Dordogne/Perigord - looking for suggestions

It’s been 5 years since our last visit in this area of France. This time, we will be based for 4 nights in Sarlat, or possibly in the neighboring towns of Beynac or La Roque Gageac.

Looking for suggestions on restaurants and wine-related activities, e.g. shops, wine bars, tastings. We will have a car, but won’t plan on straying more than 1-hour drive from Sarlat.

Thanks.

When we were in Sarlat a few years back, we spent four nights at at an extremely nice B&B called Les Cordeliers.

I biked all along the Dordogne about 15 years ago. Beautiful, historic area. The town of Les Eyzies is close to Sarlat and loaded with great restaurants. We ate at a Michelin 1 or 2 star in town. The name escapes me, but it probably is one on this list.

The area is filled with cave paintings, the discovery point of Cro Magnon man, found behind the Cro Magnon Hotel. So much to do in the area. Enjoy it.
http://leseyziesdetayac.info/

Maybe 5 years ago we spent several nights at Château De La Treyne in Lacave and used it as a base to explore Rocamador, Souillac, Sarlat la Caneda, et al before moving on to Le Vieux Logis in Tremolat for another few days. My wife and I have driven through much of France. The 3 weeks we spent driving around and exploring the Lot and Dordogne valleys remains among our favorites.

Thanks Randall. I googled and saw photos and now remember seeing that hotel from our visit 5 years ago. Will check it out.


We will visit Les Eyzies, Michael. A pretty town. Although we’ve been before, another visit at the nearby awesome Font de Gaume prehistoric cave is a must for this upcoming trip.


Plenty of beautiful and memorable towns and sites in this par of France, Mark. We won’t do Rocamadour and St. Cirq this time as they are a little over an hour’s drive from our base Sarlat, but shares the exact same sentiment as you with the Lot and Dordogne being one of our favorites. How’s the restaurant at Le Vieux Logis?

Fifteen years ago, Le Centenaire (most likely the restaurant you’re remembering) had two Michelin stars, and they were well deserved. Now it has none, and that’s also well deserved. Sad.

You know that sounds right. I remember the meal being excellent with service and wine to match. Too bad they went downhill.

Ramon,

I have three suggestions, only one of which in in your requested “restaurants and wine-related activities” category. So I’ll give you what you asked for first, and you can ignore the other two if you wish.

  1. Dine at Le Vieux Logis, a Michelin ! star in Tremolat. It’s about 50 km from Sarlat, so within your one hour limit. http://www.vieux-logis.com/en/restaurant/restaurant-gastronomique.html It’s as good as dining gets in that area, IMO, although some friends recently told me that Le Grand Bleu in Sarlat is just as good. Guess I’ll have to go and find out. http://www.legrandbleu.eu/pages/index.php

  2. Do not miss – no, that’s DO NOT MISS – a tour of Grotte de Font-de-Gaume. Font-de-Gaume - Wikipedia Information on scoring tickets: Reservations and Buying Tickets for Font de Gaume 2021

  3. You will be cheating yourself if you do not also tour Chateau Beynac. Château de Beynac - Wikipedia

Enjoy your trip

Yes, to all 3. The Relais & Chateaux properties in the southwest are particularly interesting and lovely places to stay and eat dinner.

Thanks for the Le Vieux Logis and Le Grand Bleu comments. They’re definitely in consideration. We missed out on Le Grand Bleu on our last visit and it’s a very likely a dinner option given that we’re looking to base ourselves in Sarlat.

Been to both Font-de-Gaume and Chateau Beynac before, but will definitely be visiting. I’m so into the prehistoric caves in the area, and that’s one of the reasons for our return visit. Good to know about the advanced tickets information.

Ramon, if you haven’t been to Gouffre de Padirac, be sure to go and take the underground river boat ride. http://www.gouffre-de-padirac.com/

Excellent recommendation Mark. I’ve been to Gouffre de Padirac and have done the underground river boat ride where I felt like I was in a distant planet. An awesome experience for me and would definitely visit again. Sadly, we’re spending only 4 days in this region, it’s over an hour’s drive from Sarlat and we’re trying to limit our times on the highways. But, we can still change our minds when we’re there.

Please post a trip follow-up. It will be interesting to hear where you all went. It is such an diverse region.

Will do.

Sadly, outside of Cahors, this region doesn’t seem to generate much enthusiasm as far as local wines and wine activities are concerned. Oh well, the top-notch local foods will compensate.

Plenty of wineries in monbazillac worth a day trip for if you like sweet wines.

Tagging this thread. Very interested in your trip report as we’re looking at this area for a 2017 trip.