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We visited a number of years ago at the end of august (last two weeks) and didn't find it too bad at all. It was bustling, but not overcrowded. The only place we found difficult driving was when we wanted to go to the market at Domme (which is a hilltown with one road in and out, basically) and we had to park a long way away. Sarlat was fine, you just have to get there in good time and not try and turn up at lunchtime! We certainly saw things calm down over the last week of our trip, the campsite was full when we arrived, and was probably half empty for our last couple of days.

Edit: don't know the sites you mentioned, we stayed at Bel Ombrage, not far from Castelnaud, Domme and La Roque Gageac.  

We were in the Dordogne a couple of years ago, from the 18th August, and it was bustling, but not 'heaving'.  We did think the river was busy - but then we're used to the quieter rivers such as the Tarn.  Sarlat market wasn't bad - and we managed to park everywhere else we wanted to be.

Lovely time to go, in my opinion - still inside the school holidays for the kids, but sites aren't under the same pressure, restaurants have tables available, there are no queues for ice creams, etc!

we went the last 2 weeks in August last year. We did find the traffic heavy around Beynac but only a few mins hold up and we were off. The markets do get busy but we took the advice of others on here and went early. We were parked up in Sarlat by 8.30am no problem, the same with Domme.

The river is full of people canoeing but not so much that you cant move. I think the Vezere is quieter (it certainly was when we looked).

We were at Le Paradis second week in September and the site was near enough full, only a few pitches available when we turned up un-announced.  The markets were very busy and many of the 'visitable' villages were fairly crowded.  Gardens etc seemed less than crowded and walking in the countryside was empty.  Don't really know about the rivers but we didn't see much 'traffic', the water looked too shallow to do much but we may have seen the wrong bits.

For us it was a first and probably last visit to the area, we prefer much quieter, less 'touristy' areas. 

Quote: Originally posted by TethersEnd on 23/9/2012

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I've only paddled on the Vezere once. I remember it as being not so easy to see the bottom as the Dordogne. Is this true?

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