Sarlat,France

I'd suggest flying into Paris, then either flying or taking a train from Paris to Bordeaux, then picking up your car in Bordeaux and driving to Sarlat. It's a 2+ hour drive and quite easy.

Your best bet is flying to Paris. I suggest taking the train to Brive La Gaillarde or Libourne from Paris and renting a car from there. Brive will leave you with about a one-hour drive. That is the closest spot that I know of where you can easily rent a car and get to Sarlat. Taking the train to Sarlat is a pain. Sarlat is at the end of a branch line and the trains are infrequent, slow, and irregular. I have heard that it is a scenic ride that follows the Dordogne River but I have not taken the train because my schedule has never worked with the train schedule. You could fly from Orly to Brive but coordinating that with a flight into CDG will take some planning. Forget about buses.

Thanks for your input. This sounds complicated. How about if I fly into Barcelona? Would there be flights into the DORDOGNE area?
Bonnie

I told you above that there are flights from Paris via Orly airport to Brive La Gaillarde. Barcelona is not going to be easier. You will have to change trains along the way to get anywhere near Sarlat and there will be no non-stop flights. Your best bet for flights or the train are from Paris and maybe from some places in the UK given that the Dordogne is quite popular with British expats. You can look for flights to Brive La Gaillarde, Perigeux, or Bergerac airport but I don't know about the rental car situation in Perigeux or Bergerac. It is not super complicated -- fly to Paris and take the train to Bordeaux or Brive La Gaillarde or Libourne and then rent a car and drive the rest of the way. You will complicate things by trying to get all the way to Sarlat without doing any driving because you will have to use a taxi for a pretty long trip, a bus (good luck with that) or an infrequent train. Ultimately, if you really want to avoid driving for any portion of the trip to Sarlat, take the train from CDG to Bordeaux and pick up the TER train to Sarlat from there. Last time I checked, there were five trains per day on the Bordeaux to Sarlat route.

I understand that you might be choosing Delta for some of the same reasons that I choose them (such as the mileage program). But if you can use British Airways, it looks like you could fly Tampa-Bordeaux with just one connection in London.

If you take an InterCity train from Paris Austerlitz station to Brive, a 2nd-class ticket costs €73 to buy on the spot, cheaper than connections that start with a TGV from Charles de Gaulle airport. Advance-purchase discounts are also available on these trains, but if you're not spending a night in Paris first, then it's harder to commit to a non-refundable train ticket with any certainty.

the idea to rent car from Bordeaux is the easiest - rental car agency is next to the Bordeaux train station. It's a very easy drive, you have the option to drive the country road passing vineyard and small towns and castles, it's very beautiful!

The EuropCar location in Brive is across the street from the train station. Six of one -- half dozen of the other as compared to getting a car from Bordeaux. Have done both drives. Both are easy and one is almost one hour less of driving time if that matters. Going by way of Bordeaux is about 3.5 hours on the train and about 2 hours of driving time and going via Brive is about 4 hours on the train and 1 hour of driving time -- ultimately, not a big difference in travel time.

Hi Bonnie:-)
I just posted myself that I will visit Paris for a few days then travel to Bordeaux and pick up a car to drive to Sarlat. Its a long shot that we could connect. Is that plan set in stone? I'm traveling to San Sebastian after. I also have a friend I'm hoping to visit enroute to Sarlat. I'm looking for a travel buddy.

Marilyn
Santa Cruz, CA

Marilyn,
Thanks for your reply. I am traveling with a friend and she just notified me that we are going to need to do some changes on our arrival date..later than planned. We have paid for an AIRBNB in Sarlat so do not know IF a change will work???
It is our preference to fly or take train to Sarlat so do not know if we can connect.
Bonnie

By the way, the train from Paris to Brive includes a foosball table. Yes, a foosball table. Alter your travel plans accordingly.

Well,football on the train to Sarlat‼️That's a deal maker👍
Bonnie