anitavuyyuru

Hello everyone,

Thanks for all the great advice you give out on the forum, trip planning would be a nightmare without you all..)))

We will be in Dordogne mid July for 1 week and are staying right outside Les Eyzies. Its going to be by husband and I and our 2 kids. Most days we are taking it pretty slow and easy but are planning o visit to Padirac.
My son is super excited about the prehistoric stuff and I already emailed Font de Gaume to get reservations for when we are there but have not heard back yet(I did it just yesterday).

We could also like to do Padirac and Pech Merle but would like your advice on whether its possible to do both in the same day. Google gives me directions for Les Eyzies - Padirac - Pech Merle - Les Eyzies and says it takes 3.5 hours but is this crazy to attempt..?

Also, whats the best time in the day to visit these sites. I've read that lines to Padirac could get crazy in July so will it be better to make a reservation for 1st thing in the morning(9:30am)..? And then maybe Pech Merle after lunch.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thankks.
Anita

StCirq

You need more information before you can decide if this trip is worth it, or even do-able. If you need an English-language tour at Pech-Merle, you're probably going to be slotted into a tour that only happens once a day. Last time I was there I saw that the daily English tour was at 2:45 pm, but that was a few years ago. IF that happens to be the case now, you could visit the Gouffre de Padirac in the morning, then head to Pech-Merle afterwards.

Yes, Padirac has huge long lines in summer and you do need to get there early or face a wait of up to an hour or more.

Frankly, since you're going to be in the Dordogne for a week, surrounded by prehistoric caves, I wouldn't bother with the drive to Pech-Merle. On the day you visit the Gouffre de Padirac you could also see Rocamadour, Collonges-la-Rouge, Martel, etc.

Nikki

We took a French speaking tour at Pech Merle, and there were handouts available in English.

uhoh_busted

Have you seen this site? http://www.france4families.com/dordo...esDordogne.htm They discuss standing in lines....and I think mid-July that could be a problem. I would chose either Pech Merle or Padirac (which I haven't seen) and you could swing past Rocamadour on the way back. (I think it's most impressive as a sight from the road, but it is kind of fun getting UP there. Don't know that I'd fight traffic to do so, however! We loved both Pech Merle and Font de Gaume. It takes longer to see Pech Merle than Font de Gaume but both are quite impressive. Maybe you could do Padirac in the morning and Pech Merle in the afternoon. We bought a cool book on cave painting called "Our Prehistoric Past" in the bookshop at Font de Gaume. It was published in 1998 by New Horizons, and cost 13Euro50 in 2003. I think you can buy it new on Amazon for $13.50, which is a lot less! It isn't a big book, but the illustrations are exceptional and there is a good glossary, etc.



We also loved Chateau de Castlenaud and thought our son would have adored it when he was younger. The French have a wonderful way of presenting these "tourist sites" -- they provide little films in multiple languages or with subtitles, and

uhoh_busted

hmmm...guess I should have previewed that! I remembered that little book and went to grab it to make the recommendation.

Anyway, assuming you will see Font de Gaume at another time, you may decide to do only Padirac or Pech Merle and then try for something else in the afternoon. Both in one day may be too much caving for one or the other kid AND a parent or two!

anitavuyyuru

Thanks everyone!!!

"Yes, Padirac has huge long lines in summer and you do need to get there early or face a wait of up to an hour or more."

StCirq, you obviously haven't been to Disneyland lately...)))))) An hour wait is a piece of cake for us.!!!!!!

Jokes apart, I've been trying for weeks now to decide between all the grottos and gouffres and I thought I came to a reasonable solution but I guess not...

I think I might skip Pech Merle and just get to Padirac early in the morning to beat the crowds. Do you know if they take reservations or should we just wait in line for tickets..?
What suggestions do you for to spend the rest of the day in that area? I heard Rocamadour is extremely touristy and overhyped but correct me if Im wrong. Any reasonable priced restaurants reccommendations?

Thanks again.

Carlux

No indication on the Padirac site that they take reservations - they recommend you get there before 10. That's possible from Les Eyzies, but you have to get up early. It's a long time since we were there, but I remember it being impressive.

Having done that, you could do Pech Merle in the afternoon.It's about 60 Km., which viamichelin thinks you can do in an hour, but probably not in July. We liked Pech Merle because it includes both aspects of what you want to see in a cave - stalagmites and stalactites, plus some paintings. You could book a time there for teh afternoon.

A word of warning about Rocamadour - don't try to arrive by one of the smaller routes leading into the lower town - we have friends who sat there for 4 hours one July and never did get into Rocamadour. What you need to do is to arrive at l'Hospitalet, at the top of the site, where there is a big parking lot, and make your way down from there. There is virtually no parking in the town itself, and you really don't want to be there.

anitavuyyuru

Thanks Carlux!
We are early birds so starting early and getting to Padirac by 9am(Im assuming a 2 hr journey) wont be a problem for us. We are still not sure about Pech Merle as my husband thinks it might be too much for the kids . So we will see how the morning goes and if the kids are upto to it then we might try and go see if tickets are available.

We are pretty sure now that we are not going to Rocamadour. I read in Rick steves book about some beautiful villages close by: Loubressac(sp?). We thought it might be interesting to walk around and get lunch somewhere there. Is this really worth it or do you have anything else close by we can look at.

Also, any suggestions for restaurants close to Les Eyzies or surrounding areas. We'd like something child friendly and not very expensive.

Thanks again.

macdogmom

Have you thought about seeing Lascaux caves? Even though thet are a reproduction, they get great reviews and kids would probably love them. We are going in May and have decided on Lascaux and Font de Gaume. Was your reserving online successful for Font de Gaume?

Carlux

Loubressac and Autoire and Carennac are all not far from Padirac, and all are charming villages. All would have places to eat - I remember a crepe place in Autoire, though we havent been there for a while. Probably the most choice in Carennac.

I don't think you could go wrong with any of those.

Since you will be in the area, you might want to just drive through Rocamadour, and stop to have a look at the site,which is amazing. No real point in going into the town, especially at that time of year, as it's touristy at the best of times, and in July will be overrun.

Someone commented on Chateau Castelnaud (with a d) across the river from Beynac. Highly recommonded, with lots of things for kids to see. Not far from the Padirac/Carennac are is Castelnau Bretenoux - note, no 'd' Not recommended, at least by me. It's interesting from the outside, but not much inside.

I have to admit that the first time we went to Castelnaud, I read my husband all the information from the Michelin Green Guide, wondering why it didn't seem to relate to what we were seeing. You guessed it, it was the WRONG chateau. So, 'forget everything I just said, and we'll start again.' Didn't inspire a lot of confidence in me as the guide.

anitavuyyuru

Thanks Carlux, as expected you're a mine of information!

Macdogmom, I sent an email to [email protected]
Its the address I got off their website. I have not received a reply yet but I'll give them a week and then I think I will call and make my husband talk to them in his limited french. Hope atleast that will work. I'll keep u posted.

anitavuyyuru

Macdogmom, I just received my reservation confirmation with a phone number to call and give my credit card info as payment.

AGM_Cape_Cod

Sorry to pull up an old thread but my question pertains to Padirac. Do you think the lines will be long the last week in June? We have reservations at Pech Merle in Thursday afternoon, were thinking of Rocamadour in the AM. Could we do Padirac between them? TIA

StCirq

The lines at the Gouffre de Padirac are long all summer long. Up to an hour's wait IME, especially if you don't get there early in the morning.