Road trip: where to stay between Sarlat and Arles

I'm a bit confused because you are asking about where to stay and take day trips, but you are also asking where to stay during transit between the Dordogne and Arles. Is the question really that you want to overnight in Albi but visit Carcassonne, too, but you think you'll have too much luggage for your trunk? Or, stop in Albi but overnight in Carcassonne, which makes more sense.

Or are you asking where to stay for a few days and visit Albi and Carcassonne? That would be Toulouse.

However, trunk size may be useful info for you. To give you an idea, we have a Renault Clio Hybrid, which means the electric engine takes up part of the trunk. This is Renault's second smallest car. However, we can still fit two US-regulation size rollaboard suitcases, standing on their sides, and two small backpacks into our trunk. We have never had a problem getting our luggage into a trunk here in France, whether a Renault Clio, Captur, Megane or a Peugeot 308. Two rollaboards and two small backpacks has been our standard luggage for European trips for up to six weeks. I once took a medium-size suitcase because we were cleaning out a family member's house in Burgundy on that trip.

There will be three of us sharing the car, so I don't want to assume that everything will fit. But I don't think that we're overpackers, so maybe. But European cars aren't always generous. I'll think of it as a nice bonus if it works out that we can hide all our luggage, but I don't want to rely on it.

My core question is that I'm unsure of what to do between Sarlat and Arles. We'll probably have 2-3 nights to spend somewhere inbetween the two. I'm not sure what to expect from Toulouse, but I think we're looking for middle-sized towns with a pleasant strolling type of feeling. Isn't Toulouse more modern and busy? Is it high traffic to get in and out?

Three passengers does change things. I'd still say Toulouse if it's for a few days. I drove into Toulouse once but left the car there, so I don't remember how easy or difficult it was. We always get lost. We stayed for a week, walked everywhere. Yes, it's a city, but there were plenty of places to walk, relax, visit. We stayed in the pedestrian area. It's not like the Bay Area, one large megapolis; in Toulouse the city ends much more quickly and you are onto the autoroute in the countryside.

JoLui, who lives in that area of Occitanie, will be able to give better information.

I'm not sure Toulouse is the best place for what you want to do, not because Toulouse is not worth it, but mainly because you will have a car, and having a car in Toulouse is useless, even problematic from a parking point of view. But if you find a hotel with parking it's doable.

In addition I just read that Lonely Planet ranked the pink city number one of must-visit destinations in the world for 2025.

https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/lonely-planet-best-destinations-2025-b2633986.html

From Toulouse you can go to Albi or Carcassonne by car or train. (1 hour drive to Albi, 1h30 to Carcassonne)

Another option would be to stay in Castres located halfway between Albi and Carcassonne which is a nice middle sized town in a nice region (we call it little Tuscany)

https://www.tourisme-castresmazamet.com/en

So it's up to you.

If you want other tips let me know, after having lived in Toulouse I now spend my time between two houses, one near Sarlat and one near Albi.

There’s more to do with the extra day in the Dordogne or Provence that it is not worth the hassle of the overnight. I’ve done that drive, it’s not bad. Easy highway and there’s a wonderful rest stop about halfway through.

I'm a big fan of Toulouse. Albi has a few key sights but can be, frankly, rather dead. I'd rather stay in Toulouse and day-trip to Albi than the reverse. I haven't been to Carcassonne.

Basically, I have 7 nights to plan. Day 1 we fly into France, probably into Toulouse since Bordeaux is more expensive and has fewer flights. After 7 nights in hotels -- which will include 4-5 nights in Sarlat -- we need to get to either Arles or Avignon (TBD) to continue our trip with the other people we're meeting.

I had originally been thinking rent a car in Toulouse Airport, 4-5 nights in Sarlat, 2-3 nights TBD (e.g. Albi or elsewhere), then continue with the rental car in Provence and beyond, eventually returning it as a 1-way probably in Nice.

Mostly I'm trying to figure out the nights not in Sarlat before Provence. You guys made me think maybe start with 2 nights in Toulouse straight from the airport, then 5 nights Sarlat. But the drive from Sarlat to Provence is a long-(ahem) day. And since we have 3 people worth of luggage in the car, we may not be able to hide it all in a trunk, and so can't make any stops along the way (unless there is monitored secure parking).

BTW Carcassonne's tourism center said in email that they have secure parking in P3/4/5 garages, but they weren't specific and I'm trying to decide whether to believe them.

Hi.

You might want to stay in the Country.

We stayed in Puycelsi, and drove from there to Albi and spent a pleasant day there. Puycelsi is an interesting bastide (fortified town) perched on the top of a hill with views in all directions. We stayed at the Ancienne Auberge. Then hit Carcassonne on your way out of town.

We spent the month of September in France. Including two nights in Toulouse. I thought driving and parking in Toulouse was very stressful. Very congested. Lots of narrow, one way streets that didn't go where you expected. With motorcycles, scooters, bicycles and pedestrians moving all around your car like they own the streets. But once out of the car it was good.

Thanks everyone -- I'm digesting everything you're saying and trying to reformulate.

JoLui (and others!) as a local especially, it would be really helpful to know if you have any particular restaurant suggestions. I can always find decent places, but anything in this area that is OMG, must eat here.

Also, there are a LOT of caves one could visit. Do you agree with Rick's suggestions for which are the best? tripadvisor showed me a number of options that seemed better rated than the bigger ones Rick calls out.

I found Cameron's old blog absolutely lambasting Carcassonne -- basically saying it's worth an hour or so, but it's so far away from other places that it's not worth the detour. During the day it's packed, and in the evening -- since almost no one lives there -- it's basically dead. He then goes on to absolutely rave about Albi. Agree? Maybe just stay in Albi? It's 3.5 hours from there to Arles.

Matt -- you made me think about smaller alternatives for places to sleep. Puycelci could be a candidate. I noticed Villefranche-de-Rouergue. It's location is convenient to a number of places we'd like to visit, and like Albi it's also about 3.5 hours to Arles via the scenic route. I was also thinking that as a slightly larger town it might feel less deserted in the evening.

Can anyone recommend or disrecommend it? Is it nice to stroll around with good options for dinner?

Thanks!!

Caves: I don't know what Rick suggests or TA offers. We had the Michelin green guidebook. You also have several interesting chateau to visit in the area. The Chateau de Commarque has the ruins of a Medieval chateau built on the base of prehistoric troglodyte dwellings. You also have Josephine Baker's chateau.

We based in Carcassonne for 10 days one year. We entered by the Barbacane entrance, a totally difference experience from the Narbonne car and bus dropoff. It's actually quite interesting, built over a prehistoric settlement, rebuilt three times since. This is "La cité", the chateau fort on the hill. The town of Carcassonne below has over 46,000 people, hardly deserted.
Another year was a week in Villefranche-de-Rouergue in order to travel daily in different directions. Here are a few I remember: Cahors, grotte de Peche Merle, Rocamadour, perhaps even beautiful Conques. FYI, no knowledge what evenings are like, but towns of 11,000 can be quiet, particularly in April.. We stayed in a hotel that had a restaurant where we ate nearly every night. One night, the town had a night market, which takes place only in summer. Check the via Michelin online for suggestions.
FYI: Castres, which JoLui suggested, is over 42,000 population.

Since you don't really know what to do or where to go during these two or three days between Sarlat and Arles, here are some ideas:
As Bets experienced, keep in mind that cities like Albi or Toulouse or other smaller towns with historic centers that are centuries old, from the days of horses and carts, were not designed to be traveled by car.

Leaving the Dordogne and going to Arles you can indeed go through Puycelsi as Matt suggests. It's a nice route that I take quite often.

Puycelsi is classified as one of the most beautiful villages in France and located just after Bruniquel which is also one of the most beautiful villages in France (my favorite is Bruniquel). Both are about 2 hours drive from Sarlat but know that after that it will take you about 4.30 hours to get to Arles.

Leaving Sarlat, even if you don't stay in Puycelci or Bruniquel, they will be on your route, you can still stop there for a visit, it's worth it and believe me it's much more pleasant (and cheaper) than taking the toll motorway via Toulouse.
Then to find a place to stay a little further, see this map that I made.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1SrAtdgxHVZnob6W3FwLoW4bqrLmZCuU&usp=sharing

It includes hotels, lodges and restaurants in the area. The restaurants with the red icon also have rooms.
As I live in the area I did not stay in the hotels but I tested the restaurants, from the simplest to the Michelin starred. If you are a foodie you will surely find a place.Since it"s a choice mainly based on the environment with often a culinary experience.
So do not expect for most of them menus at less than 30€ (sometimes over 100€) and rooms at less than 150€.

Many of the other cities mentioned in this map did not have the pleasure of seeing Rick Steves, too bad for him, but for the most part they are well known to French and European tourist guides.

To simplify the map I have not detailed Toulouse.

Regarding the Dordogne and the Lot, the caves, villages, castles, activities and restaurants I also made this map:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1OdPOg8AgsNn0Jlv1cNHkujaWv9p_Jpc&usp=sharing

It may be useful to you.

I am not a fanatic of Carcassonne, I have taken people there to visit the medieval city several times, it is spectacular but also very touristy. It is like Rocamadour in the Lot, these are places that see dozens of coaches of tourists from organized tours arrive every day and who leave happy after 2 hours of a guided tour.
I do not see the point of spending more than a few hours there to take a few photos to post on Instagram and buy a souvenir or two...

.... unless you are passionate about French history and a specialist in medieval and Gallo-Roman art and architecture, in which case you could stay there for several days and see that many parts of the medieval city have been restored and rebuilt haphazardly in the 19th century (such as Sleeping Beauty's castle in Disneyland) and had never existed before.

But it is up to you.

We did a similar drive (St Remy to Sarlat) in reverse. We spent the first night in the Camargue - Ste Marie de la Mere and the second night in Albi. We really enjoyed Albi, spent a half day at the Cathedral and the Toulouse L’Autrec museum. We stayed at the Mercure Bastides in Albi. It was a short walk into center of city and had great views of the river, a lovely terrace for breakfast overlooking the River and the Cathedral, and a large parking lot. The drive to Sarlat was a bit stressful; Google maps had us on narrow roads over the mountains to get to the A 20 - in retrospect we should have taken longer mileage route on better roads

Google maps had us on narrow roads over the mountains to get to the A
20

marymcgol1 ,

I don't know what route Google took you on, but there are no mountains to get to the A20 from Albi :))

The highest point on the usual route is no higher than about 600 feet.

https://www.openstreetmap.org/directions?engine=fossgis_osrm_car&route=43.9278%2C2.1479%3B44.1608%2C1.5365#map=11/44.0506/1.8333&layers=P

We liked Puycelci a lot. It’s quite small. Conques, mentioned by Elizabeth/Bets, has a wonderful Romanesque church and a superb treasury. It’s also very small.

Hello again! I was pulled away from travel planning by complications in daily life, but luckily they have passed! And thanks again for all the great advice you've sent my way.

Elizabeth -- thanks for the reminder that just because these are the Rick Steves forums, that doesn't mean that everyone here uses his guidebooks! Could you say a little more about your week staying in Villefranche-de-Rouergue? Did it have good personality and add something to your memories, or is it all about convenient location to drive to other sites?

JoLui -- thank you for the Google MyMaps! I used it to add some more options to the map that I had already started. I noticed you didn't have anything marked near Villefranche-de-Rouergue. Is it just that you didn't drive around there? Or that it didn't have much that appealed to you?

I need to re-focus on the fact that, only having 7 nights in the region, I have to omit a lot of places that would be perfectly lovely. Also, visiting in early April pre-Easter, means that some activities like canoeing and smaller farmers markets may not be in-season.

So I would love opinions on caves (both with ancient art and for natural beauty) and chateaux that stand out from the crowd and shouldn't be missed. This region is overflowing with caves and chateaux. Also, other types of activities that might be more unusual.

I was thinking, maybe to create a little variety rural vs urban, that maybe we spend 4-5 nights in Sarlat, and then 2-3 in Toulouse. So many people recommend it so highly. I realize the traffic and parking won't be a ton of fun. We could drive there from Sarlat and have that afternoon and every evening. Then do road trips to Albi and the clustered hill towns (e.g. Puycelsi). After we check out, drive via Carcassonne to Arles, getting 2-3 hours in the tourist trap cite before moving on.

Does this sound like a reasonable plan? Can someone recommend a part of Toulouse to stay in that is easy walking distance to the center, but maybe avoids the more difficult and narrow roads so it's slightly easier to get in and out?

Thank you all!

I noticed you didn't have anything marked near
Villefranche-de-Rouergue

It's true that I completely skipped Villefranche de Rouergue in my map of possible places between Sarlat and Arles. I admit that unlike all the other places mentioned in the map, I don't know Villefranche de Rouergue and I don't even know why I never go there! . :)) So Elizabeth will be your expert for this place.

We could drive there from Sarlat

Note that Sarlat, even without mentioning its very (even too) touristy atmosphere will not necessarily be, geographically speaking, the best base to visit this whole region, the one where there are castles, caves and typical villages. You will have to take on small roads where you will not drive more than 45 mph.

So if you choose Sarlat I strongly advise you not to consider day trips to Albi or Puycelsi. It will take you hours of driving and little time to visit. Sarlat → Albi is 6 hours of driving round trip

Regarding accommodations, look at Gîtes de France.

https://www.gites-de-france.com/en

It is an organization that is over 60 years old that offers possibilities in rural areas, run by individuals who offer all kinds of accommodation from a simple room to a castle with a swimming pool, self-catering or not, with or without breakfast. The comfort, quality and services of each accommodation are checked regularly

Regarding Toulouse, the whole area of ​​the historic center is not really suitable for foreign tourists with a car, and even if I lived in Toulouse for quite a few years, I now avoid driving there.

There are paid car parks in the city center and the best thing you can do is to leave your car in one of these car parks for the duration of your stay. There will probably be one or two near your hotel (less than 300 meters), even in the historic center whose epicenter is the "Place du Capitole"

Most of the places to see in Toulouse are easily accessible on foot anyway.

Sorry, I'm still summarizing too much and leaving things unclear.

Sarlat is not intended as a way to visit Albi. That's for visiting the areas closer to Sarlat, and it's why I'm not planning to stay there all 7 nights. Part of the purpose of this thread is to figure out where to switch to. Originally I was thinking that Villefranche would be where to stay after 4-5 nights in Sarlat. But you've all made me think that Toulouse might be better.

In part to see Toulouse itself. And in part because it is not too far from there to places such as Albi, and also Puycelsi and friends. I absolutely understand that in most major cities a car is a hindrance, and we would certainly never use it within Toulouse. It would be useful only for driving in on day 1, driving out on the last day, and a day trip to Albi, Puycelsi, etc. So my thought is whether there are parts of Toulouse that are close to the pedestrian center but you can get to without going through much of the city center traffic. Perhaps an area near a ring road, as often works in European cities.

Also at the end of the time in Toulouse, when we drive to Arles or Avignon, we can stop in Carcassonne on the way through without it being a detour.

We might need to skip the sites on the Lot around A20, especially if we can't hide all our luggage in the trunk. I had originally thought of Villefranche as a place to move to that would be close to the Lot. But we don't have time for everything, so some things will have to give. And it will be nice to have some time to explore in Toulouse.

Part of why we're leaning towards Sarlat, and now Toulouse, is that we aren't truly ruralists who love being surrounded by countryside and quiet. We like being able to stroll around in the evenings, pick a lovely place for dinner, take a passeggiata (what do they call it in France?).

Hopefully this explains things a little better than my last post!

And also, if there are some caves / chateaux that are too touristy and should be avoided, or others that rank lower down on tripadvisor because they have fewer reviews but are special and worth seeking out, please call them out for me! Looking at your Google MyMaps or Tripadvisor or even reading Rick's guidebooks, it's hard to narrow things down.

I have to admit that Bridoire was intriguing to me - exploring a chateau with the gimmick of an escape room puzzle -- but they aren't going to open until mid/late April, unfortunately for us! I'm a believer in "variety is the spice of life" so this place seemed like it kept something that the region is famous for -- chateaux -- but mixed it with something different.

...Perhaps an area near a ring road, as often works in European cities

Yes there are specific car parks near the Toulouse ring road that allow you to park your car and take public transport. (They have a "P+R" - "Parking-Relais" logo). But this will involve carrying your luggage on the bus or metro and wasting time getting to the center.
Moreover they are not much cheaper than those in the city center

See the map of other car parks in the city center below on the official Toulouse website:

https://carto.toulouse.fr/PDI/?context=8Cpk

The most "central" of them, and all located in the historic center are those of Capitole, Carmes, Esquirol and St Etienne. (Put the cursor on the P and the name will be displayed as well as the prices). It's about 30€ / 24 hours
There is no particular difficulty in accessing these car parks. The spaces for cars are generally quite small, but don't worry, the locals are not parking superheroes who would be the only ones to be able to park their cars.
For comparison, I stayed a few days in San Francisco in the Mission District with a rental SUV that I left in a parking lot, and as a non-superhero I don't see much difference with a Californian who would have an equivalent experience in Toulouse

Anyway It is mainly by knowing where your hotel will be that you will be able to know which is the best option.

... pick a lovely place for dinner, take a passeggiata (what do they
call it in France?).

Sorry, no passeggiata in France and even less in Dordogne which is too rural.
This is typically an Italian (and also Spanish) way of life. You may find this kind of post-dinner activity in the big seaside towns as you approach the Mediterranean coast.

Regarding possible day trips from Sarlat here is a suggestion that will (maybe) make you wonder "why did we choose the Sarlat area?":

https://maps.app.goo.gl/octY3XZunj9uvcmXA

This takes you to 5 of the most beautiful villages in France: Martel, Carennac, Turenne, Collonges-la-Rouge and Curemonte.
All are located in the same area .

Martel:
https://www.visit-dordogne-valley.co.uk/discover/cultural-heritage/villages-to-visit/martel

Carennac:
https://www.visit-dordogne-valley.co.uk/discover/cultural-heritage/villages-to-visit/carennac

Curemonte:
https://www.visit-dordogne-valley.co.uk/discover/cultural-heritage/villages-to-visit/curemonte

Collonges-la-Rouge:
https://www.visit-dordogne-valley.co.uk/discover/cultural-heritage/villages-to-visit/collonges-la-rouge

Turenne:
https://www.visit-dordogne-valley.co.uk/discover/cultural-heritage/villages-to-visit/turenne

A place to stop for lunch could be Martel which has some good restaurants

Thanks JoLui and everyone. I think I have a tentative plan. It omits lots of things that I would've liked to see, especially Pech Merle, and also Castres. And even so it's probably still too optimistic, especially arriving with jet lag. But we can cut days short if they run long.

Can I trust Google Maps driving time estimates? Generally accurate?

If I want to keep lunches to one hour or so, rather than an extended thing, is there a recommended thing to say to the waiter to politely say that we don't wish to linger? Will most waiters speak some English? Restaurants ever have English menu translations?

Can you suggest how we should think about our visits to smaller towns, such as the Bastides (e.g. Puycelsi), or Carennac or Martel? Is the idea that we just park our car somewhere and stroll around as the mood strikes, and when we have our fill of the ambience then get back to the car and drive on?

I'm including my plan here, although I certainly don't expect anyone to read through it all. Maybe it'll be useful someday for someone trying a similar plan. FYI I abbreviate MTWRFSX for days of the week. FYI this is early April, pre-Easter.

R Day 1 - land in TLS airport, rent car, drive to Sarlat. Eat. Sleep.
F Day 2 - GdPadirac, Carennac and Curemont, Vignerone 1001 pierres, Martel, Louis Roque Distillery
S Day 3 - Castelnaud, Milandes, stroll the various small towns on the Dordogne south of Sarlat, stop at Noyeraies tour/shop.
X Day 4 - Lascaux II, Combarelles, Fortified/Reignac, Commarque
M Day 5 - Fenelon, GdCougnac, Lantis, wine tasting at lasfargues
T Day 6 - relocate to Toulouse in the morning, drop bags at hotel by noon, explore town for afternoon / evening.
W Day 7 - drive to Albi for lunch, church, museum, drive some Bastides time dependent
R Day 8 - relocating to Arles. Stop at Carcassonne with a guide for 2-3 hours, maybe stop at a winery near Beziers if time allows

I guess I'll sleep when I'm dead, as they say. Thanks again to everyone! Almost there.

Can I trust Google Maps driving time estimates? Generally accurate?

Driving times indicated by Google Maps are fairly reliable for those who are used to driving in the region on sometimes winding country roads, who don't care about the scenery and don't take any breaks. Adding 10% would be more reasonable.

Important to remember:

Directions to cities and villages are very well indicated by road signs as well as all tourist places such as caves, castles, museums, etc. As below after Souillac towards the Gouffre de Padirac:
(Martel and Gfre Padirac have a brown logo meaning a tourist place)

https://maps.app.goo.gl/kqPZfk4aLB9izrZj8

In small villages like Carennac you will have to leave the main road to get to the center of the village, which makes you go through this kind of street:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/gpw6SC2kuJyeSWc47

In case of doubt always follow the road signs rather than the GPS. The GPS, by wanting to save you 1 minute of driving can make you drive on a dirt road used only by agricultural tractors.

All tourist places and small towns like Sarlat or Martel have parking indicated by signs.

Some like Sarlat which have traffic problems because of the crowds have paid parking.

The city center of Albi (near the cathedral) is difficult to access by car. There are paid parking lots nearby

Restaurant servers are usually used to seeing tourists who do not speak French and have some basic knowledge of English, or even German or Italian. However, do not expect to see menus in English everywhere.
In this case, with an online translator you will be able to understand that:

Tourte de confit de canard aux cèpes et oignons caramélisés.. is a Duck confit pie with porcini mushrooms and caramelized onions.

(extract from a menu in a restaurant in Martel)

It's generally quite easy to have lunch in 1 hour. As everywhere, there are efficient restaurant staffs and others that are slower.

As I see that you are planning some wine tasting and to visit the Louis Roque distillery, be careful when mixing driving and alcoholic beverages.
It is forbidden to drive with a blood alcohol level greater than or equal to 0.5 g/l of blood, which roughly corresponds to 2 glasses of wine maximum for an adult.

The police do not joke about this. You risk a heavy fine and a driving ban for a few hours.
Not to mention the consequences in the event of a car accident.

Addendum:

Regarding the caves:

Check the opening times on their websites. Some are currently closed until the 2025 season (around late March).

Cave tours are with guides and specific departure times.
It is advisable to book online in advance, especially when there are guided tour departures in English.
There are usually free brochures in all languages ​​at the site reception.

April is a relatively quiet month for crowds, but note that in the Dordogne department (Sarlat) there will be school holidays from April 19 to May 5 and in the Lot department (Padirac, Martel, etc.) it will be from April 12 to 28. This may bring more French visitors.

The temperature in the caves is 13° Celsius (55F) regardless of the time of year. It is poorly lit (intentionally), wet and often slippery. Bring good shoes and don't go there just with a T-shirt.

Thefts are quite rare but don't push your luck, do not leave any valuables or important documents in the car during the visit.

Thanks again -- many important tips in there. I have researched online, as best as I'm able, which sites are closed for the Winter and when they reopen, their days/hours, tour options, etc. Many places still don't have much info about 2025 so it'll all have to be reconfirmed in March. Lascaux II and Combarelles I realize both require advance reservations, and especially if you want an English tour, so that day's itinerary will have to be malleable until we get back the options.

God, the les-eyzies Combarelles website is awful, and at the moment it is broken in terms of booking tickets. Hopefully it'll be better by March. Reviews for that entity's sites are lowered because of how horrible the website is and the stringent need to arrive 30 minutes in advance of the ticket to then stand around and wait.

When I use Google Maps for navigation, I never let Google pick the point where I drive to. I look for a specific parking area and set the point exactly where I need to go, making sure I'm not in some similarly-named town. And then I look at the route and see if anything looks fishy. I've had Google take me onto inappropriate roads in the past. I know it happens! That Google Maps photo from Carennac is why I'll go straight to the parking based off the main road and not try driving in town!

Re languages, I speak both German and Italian, so hopefully between my 3 languages I can get by. And I can at least pronounce French words somewhat well.

I will be careful about the wine tasting. I read that cars used to be required to come with breathalyzers, although they aren't anymore. For the day with the wine tasting and the distillery tasting I intend to space them out from each other so there won't be a double drinking.

Our dates in the area are April 2-9, before leaving for Provence, so it looks like we escape the worst of it. Last year we were in Rome and it seemed like Italy and France were all on school breaks and kids from school groups were everywhere. And I'd thought we'd have off-season low crowding! Thanks for checking those dates for me! I see that Provence starts on the 5th so we'll be in the middle of that for the rest of the trip.

The fear of theft from the car is why we're completely skipping the sites along the Lot. The drive from Sarlat is long and we're afraid to stop there while driving between Sarlat and Toulouse with all our luggage in the car.

foggyethan,
We often use viamichelin.com to plan our routes from place to place. It usually shows 2 or 3 routes (fastest, most scenic, etc.). As with google maps, I add time in for gas/food/comfort stops. I haven't used it for city maps, if they even have that. When driving from Bordeaux to Laq Roque Gageac on D roads, we went through some small towns and just stopped at a cafe in one for lunch. It had parking right in front, and we sat at an outside table where we could see the car. To be honest, there was hardly any foot or auto traffic by the parking lot. You may find something similar on your drive. If you travel mostly on the autoroutes, the cafes/lunch spots at the travel stops are fine for a plain meal.
Best of luck on your trip!

It is true that the website of Les Eyzies to book at Font de Gaume and Combarelles is poorly designed, even in French.

The carbon dioxide exhaled by visitors causes damage to the paintings. Since the paintings at Combarelles, Cougnac and Font de Gaume are originals and not reproductions like at Lascaux, access is limited to a few dozen people per day and reservation is mandatory.
So they cannot afford to wait for latecomers, that's why it is required to arrive early enough before the departure of the visit.

There are people who do not like to see copies (a question of feeling) and others who do not care.
If you are in the first category, on day 4 choose Combarelles as a priority

About day 5, I think that in April the wine tasting at Domaine de Lasfargues is only possible on weekends. To be checked.

I do understand the challenges they have with maintaining those original caves. I'm only grousing that they make it hard to get things right.

Thanks for reminding me about Lasfargues! I switched days X and M in the plan.

Just fyi,
It is too early to book a time for most of the caves. E.g., Font de Gaume reservations open about a month beforehand. Many of the others too. It's possible iyou are having some trouble with the Combarelles website, perhaps that is the reason. Best of luck!

If you are going to Albi by car, note that this car park (Parking Bondidou, also called Parking Cathédrale) is very close to the cathedral and has some free parking spaces, plus other paid parking spaces with a parking meter:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/tJWq1FBNL6d2nCPq7

By arriving early you may be lucky enough to get a space.