I would not rate Mac's Adventures as one of the better companies. I don't think we had much rain at all last September or October.įall is also a time when there are innumerable festivals and concerts and exhibitions and such, if those interest you.Īs a non-driver I've used several companies for solo hotel-to-hotel self-guided walking holidays. Very hard to predict the weather in advance, but yes, the first half of September is usually still pretty crowded (though European kids are back in school, so that cuts down on a lot of the bustle), and hot. There are, of course, dozens and dozens of other prehistoric sites to visit, but not with paintings. If Font de Gaume is even still open next fall, you'd have a chance to get into it (and Combarelles) if you get up really early and get in line by about 8:30 am and hope to snag seats (but honestly, with 5 of you, the chances are slim). Other than the Grotte du Sorcier, your only real chance to see cave paintings is at Lascaux (II or IV), which as I'm sure you know are replicas (still awe-inspiring IMO!). Signage is excellent, even in the tiniest villages and communes. Here are some other ideas: Walking trails | Vallée Dordogne Tourist offices can be very helpful with walking plans (and quite possibly with locating a driver to manage moving your luggage around). Buses are almost nonexistent, though it wouldn't be too hard to arrange a hiking trip using trains, particularly along the Bordeaux-Agen line.Īs Michael has shown, maps are readily available (in bookstores you'll find lots of them). You could probably negotiate a deal if several taxi trips were involved in a reasonably small area over a few days. But with some careful planning you could probably engage (or get a hotel to engage) a series of taxis to deal with your luggage while you are out and about. There are very few taxis around and generally they need to be booked at least a day or two in advance. No, it is not "pretty easy" to take taxis, though hotels could certainly arrange that for you. Walking through cow fields has its allure, but "catching a glimpse of a ch teau through the trees" could just be frustrating if you don't get to stop. If I were coming to the Dordogne from afar I'd feel deprived of the chance to see some of them. But so are the national Prehistory Museum and loads of other landmarks. I could go on, but that's enough to make the point. If you end up in Sarlat on a Saturday after a 13-km hike you will have missed the market by several hours. The hotel in Les Eyzies is not "adjacent to the river." It's on a small tributary. And it's not known as the Cave of Witches nor is it the Grotte du Cirq. As an example, you can't just "take a short detour for a visit" to the grotte in St-Cirq - you need to be there at specific times, buy a ticket, and join a tour. There are also enough misspellings and small mis-statements of fact that I'd be slightly concerned these people know exactly what they're doing. Are there no actual visits to the many museums and castles? All that walking and you don't get to stop in Castelnaud and learn how to sack a castle? The chance to pop into the tiny church in Vitrac isn't much bait - there are similar chapels and churches every kilometer or so for hundreds of miles around And while September is usually the nicest month around here, none of this would be fun in the rain. I would also say I'd probably get tired of so many days of ambling down shady wooded paths and past walnut groves and charming stone houses. Other than the couple of short transfers, and booking hotels and a few meals, what does this company do that you couldn't do on your own? It looks sort of OK to me (I live in the Dordogne, in St-Cirq), but it's not entirely clear to me why someone needs to arrange this for you.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |