Well, this is my first travel post other than introductions and I wondered if any of you had thoughts on these two areas i.e. if I had to make a choice?

I've been to the Cote D'Azur but never inland Provence. And I've not been to the Dordogne either, the closest I got was Charente just above.

Anyway, I'm torn between these two areas for a romantic spring trip. I'm mainly concerned that the weather in the Dordogne is a bit dodgy?! I've seen a lot of rainy photos! But it does look stunning. But then so does Provence.

Any opinions on this? I just want some warm weather (probably June), dinners outside by candlelight, beautiful views and sunshine!

For those that have been - which do you prefer and why?

M

Welcome to ST,
They are my two of my favorite regions. I keep going back to both.
Weather-wise: I may favor Dordogne. In fact it could get too sunny and hot. Provence gets the mistral wind rgularly. -- It is something to get used to, and people do learn to love it even. But the first experience of the mistral could be rattling in more ways than one.

In terms of landscape, both have stunning villages. In terms of the scenery between two stunning villages, Dordogne may have more consistently beautiful countryside while Provence could have more built-up places in between.
I don't mean to diss Provence which I love. Please Provence Sts, don't lynch me.
Lastly, Mollie, don't fall into the travellers' trap of second-guessing yourself with whichever choice you make.
Remember, you are not choosing between A and F. You are choosing between A and A spots. Why not get it into your head that you are going to make two trips?
Now just eenie-meenie-miney-mo your choice.
Bon voyage.

Americana -

I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, only because you alwys take my gratuitous shots at Paris in stride !

And to Mollie -

I heartily agree - Provence or the Dordogne ? Can't go wrong with either one...

-Kevin

HI Mollie.
What a delightful dilemma. I too love both regions, and you can't lose. I'm glad the Mistral was mentioned - I would not have thought about that- and it can be a factor in the spring.
For me, Dordogne has an edge in the spring. It's an exceptionally green countryside, and the weather should be lovely. Perhaps I'm leaning in that direction because of a wonderful cover story about Dordogne in the May 2008 issue of Budget Travel magazine. The photos and descriptions made me very eager to return to that region. You might want to take a look at it.
Linda

Well - those are my two favorite areas in France also. We've visited Provence for 16 weeks, and Dordogne for 8. We're returning to the Dordogne next year (stayed in Provence for 4 weeks last year).

However, I prefer Provence in the Spring and the Dordogne in the Fall. To me, Provence screams "summer", and after winter I welcome the long days, dinners outside, doing nothing, etc. If you can hold off your visit till late June - the Lavender, Mimosa, and Sunflowers will be in bloom.

Fall is a great time to visit the Dordogne with it's rich food, wild game, & tons of caves, cute villages, beautiful countryside, etc. If seems like more of a fall place to me. We usually go in Sept or early Oct.

Can't go wrong with either.

If you'll be there for more than a week - rent a gite, go to the markets, and prepare a few simple meals yourself at the Gite.

Thank you so far for your helpful opinions. I am still undecided but I'm always like that! I do probably lean towards Provence, mainly because of the dry weather (bar the Mistral of course). I fancy lazing by the pool, pottering about small villages and sitting under the stars and fairy lights of an evening having a slow meal.......mmmm, dream dream!

Anyway, back to the weather. Those of you who regularly visit the Dordogne must have experienced some varied weather? Does it ever rain solid for several days, or even longer? Is there a chance it could be wet and disappointing in that respect? It's definitely not something we want as I'm not able to do very much due to illness, therefore reading a book and having a swim and relaxing a lot during the day is essential. I don't want to have to go out all day or find things to do if the weather is poor.

Cheers for the advice everyone.

M

Mollie,
I don't get this conception of a rainy Dordogne. Are you confusing it with London?
Actually I don't remember a single day of rain in Dordogne, and I go nearly every summer, always in June or September.
The only "consecutive" weather I ever ran into in Dordogne was the famous long spell of heat wave. Luckily we had a pool.
You should go to Provence if you think you prefer Provence, but not because you imagine you want to avoid Dordogne's monsoon season.

That made me laugh! Especially the bit about the monsoon season!

OK, I'm probably a bit obsessed with the rain, living in England!! However, my parents have a house down in Charente, about two hours north of the Dordogne and the last two summers have been awful - cloudy, cold and rainy. But when we were there in September 2005 it was a serious heatwave. Just goes to show you never know.......plus they are nearer to the Limousin than the Dordogne, which is notoriously wet and unpredictable.

Anyway, thanks for the chuckle - I can probably move on from the 'rainy' Dordogne fetish now!

I have spent only one week in the Dordogne, last year at the end of April, and it was cool and cloudy with frequent downpours all week. Of course, when we went from there to Provence, we had a few days of cold and rain, followed by a few days of the mistral, followed by a few heartbreakingly perfect days before we had to fly home.

The Dordogne is lovely, but I think all that green, compared to Provence's rocky dry hillsides, speaks of a wetter climate overall.

We were in the Dordogne the last week of June in '97. It rained some every day except maybe 1 or 2, and it was very cold the entire week. I had to buy a sweatshirt. We had the heater going in the Gite whenever we were there. I recall standing in mud waiting to get into caves & other sites. We've stayed in Gites for about 30 weeks in June in other areas of France (quite often in Provence), and that was the only time we have ever had to use the heater. After the Dordogne, we headed to Provence and it was quite cold there too (early July). It was too cold to dine outside in St Remy. This is possibly an exception - but it obviously can happen. Last year it was too cold to dine outside in Provence for the first two weeks in June. We were going to take a hike with Kevin - and it was "rained out".

We've spent 7 weeks in the Dordogne in Sept & I can't remember any rain.

Like I stated earlier - Provence in Spring & Dordogne in Fall.

Reading everyone's weather experience, we can confirm one thing: weather happens.
For your specific trip planning, you can go to this trip planning webpage and input your destination and the dates of your travel. It will give you the historical meteorological records for those dates.
For example,I input Bergerac (sort of Dordogne central), France, between June10 and June20.
This is what you get. In case you have trouble accessing it (somehow its English is mixed with some French):
_______
Bergerac from to Present — Current Conditions
Historical Summary for juin 10 - juin 20
Les températures:
The Average High Temperature is 27 C with a historical range of 20 C to 33 C
The Average Low Temperature is 14 C with a historical range of 6 C to 31 C
There is a 4% chance of a Hot Day (temperature over 90°F / 32°C).
(2 days out of 49 in historical record)
Most consecutive days found in historic record: 1
There is a 0% chance of a Freezing Day (temperature below 32°F / 0°C).
(0 days out of 49 in historical record)
Most consecutive days found in historic record: 0
Cloud Cover:
Average Cloud Cover is partly cloudy
There is a 16% chance of a Cloudy Day.
(6 days out of 38 in historical record)
Most consecutive days found in historic record: 1
Vent:
The Average Vent is 7 km/h with a historical range of 0 km/h to 18 km/h
There is a 2% chance of a Windy Day (average wind over 10 mph / 15km/h).
(1 day out of 49 in historical record)
Most consecutive days found in historic record: 1

Humidité:
The Average High Dew Point is 16 C with a historical range of 10 C to 20 C
The Average Low Dew Point is 11 C with a historical range of 2 C to 17 C
There is a 67% chance of a Humid Day (dew point over 65°F / 18°C).
(33 days out of 49 in historical record)
Most consecutive days found in historic record: 5
____________

If you change the destination to Orange, for the same period:
You get this or :
_____________
Orange from to Present — Current Conditions
Historical Summary for juin 10 - juin 20
Les températures:
The Average High Temperature is 29 C with a historical range of 23 C to 35 C
The Average Low Temperature is 16 C with a historical range of 10 C to 26 C
There is a 16% chance of a Hot Day (temperature over 90°F / 32°C).
(8 days out of 49 in historical record)
Most consecutive days found in historic record: 3
There is a 0% chance of a Freezing Day (temperature below 32°F / 0°C).
(0 days out of 49 in historical record)
Most consecutive days found in historic record: 0

Cloud Cover:
Average Cloud Cover is partly cloudy
There is a 31% chance of a Cloudy Day.
(11 days out of 35 in historical record)
Most consecutive days found in historic record: 3

Vent:
The Average Vent is 12 km/h with a historical range of 0 km/h to 47 km/h
There is a 24% chance of a Windy Day (average wind over 10 mph / 15km/h).
(12 days out of 49 in historical record)
Most consecutive days found in historic record: 3

Humidité:
The Average High Dew Point is 16 C with a historical range of 8 C to 21 C
The Average Low Dew Point is 10 C with a historical range of -2 C to 17 C
There is a 59% chance of a Humid Day (dew point over 65°F / 18°C).
(29 days out of 49 in historical record)
Most consecutive days found in historic record: 11
_________

Hope this helps.

Interesting! If you look down on the page at the events column in the daily observations for the past several years, you can see that in 2007, there was rain on every single day of that period, but very little in previous years.

If only we could predict the weather accurately (and the stock market!).

Chris,
That's what I was saying: weather happens.

Dordogne, Summer 2006 hot hot hot! Oh, and a superdy-duperdy big thunder/rain storm (a 1-dayer), well at least the two weeks we were there in July.

Hi,

We have spent each June for the last fifteen years in the Dordogne where we have a little house. So that makes us experts, right? Well, the truth is that based on my experience, if the weather is your very most important consideration (If you would have a bad time if it rained often)you just cannot be sure of having good weather in the Dordogne.

We have had many weeks when it was in the 90s every afternoon and the sun shone and the nights were filled with stars, and we ate out in the garden every night. . Weeks when it rained every day. Weeks that were half and half. In the Dordogne, the weather is unpredictable. We are there each year for the whole summer, so we have plenty of books and a fireplace if its cold and rainy and we love those days. I would just hate to see you disappointed by the weather and it scares me that your dreams are so detailed and specific about the climate.

I've only been in Provence in June twice, and the weather was fine there both times. But ask Kevin or someone who has been there for years to see if they have higher confidence in the predictability of their weather.

Maybe you should consider someplace farther south if the weather is the single most important consideration for you. Maybe Spain? But I can't help adding that rainy days in the Dordogne can be so lovely and green.

BTW don't forget that one the the best things about France in June is that the children are still in school (including the irresistible Yuki, my granddaughter), meaning that French families are not on vacation yet and crowds are smaller while the general atmosphere is more authentically "French" in the sense that everyday life is going on as usual.

Dennis

OK guys, I'm getting the picture for Dordogne now. The weather isn't the only thing that matters but we haven't been away for 3 years and so we would just like to go somewhere warm and relax. It's been a wet 18 months over here and you just need a change you know?

We don't travel hardly at all these days, much to my eternal frustration, so there is probably a little more pressure to at least rule out a high probability of something like bad weather, even if that is never truly possible. But if it did rain or was cold it wouldn't ruin everything, I just wanted to get an idea of the climate in the two areas.

It's probably obvious anyway when you look at how lush and green the Dordogne is compared to, for instance, Provence or Languedoc.

BTW, it's not possible to go to Spain or far south as we are travelling by train and we need to keep the journey as short as possible so we'll probably stop in Paris then just travel on 2-3 hours from there. This led me to Provence or Dordogne as they were the areas that interested me the most and were both south.

Anyway, thanks for that. We'll probably go for Provence now and leave the Dordogne for a time we are heading over to see my parents in that direction.

Cheers

When we first started travelling over thirty years ago (where has the time gone) We always had to go at the same time due to school holidays, July and August.We visited Provence three times and it was extremely hot. The Dordogne, we visited over twenty years before we came here to live. We remember it taking three or four days of really hot weather building up to a thunderstorm. The storms although quite ferocious only lasted a couple of hours, they just seemed longer as we were camping.Nowadays we don't seem to get the storms. Last week the River Vezere broke its banks and was flooding the town, today all is back to normal and it is over 23 degs. Rain or shine the Dordogne is still favourite, I suppose coming from the South of England I prefere the countryside green and lush.

Mollie,
You'll have a fantastic time.
Don't forget to bring all your best décolletés - for the sun - and a pashmina - for the sometime wind.

Amazing, 36 hours later and we've decided definitely on the Dordogne and SW France! A complete turnaround but that's certain now. I spent a bit of time today looking into where to stay in Provence, areas, accommodations and to be honest it was all a bit overwhelming. I searched this forum and found some interesting discussions on areas that can be built up with commerce and industry. That's when it sank in what people mean when they say the Dordogne is rural, unspoilt and the villages are in a more compact area with consistently beautiful scenery between each one. That sounds just what we need and it seems like we can't really go wrong, even if we don't have much time to look into areas. When I have more time and inclination to research Provence and work out where to go we'll head that way!

And I've chilled out about the weather - even here near London we rarely get weeks and weeks of non-stop rain and misery so it's most unlikely further south. Whatever will be etc.

So, we're probably going to stop in good old Paris for a couple of nights after taking the train from London. Then take the TGV to either Angouleme, pick up a car and drive down via Brantome......or TGV to Bordeaux, car to St Emilion for a couple of days then on to the Dordogne.

Sound like a good plan? St Emilion sure looks lovely.

Anyone know what Angouleme is like?

Perhaps I should start another thread?

Cheers guys

Good choice too.
And if you change your mind again, you can only have a fantastic time.
But do make up your time soon. If you have rented rentals before, you know that renting them is different from booking a hotel. Now is not too late to book a hotel in June, but it is sort of last-minute when it comes to trying to reserve a house rental for that period.

I go to Angoulème often as I have friends who are cognac growers nearby.
Angoulème itself is no great shakes. The surrounding area is charming.
Brantôme is lovely but can be overrun.
Many STs find Brive la Gaillarde to be the more convenient train destination to pick up a car and start exploration of Dordogne.
There are many threads on ST re picking up car in Brive.
Nearby beautiful Turenne is a start. Then you have dozens of stunning villages to choose from …
Bon voyage.

Thanks Americana. Couple of interesting ideas there regarding travel. And no, won't be changing my mind again! It's a definite! Before, I was all of a muddle over the two areas but it's all clear for us now.

Hi Mollie,
Good choice!! We travel back to England by train regularly.To start your Dordogne trip from Brive Station is so easy. The car-hire offices are directly opposite the station entrance.Please feel free to e-mail me for any advice.June is normally a super month and we have been known to sit in the garden well after midnight.
Judy