Sarlat

Currency budget France

Cards are taken almost everywhere, including most market stalls now, but the smaller producers at the Saturday market and the canoe-hire huts on the river still prefer notes. Refuse the conversion when a terminal offers to charge you in your own currency.

ATMs & cards

Use the bank machines in Sarlat itself — Crédit Agricole, Banque Populaire, La Banque Postale. The river villages mostly have none, so take cash before you go down to them.

The river villages mostly have no machine at all. Take cash in Sarlat before you go down to them.

Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.

Safety all of France

Very little crime. Cars parked at the castles and the canoe launches are where things go missing, so leave nothing visible. The real hazard is the road: the D703 along the river is narrow, full of hire cars and cyclists in summer, and La Roque-Gageac squeezes it to a single lane between the cliff and the water. Rockfalls are why parts of that cliff are closed off.

Our own assessment, not a sourced index.

Entry & visa France visa rules

Health & emergencies all of France

Required to enter

No vaccinations are required for entry from Europe or North America.

Orientation, not medical advice — entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history. Check with a travel clinic four to six weeks before you go.

Food tip

This is duck and goose country: confit, magret, foie gras, and potatoes sarladaises fried in the fat. Walnuts go into everything, from the oil to the cake. In winter the truffle market runs in Sarlat, and a black truffle sold there costs what it costs everywhere — buy it from the market, not a shop on the main street.

Getting around

• Hire car — the valley is the point, and there is no bus that strings the castles, the caves and the villages together
• Train — a slow regional line from Bordeaux through Bergerac ends at Sarlat, about two and a half to three hours
• Canoe — the Dordogne between Carsac and Beynac is the best way to see the castles, and the hire companies drive you back
• On foot — the old town is closed to cars in summer and small enough to cross in ten minutes
• Airport: Bergerac (EGC), about 1h15 by car

eSIM

A data eSIM for France, installed before you fly and working the moment you land:Works hereWorks hereRevolutIn the app

Must-see

Nearby day trips

Say a few words

French

• HelloBonjourbon-ZHOOR
• PleaseS'il vous plaîtseel voo PLEH
• Thank youMercimer-SEE
• Yes / NoOui / Nonwee / non

Open with bonjour before anything else. Launching straight into a question without it reads as rude, and explains a lot of reputed French coldness.

Religion

Catholic, and strictly secular

Laïcité is a constitutional principle: religion is kept out of public institutions, and conspicuous religious symbols are banned in state schools. Cover shoulders in cathedrals.

Do's and don'ts

Do

• Say bonjour before anything else, every single time you enter a shop
• Keep your voice down in restaurants and on public transport
• Keep both hands visible on the table while eating, wrists on the edge
• Dress a notch smarter than you would at home — it changes how you are treated

Don't

• Do not ask for a doggy bag or substitutions; the dish arrives as the kitchen intends
• Do not start with English without at least attempting bonjour, parlez-vous anglais
• Do not tip more than rounding up — service is included by law
• Do not eat while walking; it reads as slightly uncivilised