifully lit at night, some synchronized with music.) It was very quick and east to get to Paris by train in the morning. You could reverse all that . . .train to Chartres, visit the Cathedral (it's a 10 min. walk from the train station). Stay overnight at a hotel near the train station. Rent your car the next a.m. at the Hertz near the train station, drive to Villandry Gardens or some place else in the Loire Valley if you wish, then your last stop before Beynac can be Oradour-sur-Glane, for a sobering bit of WWII history.

I don't think I'd want to expose a 5- and 7-year-old to Oradour. A few years ago we drove from Paris to Beynac, stopping overnight in Bourges. Except for getting out of Paris, it was easy and fun. Bourges has a very good cathedral and other sights, though not necessarily appealing to little ones.

There really are no bad choices here, you could base it on overall cost or what your kids would handle best. I'm not sure why you think the third option -- an extra night in Paris then one long day's drive the whole way -- is the most economical. Presumably you'll pay something to sleep that night in Paris or wherever else you are.

You're right, Dick. I hadn't noticed that the ages of the children were mentioned in the original post. I thought the family might be interested in this if the children were older teens. I agree that the experience would be too intense and disturbing for a 5 and 7 year old.

I would take the train, esp if your kids don’t have much experience with trains. You can walk around. You don’t have to navigate or drive when they are whining (or maybe your kids never whine!). The train will be much more relaxing. A car will be a car. You know how well the kids do on long distance drives.

I haven’t been to Bordeaux in years, but I remember spending a pleasant day there.

Many years ago we drove from Paris to the Dordogne, with an overnight stop. It was a long, fairly boring drive. More recently, we took the train from Paris to Bordeaux, stayed a night in Bordeaux, the picked up a car and drove to Beynac. I'd definitely suggest the latter. The Paris-Bordeaux train is only 2 hours, and it's about a 2 hour drive to the Dordogne from Bordeaux (or, as you mention, you can make a stop in St. Emilion). We've stayed in Bordeaux a couple of other times, and enjoyed it very much.

We have made this trip several times by car and I would definitely take the train with kids and pick up the car closer to where you will be staying.

The train I took from Paris to Brive had a foosball table!

via michelin shows it as a 5 1/2 drive (using mostly A10), 6 1/2 or more using other routes. I usually add something to via michelin because you invariably stop for, at least, gas and meals.

The best fast train route is right at two hours.

Based on that alone. I'd say take the train and rent in Bordeaux. The church carved out of rock in St. Emillion is worth the visit. It's also neat that to visit the bell tower you go to the TI and they hand you a key. The whole town is great, even without those sights.

When I went last June, I started by flying from Paris to Toulouse, renting a car and working my way first through Languedoc then up through the Lot and Dordogne valleys and ended in Bordeaux (took the train back to Paris from there).

I took the train to Bordeaux and drove through St. Emilion to the Dordogne. I set the GPS to avoid toll roads and had a scenic ride on a Sunday. I'd look for an early train and skip the night in Bordeaux.

The train I took from Paris to Brive had a foosball table!

Well that clinches it!