We are seeking advice on which town/city is best to stay in to do a day trip to visit D'Oradour-sur-Glane. We will not have a car, so relying on trains/buses, or perhaps a guided tour. We would be visiting this area late Sept / early Oct 2024.
Thanks in advance for any advice.
C + R
To my knowledge, without a rental car the only place from which you can go to Oradour sur Glane by bus is Limoges.
It's the bus 192 (formerly 12) which leaves from Place des Carmes in Limoges.
Regarding the possibilities of activities in Limoges see the tourist office website:
https://www.destination-limoges.com/en/
which has also a page dedicated to Oradour sur Glane:
https://www.destination-limoges.com/en/the-destination/Must-haves/doradour-sur-glane-memorial/
It would seem that Limoges would be an obvious choice. Line 192 has several buses per day between the two locations. Here's a pdf of the schedule.
Oh - and it's not D'Oradour. Just Oradour, from the Occitan word for oratory, or orador.
You might have been confused because of the name of the visitors center: Centre de la Mémoire d’Oradour. the "d" there is a contracted form of "de," meaning "of."
I was determined to get to Oradour sur Glane on a recent trip and it is absolutely worth the effort! It’s just an incredibly sober, reflective, and shocking place to walk around.
It took me forever to sort out a way but here is what we did: we were in Bordeaux. We took the fast train to Angoloume and then I had a driver pick us up there, drive us to Oradour sur Glane, and wait while we toured the site. They then took us back to Angouleme. We spent a few hours there - totally worth it for a lovely architectural city walk, nice pedestrian streets, and nice cafes - and then took the train back to Bordeaux.
The train ride takes 36 minutes from Bordeaux to Angouleme.
We used Monsieur Paul limo service for the ride for Angouleme. The cost of the ride plus two hours of waiting time was 200 Euros. The drive distance between Angouleme and Oradour sur Glane is 84 km.
Thank you for your advice - looks like we'll add in a couple of nights in Limoges, and I've noted the bus number and schedule details.
C + R
The museum at Oradour is very good. I spent so much time there (probably about two hours, because I read everything available in English) that I had to rush through the remains of the ruined town--not what I wanted to do.
Limoges has a very attractive historic center and is known for its decorative-arts museums (primarily enamel and porcelain, as I recall).
