Hello all,
Just wanted to post some tips and tricks that we learned from our recent stay in the Dordogne. We had one day of travel (to get there) and 3 full days of sightseeing. We visited the last week of October.
Firstly, the Dordogne is entirely worth it. It’s a bit harder to get to when compared to other locations in the RS France guidebook. In our experience, its remoteness makes it quintessentially French.
Next, we would like to tip our hat to the Steves (Rick Steves and Steve Smith) for their wonderful itineraries and guides in this section. Everything was perfectly described and offered incredible information for the area. We mostly followed the 3-day itinerary recommended in the book. One day for Sarlat and the Dordogne Valley, another day for the prehistoric caves (Grotte de Font-de-Gaume is a treasure), and one day for the eastern Dordogne.
We flew directly to Paris from the U.S. and then connected to a flight from Charles-de-Gaulle to Bordeaux and rented a car. We were not on an affiliate of Air France (Delta is the big one in the U.S.), so it took around 1.5 hours to get through customs, then an airport train to Terminal 2 from Terminal 1, and back through security. We learned the hard way that Friday afternoons are a popular time for people to leave Bordeaux for the weekend. We were stuck in traffic for 45-60 minutes getting from the airport (located on the western end) around Bordeaux to the eastern freeway towards the Dordogne. We were told that Bordeaux is famous for having some of the worst traffic in France, so we would definitely plan to get in on a non-Friday before the afternoon rush. We also learned that the two weeks surrounding November 1st (a national holiday) are also a school vacation for French students. So, whereas we encountered very few foreign tourists in late October, there were many French families visiting/touring the area. We’ll try better next time to look into school holidays in France before our next visit.
We used La Roque-Gageac as a homebase. We like to cook-in from time to time (particularly on a market day, of which the Dordogne has many) so we used the Gîtes system (https://www.gites-de-france.com/en) to find something with a kitchen and a bit more space. We would definitely recommend the Gîtes network to anyone who has similar proclivities. We would also recommend La Roque-Gageac as a homebase. It is centrally located within the villages on the Dordogne River and is an easy 15 minute drive to Sarlat which boasts a can’t-miss market on Saturdays and many grocery store options (both small and large) for supplies (etc.).
Finally, a friendly caution about driving in this area. Roads can be very narrow and the French are notorious for hating straight lines (prepare for hairpin turns and lots of ups/downs). One of our favorite days was following the itinerary from the guidebook in the Eastern Dordogne. However, please be sure to follow Steve’s road/route recommendations. In other words, be warry of always following directions from Google. Two areas can be particularly tricky. Google took us on a route between Martel and Carennac that was extremely narrow and included crossing the river via a 8-foot-wide, one-at-a-time, wooden plank bridge (not kidding). The other mistake was following Google’s directions from Rocamadour back to La Roque. We definitely recommend Steve’s advice to cross the river to get the view of the town when it is lit up after dark (which was breathtaking). However, don’t let Google convince you to continue on the D-32 out of town. This road was a very dark, hilly, curvy, single-lane road all the way back. Needless to say, Google’s directions increased the ‘white knuckle’ factor significantly. Next time we’ll follow the D-246 out of Rocamadour back to the D-703. Thank you Rick Steves Europe for guiding us through a wonderful section of France. We hope you can benefit from some of our experience. Happy Travels!
Posted by
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
4580 posts
In other words, be warry of always following directions from Google.
We were there in early October for a week and I'm hoping to have my TR for the region posted within a week and I'm also including tales about the wacky roads and directions. We used a combination of Google Maps and our car's GPS; which was no better. Often both methods told us to turn where there was a sign clearly stating it was one-way going the other way. As for narrow roads; there was a dividing line on the road toward Commarque Castle stating it was two-way traffic, which may be true if the two-way traffic was for horses...
Firstly, the Dordogne is entirely worth it. It’s a bit harder to get
to when compared to other locations in the RS France guidebook. In our
experience, its remoteness makes it quintessentially French.
Yes, yes, and yes.
Posted by
OP
2 posts
Thanks for commiserating with our experience Allan. Forgot to mention that Google also took us directly into the pedestrian zone of Sarlat. Certainly not the quintessentially French experience I would recommend :)