Sarlat-La-Caneda planning

June 2025 we stayed in Sarlat a few days. We enjoyed one daytrip that included Collages de Rouge, Martel (our favorite), and Autoire. That region was very scenic and not crowded. Returning to Sarlat we stopped at a viewpoint to see Rocamadour from a distance.
On another day we did a loop to the west . We could not find parking in Limeuil so had to skip it. Instead of very restored Cadouin Abbey we re-visited nearby Abbaye St. Avit, an evocative ruin.

We only had one day for Pech Merle and St. Cirq Lapopie, but my trip research notes listed some lovely nearby villages just east of there. Unfortunately, not enough time to check those out.

Perhaps if you’re interested in the Lot you might drop one night in Sarlat and add it your stay near Pech-Merle (which is stunning). Otherwise you’re in for a ton of driving. I think your one-day loop from Sarlat would be exhausting and frustrating; don’t underestimate how long it will take to get to places like Carennac. These are country roads and you don’t make great time. I doubt very much you’d actually get to all the places you name.

We’ve spent several weeks in both the area around Cadouin and in the Lot. I didn’t find anything memorable about Belves; i did like tiny Cadouin (first time I ever had garlic soup), and Limeuil is beautiful. But given the choice I’d focus on the Lot. We were based in St Cere, giving us easy access to the delightful Carennac, Martel, and Autoire (all of which are truly memorable) as well as to the Corrèze (don’t miss Turenne, but you can easily give a pass to Curemont, IMO) and also to places south of us, including Figeac, Pech Merle, and St Cirq Lapopie.

There are also some pretty drives just for scenery near the Lot river and also a pleasant river cruise.

Thank you for the helpful replies. @Frenchaucoeur: Do you mean that Figeac, Pech Merle and St Cirq Lapopie are also skippable or don't miss? We have early reservations for Grottes Pech Merle and then will spend 2 nights at Cabrerets. I thought that on our full day we could drive to Bouzies, walk to St Cirq Lapopie, then take the boat back to Bouzies. Unfortunately that boat doesn't run in May. They do a river cruise, which we could do. Or would it be better to stop at St Cirq Lapopie after the cave, take the boat tour and drive north to a smaller village to spend the 2 nights? Then I could spend a full day exploring the countryside.

I'm curious about your decision to choose 3 bases for your trip to the southwest, especially considering that it's only about a 1.5-hour drive from Brantôme to Sarlat, and the same from Sarlat to Pech-Merle.

If you're thinking going further west of Sarlat, keep in mind that you might stray from the charm of the region unless you're really keen to explore the Gironde and Bordeaux areas.

As suggested by Cynthia and Frenchaucoeur, if you'd like an alternative base the best option would be to head east of Sarlat towards Lot and Corrèze (Quercy region). This area is also part of the Dordogne Valley, home to many castles, caves, and some of the most beautiful villages in France.

Martel, which is one of the most beautiful villages in Ffance would put you close to Carennac, Turenne, Collonges-la-Rouge, Curemonte, Loubressac, Autoire, and Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne, all of which are also labeled as "most beautiful villages." Plus, you can easily visit the Padirac Cave and a variety of castles.

The large city of Brive-la-Gaillarde is also nearby; if you've heard good things about the Saturday market in Sarlat, be aware that it's rather pathetic compared to the one in Brive-la-Gaillarde. :-)

I created this map which might give you some ideas. It highlights nearly all the worthwhile spots to visit, including castles, caves, and villages, as well as options, some selected places to eat or buy regional products, and local markets with their opening days. I've also made a partial update (up to May) with upcoming flea markets.

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

Sarlat itself can be overwhelmed by tourism (thanks to Rick Steves), and after a day there, you may feel like you've seen all it has to offer. If you're interested in history and architecture and still want to spend some time in Sarlat-la-Canéda, I've also made this map to locate some historical details in the town.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1_zMv76Ci4ofAlS7qKX_VSAW6C1aELNQ&usp=sharing

Thank you for the great answers!

Cindyeb: I certainly didn’t mean to suggest that Figeac, Pech-Merle, and St Cirq Lapopie were missable; they are quite the opposite (although St Cirq Lapopie is totally a tourist magnet, it’s something to see).

JoLui will give you much better advice than I can. But I would put Martel, Autoire, Carennac, and Turenne atop my list of don’t-miss places if your time is limited.

I notice no one has mentioned Rocamadour. I’ll only say that I hated it the first time we were there - super crowded and hassling. On another trip we went early in the day and really enjoyed it, in large part because it was empty. It’s totally a tourist destination, at least on the lower level, just like Mont St Michel, but it’s still an extraordinary place. If a visit doesn’t fit into your plans, maybe try to stop at L’Hospitalet for the iconic view.

I'm just now finishing up almost three days in Sarlat, and for me it's been two days too many. Unfortunately the return train schedule back to Bordeaux is pretty grim, and there are no reasonable itineraries between 6 am and 5:30 pm, so I'm stuck here on the third day.

The village itself is very picturesque, and it's a great headquarters for tours into the Dordogne countryside. With that said, if you don't like foie gras it's difficult to get a good formule at lunchtime, and I've otherwise found food and service alike here to struggle to reach mediocrity. They still serve Champagne in a coupe glass, for heavens sake! And although the old town is pretty, it's not very big, and there's no great historical significance to the place.

I do recommend the Ophorus half-day tour that visits Domme, Beynac and La Roque-Gageac. There's a one-hour float on the Dordogne at La Roque-Gageac that permits one to see the magnificent chalk riverside cliffs and the troglodytic fort remains. Those not fluent in French might find the oral portions of the boat tour to be pretty useless, though.

Bottom line: the delights of the Dordogne are many, and one should have a car to best enjoy them.

OP

Sorry that your visit to Sarlat was disappointing, though I agree that the little city itself has only so much to offer and that the joys of the region are found in exploring nearby spots that require alternative and flexible transport - other than trains.

We travelled by e-bike, three years ago, though two hills were more than we could handle and we had to walk the bikes up those two. Still, we had a fantastic 8 night “self-guided” e-bike tour that started and concluded in Bergerac, followed the Dordogne and Vezere rivers up to Les Eyzies, Grotte de Font de Gaume and on to Montignac. Then we went through the hills to Sarlat, took a loop trip to Rocque Gageac that I think you enjoyed and back to Sarlat. Finally we back to the Dordogne R. at Beynac, on to Chateau des Milandes, Belves and back to Bergerac.

I mention this so that others learn from you and from Jo Lui’s very thoughtful and educational map linked in her post above, explore the Perigord Noir beyond RS’ myopic vision, and consider exploration by bike or e-bike as an alternative to driving.

We spent 4 weeks in France on that trip and our very best meal that trip was at Sarlat’s Le Grand Bleu.

I am the OP and loved every moment of our trip. I was not disappointed by the Sarlat area. Here is what we did after Brantome:

Wednesday, May 27: We had 11:15 tickets for the English tour at Lascaux. It was excellent. We stopped at St Leon de Vezere for a short walk. We toured La Roque St Christophe. It was fascinating and not crowded. We drove to Chapelle Notre-Dame de Rontpeyrine in Tursac. It’s a lovely church. I was worried during the drive but luckily there were very few people on the road. We continued to our gite on the outskirts of Sarlat-La-Caneda. It’s great and has AC and a dishwasher. We went to the supermarket for supplies.
Thursday, May 28: We drove to Domme and walked around about 2 hours. Super cute town. We were put off by all the sellers but they were concentrated in one area. We drove to Canoes Losiers in Vitrac and rented a two person kayak. The backrest was very comfortable. We spent 4 hours on the river. It was beautiful and not hard except that my fingers seized up and DH had to work harder. We stopped and picnicked at a lovely shady spot. There were snack bars along the way too!.
Friday, May 29: We had reservations for Les Combarelles, Font du Gaume and Cap Blanc. The guides spoke excellent English and the timing worked out great. We went to Chateau Milandes, which we loved. Josephine Baker was a fascinating woman.The bird show was also wonderful.
Saturday, May 30: We drove to Sarlat and spent a few hours walking around. It was beautiful. After lunch we went to Castlenaud and enjoyed the English tour.
Sunday, May 31: This was the day I'd considered driving to other towns further to the east. We decided to relax and see more things closer to Sarlat. We went to Chateau Commarque. It was great and not crowded. We went to Roque Gageac and arrived as a boat tour was starting. We enjoyed it and loved walking around the town. We did not try to walk to the top–it was too hot and we were tired!
Monday, June 1: We drove to our English tour at Pech Merle. It was great and the cave was beautiful. We went to Marcilhac-sur-Célé and enjoyed walking around Abbaye St Pierre. We drove to Bouzies and walked part of the tow path. Our hotel was in Cabrerets, which is a very lovely town.
Tuesday, June 2 We drove to Saint Cirq La Popie and it wasn’t crowded in the morning. It really is beautiful. We went to Musee de L-Insolite and loved it.
Wednesday, June 3 We started driving back to Paris. Our first stop was Martel. It was nice but not impressive after all the places we’d been. We loved Collanges de Rouge–it was beautiful and unique.
Thursday, June 4: We went to Guedelon Castle. Yes, it was out of the way but I knew DH would love it. I loved it too! We spent the night at a hotel near the airport.

Thanks Fred, for reminding the world that my humble little map actually exists. :-)

I wouldn't go so far as to call it RS’s "myopic vision", let's just say it's a very partial view.
To illustrate this (even though I know it’s unlikely to convince anyone) I can provide another very simple map.
On this map, all the locations frequently discussed in the Dordogne threads on the RS forum fall within the black square. Yet, you find the same types of landscapes, villages, castles, and caves throughout the green square, which is at least 20 times larger.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1f34eAOPVeAuPD5BDVg3SKJXyy3-d96U&usp=sharing

Unfortunately, there are few English versions of good guidebooks; most are in French and cover far more territory than RS does.
They all include the Quercy region, the Lot, and parts of the Corrèze and Lot-et-Garonne departments, enough to keep you busy for weeks.

Just one example from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.fr/guide-vert-perigord-quercy/s?k=guide+vert+perigord+quercy&language=en-GB

Speaking of print guidebooks, I should mention regarding Sarlat-la-Canéda that in my old 470-page guidebook for the region from the 1980s, Sarlat-la-Canéda and its surroundings (Beynac, Domme, etc.) took up a grand total of... 13 pages. Back then, the old Lascaux II cave did not yet exist.. :-)

J’aime Guide du Routard, beaucoups. Et les Michelin Guide Verts, aussi.

Michelin "Guides Verts" have long been the bible for French travelers, you can't find a more comprehensive resource for destinations within France.

The Guide du Routard is pretty good, too. Originally, back in the 70s, it was a guide for budget backpackers, though it has since become a bit too mainstream. It remains a reliable source for restaurant and hotel recommendations, at least from a French perspective. You can spot the guide's logo sticker on the entrance doors of the establishments it recommends.

https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-in-roscoff-a-greatly-recommended-restaurant-by-the-routard-tourist-34751774.html

Cindy. My apologies for confusing you and the other, recent poster, jphbucks.

Desolee.

Fred, it's okay. I just wanted to make it clear that it's a wonderful base for exploring the area.

it's a wonderful base for exploring the area

I actually agree. My problem is that I should have gone into my visit planning to take several different guided tours. If I visit again, that will be my plan.

Hotel Montaigne was excellent, BTW.

We were in Sarlat in March for 2 days. Enjoyed them, but I was there for the duck, foi gras, etc. We did drive quite a bit in the area. We particularly enjoyed the Chateau de Beynac, as it was the home base of Eleanor of Aquitaine for a time. We visited a duck farm, which we enjoyed.

Paul

I had not realized Ailenor’s connection with Beynac. She fascinates me. I consider her one of the 10 most remarkable women of the Millenium, 1001-2000.

Quick research suggests to me that Ailenor was 70 when her son, Richard Coeur-de-Lion, Richard I, laid claim to Beynac in 1194. I believe that she spent some of her final years before her 1204 death at l’Abbaye Fontevraud in the Loire. I’d love to hear more about her connection to Chateau Beynac.

I know that she spent more than a little time and effort to maintain and extend her control of Acquitaine against threats from the east, based in Toulouse, but I believe that those conflicts were earlier than 1194.

Fred:

I share your admiration for her. At the time she lived, women were restricted. Her achievements are all the more remarkable. Quite a lot of info about her, and Coeur de Lion also, at Beynac, including her correspondence with another amazing woman, Hildegard von Bingen.