The Dordogne

I assume you are planning to rent a car to get around the Dordogne. Without a car, you will be limited in your ability to visit many of the smaller towns and I think most of the caves, unless you opt for some sort of local tour. There are a few operating from Sarlat.

With a car you have the option of staying in a place that's a bit smaller and/or less touristy if you'd prefer that type of environment.

I traveled to the Dordogne in January 2018. Having been to Europe many times I think the best time is 1st week of May. We took the train to Sarlat from Bordeaux.

We were there on an RS tour in late May and stayed in Sarlat for 3 nights. One evening of pouring rain and very nice weather the rest of the time. The hotel we stayed at was Hotel Saint-Albert http://www.hotelsaintalbert.com/en. It was OK, most of the people on our tour agreed that it was probably the most disappointing of all the hotels we stayed at, but the best part about it was that it was located right at the edge of the Old Town. I would also seriously consider at least an overnight in Beynac. It's a beautiful town and was used as the backdrop in the movie Chocolat. We only got to spend about an hour there, but I would have loved to have seen it in the evening.

I do agree with another comment that you probably want a car to make day trips, the sites are pretty spread out and some of the caves are kind of remote. I saw two of the caves, Rouffignac and Lascaux. Rouffignac was interesting but Lascaux was spectacular. You'll likely get some comments that Lascaux isn't worth it because it's a reproduction, but when you go through it, it doesn't feel that way. If you do a search, I think there is another recent post that discusses the caves in the region.

We spent a week in the Dordogne in September and thought it was a great time to be there. Perhaps a little on the hot side, but we hate hot weather. We stayed in an apartment in Sarlat and thought it was a ideal base for the area. There are a number of smaller villages which would be appealing, but might have less choices for places to eat. A car is the best way to travel the area; it would be challenging without one. Our favorite cave was Peche Merle, which is a bit on the far side, but totally worth it.

A look at weather statistics on a site like timeanddate.com will allow you to compare temperature averages and rainfall by month. I've linked to the stats for Perigueux, a larger place near Sarlat; I hope the weather in those two spots is fairly similar. You can also find actual, day-by-day weather data stretching back 10 years by clicking on the "Yesterday/Past Weather" tab.

As you can see, June, July and August are a lot drier than the preceding and following months. I ran into a good bit of rain in early June 2019. Unfortunately, it poured the entire day I spent in Sarlat, but life is like that sometimes. The trade-off for the drier mid-summer weather is that there's a greater chance of unpleasant heat.

I disagree with the suggestion to split you time between Sarlat and Beynac (assuming Beynac-et-Cazenac here). They are less than 8 miles apart, and I wouldn't want the hassle of changing hotels for that short a distance. As a public-transportation user, I opted to stay in a series of larger places in that area, but I agree that Sarlat has a lot of restaurant options, and it's large enough that I don't think staying there for multiple nights would be boring. It gets blitzed on market days (Saturday is the largest, but the Wednesday market is also impressive), so you'd want to give some thought to the possible difficulty of negotiating that traffic if you wanted to drive out of town on a market day.

Hi Nancy,
We (family of 4; Mom Dad & 2 teens) travelled to Dordogne in August 2013 and stayed at https://gaurenne.com/ The house & property were AMAZING! The property was very quiet, and within easy access to all that the Dordogne has to offer. All of us still talk about how much we loved it here - it definitely ranks as our top house rental out of everywhere we've gone, and we've rented lots of places all over the world! The drive from the house to Sarlat was about 20 mins, and a car is a must in this area. At the time we went, you had to wake up early (4am) to line up for cave tickets at the Font de Gaume office; there were only a limited number of tickets available/day/cave (80 tickets/day comes to mind). From there we purchased tickets to Font de Guame as well as Cap Blanc; both were stunning and amazing. While in the area, we also rented kayaks then paddled the Dordogne River (easy to do, beautiful scenery and the operator we went with provided pick up service at the end to take you back to the car). Other towns we visited included Roque-Gageac, Rocamador, Carennac, Chateau Beynac and Eyrignac as well as a few small hill towns in the region. We also went to the gardens at Marqueyssac which were stunning and provided beautiful views looking down over the Dordogne River. Happy travels and hope you enjoy this region as much as we did!

Hello from Wisconsin,

Sarlat is a very cute place and it knows it. And tourists know it. I would not set up shop there. France is filled with villages that are wonderful and not so well known.

And while the Dorgogne is the river separating the French from the British during much of the hundred years war and therefor has castle galore, I would drive the road, visit a few of the castles and move on to two small rivers nearby. The Dordogne is paralleled by a road suitable for busses. It is big and well used. The Lott and the Cele are much smaller rivers and have roads to match. A much more personal experience. Actually where the Cele flows into the Lott is Cabrerets which is the home to a very, very nice cave with great paintings inside. And yes, you do get to enter the actual cave and see the original paintings (Grottes Pech Merle).

By the way, Bordeaux, is a wonderful place to visit and spend a few days. The Naploean Cafe is worth a visit for coffee or a light meal. An art nouveau beauty.

If you can schedule a late April or early May trip it avoids a lot of tourist pressure. I taught for 30 years and April/May was impossible.

wayneiNWI

wayne iNWI

1) you must have a car. 2) May is good, I think September is better. 3). Font de gaume. 04) gites de France If you will stay for one or more weeks (much recommended) you can rent one of any number of wonderful places to stay. Close to Sarlat in the Hamlet of Simon We have enjoyed: la Terrace ( especially nice) or le plaisant,not as beautiful but very inexpensive. In La Roque Gagiac There is a lovely hotel, there is a lovely hotel, la Belle Etoile. This would be my first choice for hotel. Even better, there is a chambre d’hote above Beynac, la petite Versailles, my favorite place if you were staying for less than a week or do not need the space and kitchen facilities that a gite Offers. This is an absolutely wonderful area. You will not be disappointed!

We've stayed in Dordogne three time for a total of 2 1/2 months. This year mid May to mid June. The other times were in June. Mid May would be the earliest arrival I would recommend. September would also be good but I would not extend into October.
We rent a house thru Gites of France and have been happy with results. We stay near Cenac et St Julien, about 20 minutes south of Sarlat. We go to Sarlat frequently but wouldn't want to rent there since we prefer a more countryside location.

If you look at a map the area we prefer to live is Sarlat on the north and east with Beynac on the west. Cenac on the south. We find plenty to do with day trips.

Very good markets in Sarlat(Wednesday and Saturday) and St Cyprien(Sunday). If you are in a house hit the Sunday market for chicken, veggies, bread, wine and deserts for lunch/dinner. Mid May thru June is strawberry season. Much better than our US berries.

If you decide to go I can get more specific things to do etc.

A question for boldface--why not October? (We will be in Sarlat for four nights in the second week of October)

lois,
I have close friends that spend several months a year in France and have for about 20 years. We were planning a Sept/Oct trip and they advised me in the Dordogne area things would being to close and slow down in early October. When they speak I listen.

Good advice above. We were there five nights in late April to early May and it was fine. Autumn would also be fine, including October as far as I can tell. Like a previous poster, we stayed at Le Petit Versailles in Beynac and liked it very much. If you're spending a week or more you might look at Gites de France, which friends have liked but I haven't experienced.

Sarlat is also a good base, a bigger town with more dining options and two weekly market days. Takes a little longer to get in and out by car. I agree with the poster who suggested picking just one base instead of changing hotels in midstream -- unless you have a lot of time planned. And I agree that driving is the best way to see the area.

We went to Lascaux II and Font de Gaume, both great. Yes Lascaux is a replica but that means you see the paintings in the original colors used thousands of years back. (The reproduction was made using the same plant-based dyes as in the original.) Friends have recommended Peche Merle. The museum at Les Eyzies is very good. Also plenty of castles and the hilltop town of Domme.

Thanks, boltface--I'll just keep my fingers crossed and hope that some of the major things I'd like to see are still open until October 10! For a variety of reasons, we couldn't do it earlier, which would have been my preference.

Being car-less, I stayed in some of the larger places in the Dordogne/Lot area, all of which I found interesting from the architectural/just-wandering-around standpoint: Agen, Brive-le-Gaillarde, Perigueux and Bergerac. I also visited Figeac on a day-trip. If you find the countryside deader than expected, head to one of the towns. I especially enjoyed Figeac. It's a bit hilly, which adds interest, and it's the location of the Champollion Museum, a modern museum whose collection focuses on the development of writing. Hieroglyphics were deciphered by Jean-Francois Champollion, a local scholar, after the discovery of the Rosetta Stone.

I always seek out WWII-related museums, so I went to the small Resistance Museum in Brive-le-Gaillarde. That one I can't really recommend for non-French-speakers unless they have a lot of excess time on their hands. English documentation is somewhat limited.

Having been to Europe many times I think the best time is 1st week of May.

I'll agree that that's a very good time. We spent a week there 2 years ago in early May. The prior time it was October, which actually was fine. A few things had closed for the season, and the restaurant we planned to go to the last night had cut its hours and was closed. But the weather was good, and the chestnuts were in season.

To answer your question about a nice accommodation I can recommend Les Hautes Granges located 5 miles from Sarlat. It is a very pretty inn surrounded by gardens. We did not find Sarlat cute or charming. The only attraction there was market day and several good restaurants. We were there in May and had perfect weather.

My standards are obviously lower than Susan's. I thought Sarlat was very attractive even though it was pouring rain the entire day. I walked every street in the historic district; I wasn't tempted to leave before doing so, even though my feet were soaked. Sarlat definitely gets a large number of visitors, so you won't be able to pretend it's your own personal discovery. But there are enough twisty streets that you don't have to spend all your time in the thick of things--at least I didn't, but I did have the "advantage" of being there on a miserable day. But it was Wednesday, so the town had a considerable amount of market traffic. I'd guess the number of visitors on a wet Wednesday wasn't too far off of what you'd experience on non-market days with better weather.

If you like Raclette there are several restaurants in Sarlat that offer it. Personally I can never pass it up--love it but it may not be up to Swiss standards. There is a beautiful garden near Salignac, Mnoir d'eyvgues. You drive through a gorgeous first to reach it. I really want to return. to the Dordogne area.