Planning Day Trips In The Dordogne

[artnbarb]

Our trip to France is fast approaching and I'm trying to organize day trips that make the best use of our time. We're based in St Cyprien, just west of Sarlat, for 6 days and I know I have more than enough to fill those days! (We'll later move to Cahors for 4 nights, and I'll start a separate thread for that area)

We'll arrive in St Cyprien on Sunday, May 1, and are there until the following Sunday, giving us 6 full days. Here's what's on my agenda, and the questions I have:

• We know we want to go to some caves, and I'm leaning towards Font de Gaume, Rouffignac, and Roque St Cristophe. Yes I know I left out Lascaux. Based on previous threads I don't think we'll miss it, but if anyone has a compelling argument for adding Lascaux, or visiting Lascaux instead of one of the others, speak now!
• If we don't go to Lascaux, is there any reason to go to Montignac?
• is the museum at Les Eyzies de Tayac-Sirleuil worth a visit, and if so, is it important to visit the museum before we see any caves, or does it matter?
• Since the weather is unpredictable during the first week in May, it may or may not be warm enough to do a canoe trip down the Dordogne, but I'm thinking an afternoon trip is likely to be warmer than a morning trip! So - What to do and where to visit BEFORE the canoe trip, and should we do the standard Vitrac to Beynac trip? How long should we plan for, knowing there will be stops along the way? And if we end up in Beynac, do you have restaurant recommendations?
• If it's too cool for a canoe trip, what about a boat excursion between Castelnaud and Beynac or La Roque Gageac?
• My biggest concern is how to plan for all the cute villages we want to see! I don't know if some are simply worth a drive thru, or are best seen from a distance, and which ones merit a stop. The towns on our list are:
  *Martel
  *Carennac
  *Loubressac
  *Autoire
  *Payrignac
  *Domme
  *Gourdon
  *Limeuil
  *St Léon sur Vezère
  *Sarlat la Caneda – I was told to avoid market day here!
  *La Roque-Gageac
  *Beynac
  *Castelnaud
• Have I left out any important towns? We've decide not to visit Rocamadour, just in case you wondered.

OK, that's a good start, and I hope you all have some feedback for me. Thanks in advance.

 

[Kathy]

Barb, I think you know we lead a week-long tour in the Dordogne and I've probably spent close to five months in that area in the last ten years, including several weeks based in St. Cyprien when we were doing our research. (You could take a look at our itinerary to see what we do.) We base in Montignac and like it very much. Should you go there just to walk around? Maybe not. I've read that the old bridge across the Vezere in Montignac is closed for a few months, so it could be complicated there. I personally have really liked the visit to Lascaux II, but obviously that's up to you as you have just so much time and so many caves to see. I like La Roque St. Christophe for a drive by and find Castelmerle extremely interesting.

I love gardens, and Eyrignac is a big favorite of mine. It may or may not fit with your program. I've also really enjoyed Marqueyssac and the Jardin des Imaginaire in Terrasson.

Some of the villages you've listed above are really quite far from St. Cyprien. I've liked those villages in the Lot very much (we stayed in the Correze for two weeks on our long trip and later did a long-distance hike that took us through Carennac, Autoire etc.), but I'm not sure I would do such a long day trip from St. Cyprien.

I'll be contrary... I really enjoy outdoor markets and the Saturday market in Sarlat is one of the biggest in the area. My daughter, friend and I had a great morning there in the middle of the summer. I think it would be less crowded in early May.

There are quite a few things to do in the area around Beynac. I really enjoy the self-guided tour of the chateau. (Drive around the back as most people don't know there is parking up at the top.) We spend the morning in La Roque-Gageac. Some of our group does the canoe trip from this base and some do the boat ride. You see much more in the canoe, though I'm not sure they will be operating. The canoe trip goes base Castelnaud and also right by Beynac and it's just spectacular to see it by water. The boat trip has to turn around at the bridge by Castelnaud. You could also cross the bridge to visit Chateau des Milandes, which includes a very interesting Josephine Baker museum. (She once owned this chateau.) I've only been to Castelnaud once and it gets quite crowded at peak season, but maybe not in May. And we've stayed overnight in Domme and had a wonderful dinner there. It also gets quite crowded midday in peak season, but again-- I think in early May you'll find things quite different.

St. Leon de Vezere is a good place for a picnic or to enjoy a relaxing lunch in one of the cafes. It's a somewhat sleepy little village on the river. I like it. Nearby you could visit Chateau de Losse, a very interesting smaller castle.

Hope I haven't confused things too much. Everyone has different interests and you should plan your time based on what most interests the two of you. And be sure to leave some time for spontaneous explorations... sometimes those are the very best.

Kathy

 

[artnbarb]

Kathy, thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and experience with me. I will take a look at your site to see how you spend your days. I know 6 days isn't a long time, and I'm so grateful we'll have an additional 4 days in Cahors.

Regarding that 'long day', yes, I am struggling with that! As I'm sure you know, Carennac, Loubressac and Autoire have all been listed as the most beautiful villages in France, so they are definitely tugging at my heartstrings! In the long run perhaps driving (at least) 1.5 hours to visit that area is simply not the best use of our time. <sigh>

As for Lascaux, we are planning to see Font de Gaume. Rouffignac, and (from Cahors) Pech Merle, so I did decide to leave Lascaux out - at least for now.

Also thank you for the information on gardens, I'd be very interested, and would like to see at least one - unless it's still cold and damp, in which case nothing will be in bloom yet.

No, you haven't confused me, but I'm continuing to fine tune this week, and appreciate the thought you put into your reply. Sometimes it's hard to know what you want to see and do, especially on the first trip to an area. This region seems like one we could visit several times and still discover new things!

 

[artnbarb]

OK, so I've deleted the 4 villages east of the A20 (Martel, Carennac, Loubressac and Autoire). I'm sad about it, but I have to be practical.

Now I need to put some days together. Some ideas:

• La Roque-Gageac in the morning, with lunch at the recommended la Belle Etoile, then a canoe trip, stopping at both Beynac and Castelnaud
• Font de Gaume in the morning, La Roque St Cristophe after lunch, need a stop for lunch somewhere in between!
• some sort of a scenic drive, stopping at Limeiul for a picnic lunch, and then continuing the scenic drive - but I'm not really sure about which direction!
• Grotte de Rouffignac - but maybe we should do la Roque St Cristophe before or after this, since they're in the same area
• Sarlat - what day is market day? If we don't go to Sarlat on market day, is there another nice market we could visit?

OK, so maybe we can see more villages in each day than I have listed, but that's 5 days right there. Without a detailed map in front of me I don't know exactly where Domme. and St Leon are, but we can fit them because I know they're not far from St Cyprien.

We'll need to do laundry one day, which can also be the day we explore St Cyprien, and there's 6 days. Oh darn, what about gardens? If I only pick one, should it be Eyrignac? (if it's still cold and/or rainy, the gardens might not be worth a stop, so this can be an alternate)

Thoughts? Am I getting warmer?

 

[artnbarb]

Still updating and refining, and as we all know, much of this planning may all go out the window depending on weather, or if we get lost, or for a thousand other reasons, but I do enjoy planning, and trying to figure out what sites are close together, what days things are closed, what day is market day, etc, so here goes:

• Monday, our first full day in the area - I'm probably going to want to head straight to Font de Gaume to get tickets. Without knowing what time our tour might be, planning for the rest of the day is difficult.
• Wednesday - what about hitting Sarlat for the market on this day? It might not be as crazy as the Saturday market. I've read that we should go to the TI to buy tickets for the panoramic elevator, then rent audio guides for the walking tour. I'm thinking market, lunch, walking tour, wandering.

• The remaining 4 days - it doesn't really matter what day we visit these sites, but here are my thoughts:

* Head to Rouffignac (cave) in the morning, drive by la Roche St Cristophe (I'm not sure it's worth a stop, but I'd like to see it), then on to St Leon, for lunch, picnic or restaurant. Is it too far to try to see the gardens of Eyrignac too? Or head to Castel Merle, in Sergeac.

*La Roque-Gageac in the morning, lunch at recommended restaurant, canoe or boat trip depending on weather. Kathy mentioned that clothes for canoeing might not be appropriate for lunch at La Belle Etoile, but I might not have appropriate clothes for a fancy restaurant, period. The restaurant is closed for lunch on Monday and Wednesday, but that shouldn't pose a conflict - see above. Maybe we could see the Chateau des Milandes after our canoe/boat trip

*Cute villages: Castelnaud and its castle, Beynac and its castle, Domme, others?

*One day for laundry, wandering St Cyprien, or an impromptu visit to somewhere we just found out about!

*Rainy day alternative: the Welcome Center and Prehistory Museum at Les Eyzies de Tayac

Any thoughts? Any other suggestions?

 

[nola44]

Hi art&barb, I responded on your other thread. But just a few thoughts on your last post:

Try to get an English tour at Rouffignac. We were on the French tour and had ipods to read details at each stop. Well, the reading prevented us from observing the cave so it was frustrating. I wished it was an audio guide instead. It was my least favorite cave of the ones we saw.

We enjoyed La Roque St. Christophe because it was a beautiful day, it's a well done attraction, and the views are incredibly gorgeous. I might not put it over seeing one of the caves but it was a fun stop.

Picnicking at St. Leon zur Vezere was really nice. There's a little restaurant by the river where you can buy lunch or you can pack your own--there are tables set out for that purpose.

We loved Milandes. We did not like touring the castle at Beynac--it's undergoing a 100 year restoration and was really bare. We wished we'd gone to Marqueyssac and seen its gardens instead. We loved Castelnaud. The gabarres trip was just ok from Beynac.

We saw 4 cute towns (Rocamadour, Carennac, Martel and Collonges-la-Rouge) in one day + a cave (Padirac, my favorite) so maybe reconsider taking them off your list. It can be done!

 

[artnbarb]

Thank you! We leave on Saturday, so I'll add your comments to my notes. Good info about the castle at Beynac, And no, we've haven't yet ruled out a daytrip further east to Carennac, Martel, etc - we'll see what happens, how the weather is, etc, and always have that as an option if we're feeling adventurous!