Dordogne- air travel and places to see

Hi Martha Toulouse and Bordeaux airports are similar distances to the Dordogne, I'd choose the one with better flights onward to Seville. If by boat ride you mean canoeing, I'd suggest you do the four hour paddle that takes you past Chateau Montfort. You might ask the operators to give you six hours for the four hour paddle so you don't have to rush when you stop at villages. Go to Font du Gaume cave, but you need to make reservations ahead of time, especially now as they have limited even further the number of visitors per day. As far as gardens, we enjoyed the Hanging Gardens at Marqueyssac. You might want to try to fit in a chateau. While not as impressive as the Loire, I enjoyed Chateau des Milandes. It belonged to Josephine Baker and has a great display about her life and career.

I'd suggest Bordeaux instead of Toulouse, it's closer and you can drive along the valley east into the heart of the Dordogne. We spent five wonderful nights in Beynac, a village west of Sarlat, which is a bigger town that many people use as a base. We were there about the same time of year as you, weather was fine but of course rain is always possible. Boat ride: You can either take a tour boat or rent a canoe in La Roque-Gageac nearby, see http://www.gabarres.com/us/index.htm for one option. I believe the canoe rental includes a shuttle from the downstream end. Cave(s): We visited Lascaux II and Font-de-Gaume, both north of the river. Lascaux II is a reproduction but a very faithful one (e.g. used the same vegetable pigments as the original art) that lets you see what the place must have looked like way back when. I've heard great things also about Peche Merle to the south. I don't know about gardens. We visited several castles, probably Castelnaud was the best, across the river from Beynac. We walked around LaRoque-Gageac but I'd hesitate to sleep there because the hotel is right on the main road with minimal sidewalk. We also enjoyed the prehistoric museum in Les Eyzies-de-Tayac, set on a cliff above the town. And Sarlat is a beautiful larger town with two weekly markets but considerable traffic to and from. All these places are easy drives from each other on scenic roads. You might also want to see Bergerac and/or Perigeux, I regret not doing so. We thought Rocamadour, farther to the east, was underwhelming except for the view of the town itself, not worth the long drive there, but others would surely disagree. Have a good trip.

If you can only see one cave, I would pick the Grotte du Peche Merle, east of Cahors. A beautiful cave geologically, with breathtaking neolithic art. This is enroute from Toulouse and a strong argument for flying into there. You can return the car in Bordeaux if that works better for you. The beautiful hill town of St. Cirq laPopie is nearby. Check out a map to see if this will work for you.