Looking for some advice here - we’re spending a few weeks in November in France, starting in Paris and then going to Beaune and Bordeaux for tasting visits. Scheduling has been challenging, and we have a full week between Beaune and Bordeaux.
We don’t want to just head back to Paris and then to Bordeaux, because we have a few days at the end in Paris already set.
Anyone have some recommendations for how we could work our way from Beaune to Bordeaux with an interesting stop or two in between?
Car rental is a possibility, although we’d strongly prefer trains or planes.
I’d go to the Sud Ouest (Dordogne and Lot valleys) in a heartbeat. On the way to Bordeaux from Beaune. Not a lot of public transportation in the area, so a rental car is the best way to go. If you’re so inclined, Troisgros is about halfway and is a great overnight stop (with dinner, of course).
No idea what it’s like, or if you’re a petrol-head, but I see the Magny-cours circuit is nicely place between the two, but looks like it would need a car (FWIW we found driving standards very good in France, and the toll roads especially good - ideally travel on a Sunday, when the trucks are mostly excluded from the roads).
You’re right about feeling forced to go via Paris on the trains (and yet still that’s better than flying). It does look like there would be a decent enough route heading south if places like Avignon or Carcassonne appealed.
You are going to need a car, because the area is quite rural. I recommend Cluny, Chalone Sur Saone, and/or Tournus. I visited the later two, but not Cluny and regret not stopping by. The history is amazing and country side is amazing.
Dordogne is worth the drive. Several incredible plus beaux villages to visit
Albi, Belcastel, Cordes sur Ciel are a little more out of the way but also definitely worth seeing. Then to the 3* Michel Guerard in Eugenie les Bains, and on to Bordeaux.
Thank you everyone for the advice - looking at staying in Sarlat for four days prior to our Bordeaux tour.
We’ve found a driver/guide with relatively reasonable daily rates and will likely skip the rental car and just schedule day trips with him.
It does mean that we’ll need to do a multi-leg Beaune - Lyon - Bordeaux - Sarlat trip in one day, but cheap EasyJet fares from Lyon make it doable.
The other option is a 6 hour bus trip from Lyon to Perigueux and a train or transfer from there to Sarlat. No doubt the bus ride would be scenic, but neither of us are excited abut a six hour bus ride.
Just got back from a trip to Europe that included a few days in the Dordogne. I stayed in Sarlat, which has a large old town section with plenty of restaurants and shops. It has a market on Saturdays and Wednesdays. We stayed at Villa des Consuls in the middle of town which we were happy with. The Madeleine looks nice and is well located. I popped into the lobby and looked at the bar/restaurant attached on the ground floor. All looked quite nice but I didn’t see the rooms. It is a four star hotel so you shouldn’t be disappointed staying there. We had a terrible dining experience in town at La Rapiere, so don’t go there! Our host at the hotel recommended Le Trait d’Union for a good restaurant locals go to outside of town (you would need a car to get there) and a higher end restaurant La Belle Etoile in La Roque Gageac. Le Trait d’Union was in a rustic setting and served a limited menu of small plates, nothing fancy. Everything tasted great and it was very inexpensive. La Belle Etoile was a special dinner, refined French cooking. Well executed and beautifully presented. I would highly recommend it. Book well in advance and get a table on the terrace during warm months. The village where it is located is one of the prettiest in the Dordogne. For in-town dining, our hotel recommended L’Entrepote, however we did not have a chance to eat there.
Thank you for the feedback and the advice, and for checking out the Madeleine too.
We just finished up the details on the week before in Beaune and turning now to the Sarlat/Dordogne portion of the trip. We have a guide for three days and a proposed itinerary, and working on the final plan.