France Travel Answers

Sarlat is indeed a good base for a couple of days, with plenty to see and do in town before venturing out to the villages. But why write Gourdon Conques, they are some 100 kms apart ? Both Conques and St Cirq are part of the "100 most beautiful villages of France", of which St Cirq Lapopie won the annual contest just last year and are lovely places to visit although depending on season are full of tourists and traffic.

well lovely area, one of my favorite in France. You have a very nice combinationi in Paris, Bordeaux, and Dordogne. The last one is a vast region so one week is cutting it short I think. Sarlat is a must even if heavily touristics nowdays; the others are wonderful too, Gourdon and Conques will stretch out your time there,and Cahors is another must for me.

If I had just one week I will cut it down to Sarlat, Rocamadour,Cahors, and La Roque de Gageac. Hope it helps your planning.

I'm not sure you need to move around that much. We rent a small house in Cenac-et-St. Julien (5 km from La Roque Gageac) and have visited all the places you mention from that one base. Sarlat would work equally well, or for that matter, stay in La Roque Gageac and have easy-in easy-out access to the entire region. There is enough in the immediate Sarlat area to keep you busy for a month or more and as mentioned above, there are many Plus Beaux Villages in the area and all are definitely worth a visit. Here's the PBV web site and you can check to see which ones are of most interest to you. les-plus-beaux-villages-de-f...">les-plus-beaux-villages-de-f...

Type the names of the places into the VT Search Window above and check the Travel Pages that have been written. There will be lots of photos, hotels, restaurants, things to do and external web sites that may be useful to you. You can also click on the names of members who answer you here and check their VT Travel Pages on these places. It's a great resource here on VT and also lots of fun.

Good luck. We love the Dordogne . . . and the rest of France. It's magical.

Thanks everyone. Now thinking we might base ourselves in Sarlat and Cahors for the week.

Have a great time wherever you choose to go, it really is a lovely area.

agree you won't go wrong there anywhere. Sarlat and Cahors, my kind of combination. Have a bit of that great black Cahors wine with some heavy dish like cassoulet or foie gras confits. Enjoy it.

This is also one of my favorite areas in France. Make sure you see the fantastic prehistoric cave drawings at Peche Merle near Cahors. It is so much more interesting than some of the others caves of the region.

Cahors has a very nice market. With luck you'll see it. Good choices; beautiful area. Have a good time.

Just for your interest....we ended up booking in for two nights in Brantome followed by four nights in Sarlat from where we will do some day trips. One of the things that changed our mind was the lack of appealing accommodation in Cahors itself....considering we wanted to stay in the town. Thanks everyone for their feedback....really excited.

You'll enjoy Brantome. The town is small but very nice; the Abbey is fascinating. Be sure you visit the cave part. There's a very nice chocolate shop in town if you like chocolate. You have a beautiful park along the river, lots of restaurants, canoe rental and lovely walks. There is a really nice restaurant in an old mill right on the river. It's a bit pricey but might make a nice splurge one night.

Have a great trip.