We're going to the Dordogne in Sept/Oct 2018 and had hoped to visit a cave or two with prehistoric art. Are there any that we can visit by trying to get an advance ticket? As nearly as I can tell, no cave sells advance tickets after Jan 2018. Period. Each person wanting entrance in nearly high season (Sept/Oct) must each get in line at each cave by 6 am for a limited number of entries. Can anyone confirm this for me? Merci!
Posted by
Chicago
8035 posts
yup. If you want to see the Font du Gaume, you get butt in seat early in the morning. When all the seats are filled, there are no more tickets for that day. It is worth doing.
The fake cave Lascaux IV you can probably just buy on the day; they run continuously and there will be an English tour available. Haven't seen it but have visited Lascaux II several times and it is well worth it as is the new Chauvet replica in Valons Pont d'Arc.
For Roffigniac we have never had trouble just walking up and buying a ticket for the next tour. I don't know that they can be bought in advance.
Posted by
Pleasant Hill, CA, USA
473 posts
I was told the same story. We are visiting in June. Don’t know if I want to wait for a possible ticket. I’ll decide when are there.
Posted by
Chicago
8035 posts
You don't wait for a possible ticket. You either have a seat when you arrive and thus will have a ticket (and then you wait) or you get there and there are already enough people lined up in the seats that there are no tickets and you leave)
Posted by
OP
America's Vancouver and the First
94 posts
I guess we will definitely be early morning risers! Thanks for the confirmation.
Posted by
L'Occitanie, France
10176 posts
And every seat has to have a tush in it. You can’t save for your children or others. There is a series of seats, each numbered, outside the office. People start occupying the seats about two hours before opening. I did see people who had hired the private local guides for a full-day tour of the area get in. It’s a different angle.
Posted by
Michigan
375 posts
We got our tickets for Font du gaume well in advance. We had a 1:30 tour. The guide and the caves were AMaZING!
Posted by
OP
America's Vancouver and the First
94 posts
Um, Shawn....I'm glad you had such a great experience. Can you please tell us when, how and where you got your advance tickets? Can you confirm that this is possible to do it after January 2018? All the other respondents have said that advance tickets are no longer possible. Thank you for your insights and enlightening us all!
Posted by
OP
America's Vancouver and the First
94 posts
I received this reply in a PM from Shawn and am posting it in case others might like to read about the change in rules of NO ADVANCE TICKETS for FONT DE GAUME AND LES COMBARELLES: https://archaeology-travel.com/travel-tips/tickets-for-font-de-gaume/. Can anyone tell me if this is true for all cave tickets?
Posted by
Somerville, MA
605 posts
Last year I emailed fontdegaume@monuments-nationaux.fr and asked for tickets on the day I planned to visit. They wrote back the next day with my ticket order.
Matt
Posted by
Chicago
8035 posts
last year was last year; this year is this year. This year, they are not doing advance reservations.
Posted by
Gig Harbor, Washington, USA
1819 posts
Has anyone visited the Pech Merle cave? Did you need to buy advance tickets for that site or can we just "show up?" Our visit will be in late September, probably on a Sunday. However, since it is the day we drive from Carcassonne to Sarlat, it is difficult to know exactly what time slot to book.
Thanks for any information.
Posted by
Somerville, MA
605 posts
Just trying to help out. I think that the response that Kay received/would receive from the email address I referenced above would be more definitive one way or the other than what we can provide on this board.
Posted by
L'Occitanie, France
10176 posts
You should be ok with Peche Merle. We were there two years ago in May and had only a half hour wait to get in.
Posted by
Chicago
8035 posts
We just showed up at Pech Merle and had no trouble getting tickets; it is fairly out of the way. It is also IMHO nowhere near as interesting as Roffignac, Font du Gaume or even the Lascaux replica. There is one gorgeous set of spotted horses and the cave itself is beautiful as a cave, but there is very little cave painting of interest beyond that. We also have been to Roffignac twice, once in May and once in September of last year and both times had no trouble just walking up and going on the next tour. They also have the best t-shirts.
Posted by
OP
America's Vancouver and the First
94 posts
I posted a separate entry regarding getting advance tickets for Font-de-Gaume (Nope, Non, Nada). As others have previously said, as of January 2018, advance tickets are no longer available despite the indication on their website. I received an email reply from them that also confirmed they are not available.
Regarding Lauscaux IV (aka International Center for Cave Art): I bought nonrefundable tickets for the English tour at 11:06 on Sept 16. Although I didn't like buying so far in advance, the English tours (2xday) are selling fast for the week. We felt we would get the best overview and history here for the beginning of our time in the Dordogne. I understand that one can attend a different tour in another language and get a good understanding with the use of a translator device, but we decided to go for the real deal and guarantee our tickets.