Has anyone recently hired a private guide to take them to the Paleolithic cave art in the Dordogne region? We're not looking for a packaged tour of the Dordogne, but rather an experienced guide to show us various sites for a day or two. We prefer independent travel overall. Thanks!

Christine Desdemaines-Hugon is widely recognized as the expert guide of the area. She's not cheap. And I don't know if she speaks English, though I suspect she does.

Hey cw,

Each of the caves have guided tours.

StCirq: Do you have an email for Christine Desdemaines-Hugon? I've read her book and would love to hire her or someone she might recommend. Thanks so much! cw

Type her name in a Google search and you will find a web site. She apparently leads tours for the Smithsonian.

She was recommended highly to us, but we found that getting to the caves and takign the tours was fine. We did book far enough in advance to be able to have mostly English tours. The staff at the Pole center in Les Eyzies were very helpful to us in planning. They might have guide references. The staff all seemed to speak English.

http://www.pole-prehistoire.com/

Some friends (who do not speak French) used Christine Desdemaines-Hugon and highly recommended her. They lent us a copy of her book after they returned.

We are planning a trip for March 2012 which is before the season starts in The Dordogne. Does anyone know if there will be less availablity of English tours at that time of year? TIA.

Lascaux II always has English tours. The others, not so much as they tend to hire more guides for the summer months. I've had to translate myself almost every time I've visited Font-de-Gaume, even when I've been with non-French-speaking groups and requested an English tour.