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Where to stay for one or 3 nights between Paris And Sarlat

My husband and I expect to be driving from Paris to the Dordogne (actually Cenac-et-st julien) from Paris I will have either one or 3 nights not yet booked and looking for a place to stay somewhat along the way. Hopefully the candlelight tours will be happening at Vaux-le-Vicomte. If so, we will stay at Fontainebleau for 2 nights. Which leaves us with one night before arriving in the Dordogne. Or, if the candlelight tours are not available at that time we will have 3 nights between Paris and the Dordogne. We are not familiar with too many places in between and are hoping someone can recommend a town or village that would make a pleasant stop.

Posted by
6430 posts

We did this drive and spent the night in Bourges, which has a fine cathedral with very good stained glass. We also visited George Sand's house, where Chopin spent a lot of time, south of Bourges in Nohant.

If you don't go to Fontainebleau or Vaux-le-Vicomte, or Bourges, you'd have time to swing west and take in some of the Loire chateaux, like Chambord, Chenonceau, Amboise, Blois, Cheverny, et al. With three nights between Paris and the Dordogne there are a lot of choices. I haven't been to Oradour-sur-Glane, site of a WWII atrocity, but it is supposed to be a very powerful site.

Posted by
2923 posts

It’s a 3h drive from Paris to Amboise in the Loire Valley. You may want to visit Chenonceau while staying in the Loire that’s a 30-minute drive south of Amboise. Driving from Chenonceau to Sarlat is another 5h.
Oradour-sur-Glane is another place that might interest you that’s a 5h drive from Paris and 2h 30m from Sarlat.

Posted by
2923 posts

If you go to Amboise order a bowl of French onion soup at Restaurant Anne de Bretagne. It’s the best I’ve tasted; it’s all about the broth.

Posted by
7981 posts

We did this trip in two days one time -- just grabbed a place on the road the first night (don't recommend that-- pick a nice city of interest on the way -- maybe in the Loire-- maybe visit a couple of chateaux). The second night we stayed at a place fairly near the Dordogne -- we were headed to Cadouin. the little town not far from the highway was Uzerche and we stayed at the hotel Joyet de Maubec which was lovely. We enjoyed walking around the town and along that river that afternoon and enjoyed a lovely dinner on a terrace overlooking the river. It was a nice overnight stop. Another place we considered stopping was near Guedelon castle being constructed using traditional methods; we ended up not doing it, but it seemed interesting. and I am sorry we didn't since now we cannot drive and so that chance is gone..

Posted by
610 posts

Thanks everyone! Very much appreciated. My only problem seems to be an abundance of choices. I wish I had 3 months rather than 1-3 days for this part of our trip!