Advise please on timing of cave visits in Dordogne

I can't speak to same day touring as we opted to just due Grotte de Font-de-Gaume which was amazing. Highly recommend, pretty much the most remarkable stop in our month in France. This is one of the few caves you can actually go into so it is a different experience than the Lacaux sites which is a center and cave replicas. There is a small and sweet museum in Les Eyres, does not take a lot of time.

The main question is how are you going between the caves, I don't think it can be done in one day with public transportation but driving is only about a 1/2 hour between them.

IF you can get your tix for Lascaux IV in the morning and the afternoon English tour at Font de Gaume, and if you’re driving, perhaps you may have time for an hour or a little over that for the Musee National de Prehistoire in Les Eyzies. It’s only a km or a mile or so away from Font de Gaume.

Be mindful that you have to get to Font de Gaume in advance of your scheduled start time. I forget exactly how much ahead. Maybe they asked for 1/2 hour but 15 minutes would be sufficient? Arrival on time is too late. On time means that the group already left the store entrance and departed to hike up the hill to the cave entrance.

Also, you are probably approaching the time that you need to check the on-line ticket site daily. The tix you want will be gone in a flash once they’re made available, since Dutch, German and other non-French speakers will jump on those, along with the English speakers. The group sizes are pretty small, perhaps about 15 visitors.

We took the 1:30 or so French tour and the guide was very kind to those of us whose French was limited to non-existent. He spoke first in French, then spent about 1/2 the time that he spoke in French to speak in English. (I think there were about 8 French speakers, 3 Americans and 2 Dutch, but my memory is both selective and creative.)

lisaa,
I think both Lascaux caves would be redundant. I have been to both and definitely prefer Lascaux IV to Lascaux II. When we were there in 2023 we did Lascaux IV one day and Font-de-Gaume another day. Lascaux IV is a much more inclusive reproduction than Lascaux II. Trying to do two or three caves in one day would give me cave overload. However, if your time is limited, keep the Lascaux IV time, or get earlier if you can. It is easy to spend 3 hours there because it is more than just the cave reproduction. (The cafeteria there has decent options for lunch afterward.) Then drive to Font-de-Gaume. It takes 30-40 minutes. Try to get a time at Font-de-Gaume at 3:10. Be there early. It also takes about 20 minutes (for my old bones) to trek up the hill to the cave entrance. Groups are limited to about 12-14 people. You want to be at the cave entrance by your appt. time. English language tours are once, maybe twice, a day, but even if you have French tour, it is worth seeing. (It is the real deal, and very moving!)
TBH, seeing them on different days is more enjoyable to me. We didn't do Beynac Castle and Castelnaud-la-Chapelle on the same day either. Mix things up. Maybe visit one of the castles the same day as one of the caves.
The museum in Les Eyzies is a good suggestion when you visit Font-de-Gaume. It is just down the road a bit,
How long will you be in the Dordogne region and where are you staying? If in Sarlat-la-Caneda, know that driving in and out of the town can be very slow. Allow enough time.
Enjoy!

Thank you all for your replies. We are staying at a home in La Roque Gageac and will have a car. We have 4 days to explore the area. Based on your responses, I am thinking we do skip Lascaux II, and only do Lascaux IV in the morning. Would love to have stopped at La Roque St-Christophe at some point, but really want to see Font-de-Gaume, and not sure where to fit that in. Based on my plans below, do you see a day where I should do Font-de-Gaume and eliminate something I have planned?

Our 4 days look as follows, and I am definitely open to suggestions:
Day 1 Chateau de Castlenaud and Marquessac Gardens in the am. Domme in the afternoon
Day 2 Caves-Lascaux IV and Font-de-Gaume
Day 3 Canoe ride on Dordogne River from Vitrac to Beynac. Explore Beynac in the afternoon
Day 4 Sarlat in the am and Rocamadour in the afternoon

Your days sound much like our family stay in 2023. We had 9 days and rented a gite (near La Roque Gageac). There were seven of us so we rented two cars in Bordeaux and enjoyed the drive on D roads to get there. We did the two castles, the two caves I mentioned, the river kayak trip (We had two doubles and three singles) and possibly used the same company you will use. (Canoes Loisirs)
My only suggestion is to skip Rocamadour. The town on the river is very touristy and, dare I say, full of tacky souveniers.
It is also a fair drive from La Roque Gageac and you could spend that time in other lovely towns. I would give that time over to La Roque St Cristoph or a drive to a couple of "the most beautiful villages in France", or Chateau des Milandes, or the Marqueyssac Gardens, or maybe a farm.
I hope your Sarlat day is one of its big market days. The markets make parking a bit of a pain but it is fun to stroll among the many vendors and along the streets of Sarlat, maybe stopping in the cathedral? Look for the goose statues. There are smaller markets every day in Sarlat and other towns. Try to see one. Buy some pate to take home, or honey, or dried mushrooms (nice shop for these in Domme), or walnut goodies, or strawberries, or duck confit, (or fois gras if you like it and can afford it), or something with truffles. If you are there in the summer look for night markets at some of the towns...kind of markets with a street party atmosphere and music and dancing.
We had a delicious and affordable lunch just on the edge of La Roque Gageac at Les Courtines....good open faced sandwiches, among other things. We sat outside and could see the river from our table.
Check out my trip report from June 2023 titled "Just Returned from Four Weeks in France....continued". It discusses our joyful stay in the area. Remember to monitor the website to snatch your Font-de-Gaume tickets as soon as your date is available. I watched it closely because there were seven of us to go together on the one English language tour on the day we preferred. You will love every minute in the Dordogne Valley. Amusez-vous bien!

June 2025 we visited Pech Merle, Lascaux IV, and Font de Gaume - one each day. We enjoyed Pech Merle much more than Font de Gaume. It was much better lit and it is also a beautiful cave with stalactites and stalagmites. Try to include it in your itinerary - it makes a good day trip from Sarlat and combines well with St. Cirq La Popie.

the key to happiness in travel is not creating schedules where everyone is anxious about making the next reservation. Pick one Lascaux -- both are marvelous but it is the same cave and pictures and both are beautifully produced.

Re Font du Gaume which I have visited twice. It was a real highlight -- the real deal and amazing art. I disagree strongly that Pech Merle is more interesting. It is a beautiful natural cave but there is only one really interesting painting the spotted horses -- which is magnificent. Apparently it was fairly recently authenticated -- I always suspected it was a 19th century forgery. But besides that the art is not much -- handprints, which you see in every neolithic cave, and various symbols. to each his own but for me it is at the bottom of the list of neolithic cave experiences. worth doing if you have time but not ahead of the Font du Gaume UMMV.

In early March 2024 my family of 5 (3 adult daughters) stayed in Bergerac for 5 nights doing day trips in the Dordogne. We managed to get free tickets (first Sunday) for Grotte des Combarelles in the morning and Font-de-Gaume in the afternoon. Both Tours were supposed to be in French but for the morning tour there was only one other guest who was French but also spoke English so the guide asked if it would be ok to do the tour in English and the other guest was fine with that. It is a smaller tour but was really wonderful since it was just us. We then spent a few hours in Les Eyzies including a wonderful lunch at restaurant Nosco. Then we headed for our afternoon tour. Font-de-Gaume was excellent, the tour guide was great and even though we didn't speak French it was still fascinating. My daughter speaks French but could only translate bits and pieces because we didn't want to disturb the other guests. In hind sight we should have told the tour guide we don't speak French, not because we wanted him to speak in English but a few times when he was asking us questions I felt bad that I just stared blankly, luckily my daughter would try to answer for all of us. All in all, it was an incredible day, definitely a highlight of our trip, and seeing 2 close by in one day with a wander around Les Eyzies (even in off season with several things closed) was a full, fun day but not overwhelming.

If you have an interest in Cro Magnon life the museum as Les Eyzies is very worthwhile. I seem to recall it closed for lunch as so many sites do, but that was 10 years ago so check now. Excellent museum.