The busiest and most interesting part of Périgueux is the square formed by the river, the allées Tourny, boulevard Montaigne and cours Fénelon. At the junction of the two latter is the wide and unattractive place Francheville, with the gare routière, an underground car park and the tourist office (July & Aug Mon–Sat 9am–7pm, Sun 10am–6pm; Sept–June closed Sun; tel 05.53.53.10.63, www.ville-perigueux.fr), next to the Tour Mataguerre, the last surviving bit of the town's medieval defences. Périgueux's gare SNCF lies to the west at the end of rue des Mobiles-du-Coulmiers, the continuation of rue du Président-Wilson.Opposite the train station, along rue Denis-Papin, you'll find a clutch of reasonable hotels, the nicest of which are the Régina (tel 05.53.08.40.44, [email protected]; €40–55) and the old-fashioned Hôtel du Midi et Terminus (tel 05.53.53.41.06, fax 05.53.08.19.32; €30–40), whose good regional restaurant has menus from €12. Less attractive, but slightly more central is the Etap Hotel, 33 rue du Président-Wilson (tel 05.53.05.53.82, www.etaphotel.com; €30–40), while on the edge of the old town the Hôtel Univers, 18 cours Montaigne (tel 05.53.53.34.79, fax 05.53.06.70.76; €40–55), has simple rooms above another recommended restaurant (menus from €18). There's also limited HI hostel accommodation at the Foyer des Jeunes Travailleurs, rue des Thermes-Prolongés (tel 05.53.06.81.40, fax 05.53.06.81.49) – follow the train line south of the station to the far edge of town, or take rue Littré from place Francheville to rue Bertran-de-Born.
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