We will be staying in the village of Damazan in the Dordogne for 2 weeks the end of Sept and first of Oct. I would like to contact a local guide for different parts of the area. St. Emilion or Sarlat would be nice. I haven't had any luck so far. Has anyone found a local person to give the history and highlights of any of the villages or towns in the area?
Posted by
victoria, Canada
11507 posts
Margaret I suggest you go on the tripadvisor France forums, they have seperate forums for each area, and there are locals and expats that are on them, you will likely have much better luck there as tripadvisor is a very busy and more international forum. I once needed some train info to get out to a very small place some relatives lived in, it was so small its not even on most maps, and a tripadvisor poster who lived there was able to give me excellant information.
just google tripadvisor.com france forums( I don't know how to post links sorry)
Posted by
New Orleans, LA, USA
105 posts
Lonely Planet also has a great forum "tree forum". The Dordogne region is beautiful...do the canoe trip! We stayed at a B&B in Sarlat recommended by RS and loved it. Had a balcony overlooking the town center and woke up to market right outside. It was fantastic! It's called Le Maison du Notaire Royal. Have a great trip.
Posted by
Los Angeles
1825 posts
Margaret, You must be visiting family.... I toured the area for a few days last May, it's incredible. Sarlat and most of what I saw will be about a three hour drive from Damazan so you might want to stay a night or two, I would. Sarlat itself is nice but a bit busy, the smaller towns along the river are nicer, IMO. St. Emilion is closer to you and if you like wine is a must see. Get the RS book and you'll know most of what I know.
Posted by
Denver
799 posts
Damazan is actually in the Lot-et-Garonne, not the Dordogne, and as pointed out, quite a ways from Sarlat; even St. Emilion would be 1 1/2 hour drive each way. You might want to seek out places a little closer to where you'll be staying (or do some overnight visits to other locations). In addition to the tripadvisor forums, also go to Fodor's Travel Talk. There is one poster who lives in the Dordogne, and another who has (had?) a second home there, so they may be able to steer you toward guides. We've found the Michelin Green Guide for Dordogne very helpful (I don't think that one covers the Lot area, but maybe another one does). Also, Cadogan (a U.K. publisher) makes very useful books about the region, with a lot of detail about history and sights/sites.