French Cave Paintings
 

We visited several caves some years ago and are now returning with a friend who has never been to the caves in Dordogne. Are there any caves left that tourists can go into?. We saw Font De Gaume the last trip but now see it is closed. Are all of them besides the reproductions closed?

Font de Gaume is not closed. It is no longer possible to get advance reservations, though, and they only let 80 people in a day. You can get there at around 8-8:30 am, earlier in high season, take a seat, and get in if you're lucky.

There are plenty of caves still open, but not many purely chromatic ones: Maxange, Bara-Bahau, Les Combarelles, Rouffignac, Cazelles, Le Grand Roc...

Pech-Merle in the Lot is still open. And of course Lascaux IV, which has recently opened, is amazing, though some people disdain it because it is a reproduction.

La Grotte du Sorcier, in St-Cirq next door to me, is open most of the year and though small has both chromatic art and engravings, including one of the very, very few depictions of a human (le sorcier) existing in France.

Rouffignac is open. Get there first thing in the morning and there will be no waiting and no need to make a reservation--unless there is a new policy.

Peche Merle, near St Cirque Lapopie, is one of the few original caves still open to the public, I was able to book tickets for June quite easily. I'd love to visit Fond de Gaume, but tickets...?

You can no longer book or buy tickets for Font-de-Gaume in advance. Your only option is that which I described above. You cannot buy tickets in advance for Rouffignac, either, but as noted above, you'll almost always be able to get in if you get there early. Here are the opening hours for 2018, with notes about at what timesyou can buy tickets:

Horaires et tarifs

Hello it is me again. I have booked 3 nights in Sarlat in early October 6th 7th and 8th. Though My wife and I have visited the caves, we would like one more time as well as showing our friend these wonders. I know the tickets are given out early in the morning on a first come first serve basis. My question is "Are the tickets one per person in the morning, or can I pick up three tickets so my wife and friend can sleep a little later"?

We have visited Font de Gaume, Pech-Merle and Lascaux ll on previous trips. This summer we visited the new Lascaux lV. I would definitely put this on a do-not-miss list! It is breath-takingly beautiful. Yes, it is not the “real thing” but it delivers a huge “WOW” factor.

It doesn't even open until 9:30, even getting there at 8:30 isn't that early in the morning, your wife and friend shouldn't need to sleep that much. But no, every single person who wants entry absolutely MUST be there in person, you can't personally ask for 3 tickets. They only give out about 50 a day to people in line. The rest are for tour groups.

The folks at the caisse at Font de Gaume these days are pretty no-nonsense and won't look lightly at you booking tickets for people who are sleeping in. You need to be there IN PERSON and occupying a numbered seat outside the entrance o the cave, ticket in hand, no later than 9:30 am. Better to be there earlier. If it's important to you to see this, and it's well worth it, get up early, ALL of you. "Sleeping in" would be a bit lame to miss this marvel. You all have to be there, so do it or miss it. Up to you.

As an aside, are advanced reservations needed off-season for Lascaux IV? It's not very off - we'll be there in mid-September - but had no problem a few years ago without reservations at Lascaux II.

Well maybe "Sleep in" was the wrong choice of words. Anyway I appreciate the answer to my question and the three of us will go there to get our tickets.

Thank You

What is the ticket policy on La Grotte du Sorcier? And other than the caves and a visit to a Faux Gras farm, Is there anything else we should see while there.

SemiMike, advance reservations are highly recommended for Lascaux IV, as it is mobbed almost all year. They always have a handful of tickets in reserve for people who don't come with them, but just a handful. Book in advance.

okminty, there is no ticket policy for the Grotte du Sorcier. Just show up and take the next tour. It's not crowded except in July and August. Most of the guides are Canadian, so can deal with both English and French. If not, ask one of them to come up the lane and fetch me and I'll translate for you. And please don't call foie gras faux gras - that is quite an insult.

There are dozens and dozens of things to see while you're here - all of them detailed in any guidebook: La Roque St-Christophe, Le Village Troglodytique de la Madeleine, l'Abri du Cap Blanc, the Musée National de la Préhistoire and Le Pôle in Les Eyzies, La Maison Forte de Reignac, the castles of Beynac, Castelnaud, Commarque, l'Herm, and Les Milandes (among many, many others), La Roque-Gageac, La Maison Gisson in Sarlat, the abbey in Cadouin, the Gouffre de Proumeyssac, romanesque chapels everywhere you look, fabulous fresh markets, concerts, festivals, communal evening meals with music...........you could spend months here (or years, as I have) and not see close to everything.

That's a fun website, janis. That's our house with the pool just south of the cave:)

The Grotte du Sorcier was one of my favorites. Here's what I said in my trip report:

The Grotte du Sorcier - www.grottedusorcier.com - sounded really interesting, so we set off. On the drive up to the cave, I wondered if we might see StCirq in the neighborhood. This cave turned out to be one of my favorite sites of the trip. It's a very quaint and small enterprise, and on the morning we were there was staffed by one woman who sold tickets, operated the gift shop and was the tour guide. There's a nice small museum to visit while waiting for the tour. In the cave, there are some images of animals, but the main attraction is the engraved image of a witch or shaman, a rare depiction of a human form.

St. Cirq, you have a lovely spot.

My wife & I have vacationed for 13 weeks in the Dordogne region, and I developed a 20+ page itinerary that describes our favorite villages, sites, scenic drives, castles, markets, etc. I've sent my various itineraries (I have others) to over 6,000 people on Fodors. If you would like a copy, e-mail me at [email protected] & I'll attach one to the reply e-mail. Specify that you would like the Dordogne itinerary.



Stu Dudley

Yes Sorry. I don't know where the "faux" came from unless spell check did it. And thanks for all the other info. Maybe we will see you there.