Best Way from Avignon to Pont d'Arc Chauvet Cave

You cannot take a bus or a train to Chauvet Cave. The drive from Avignon is 1h 30m. Here's a link that'll give you more information: https://archeologie.culture.fr/chauvet/en/virtual-visit but it won't answer your questions.

Try Slice of France tours. The company does a minivan tour that will pick you up from your hotel in Avignon. I have not used them but we looked at them when we considered a day trip to the replica and saw great reviews.

According to rome2rio.com, the regional AuvergneRhoneAlpes bus #15 makes the 2-hour trek each way once a day for 4€.
But an organized tour would be much better, allowing you to see more, such as Le Pont d'Arc.

I didn't respond initially because I wasn't (and am not) sure about what I was seeing online. I, too, encountered the Line 15 bus, but as I dug deeper, I reached a schedule that didn't seem to include Avignon, showed a very low frequency and had a warning about preference being given to commuting school children. I've experienced a French bus that refused to let me board because it was only for school children, so the upshot is that I can't be sure Bus 15 is a viable option.

There is supposedly rail service as far as the town of Pierrelatte, but that's about 20 miles short of the cave, leaving what would be a very expensive taxi ride. You'd pay for two round-trips unless you opted to pay for the driver to wait for you at the cave. I don't know which would be cheaper.

Note: I can't verify the existence of trains or provide information on their frequency because the SNCF website is blocking me. It's been doing that for over a week; I've tried both Edge and Chrome. Maybe it's because of the current travel restrictions, though the error message alludes to my browser.

I went about 2 years ago, could not find a tour so we rented a car. The drive was fairly long and not difficult on 2 lane roads in the country. When you arrive you make an appointment for the viewing tour. We were there off season in November, but had to wait an hour and a half for the soonest opening for 3 people. There was a place to buy lunch, but it wasn’t very good. The cave was great, but there was no English tour. We had an English headset that gave a short description at sites, but the tour guide talked on and on in French giving them a much different experience. I would certainly do it again, but wanted you to know some realities.

This is a wonderful site -- it is also worth getting there for a day or two and canoeing on the river under the Pont' d'Arc -- you can see the original cave opening from there. The replica site is a fair car trip from the town and the river. I think you either need a car or a tour. The area is just stunning -- worth a few days. I alas had my arm in a cast and could not go in the river and was so jealous of the swimmers and canoers under the arc -- it looked heavenly. I would not attempt this with public transport.

FWIW. I bought half a dozen photo placemats in the gift shop with photos of the cave art (No photos allowed on the tour) It has brought me so much joy to eat on those things for years now.

Thanks for all your replies (so far!). I too checked out the #15 bus on RometoRio, but the information about preference for school kids was good to know. We will only be in the area a couple of days after our cruise--and we don't enjoy driving in Europe that much--so we are looking for the tour option. We've explored ALL the websites about the Chauvet Pont d'Arc replica cave (and even bought "Cave of Forgotten Dreams" several years ago) and are determined to see it. If you are in Portugal, do try to see the Grouta do Escoural, too. Thanks to JHK for the name of a good tour company. That's exactly what we're trying to check out. And we will try to catch a glimpse of the real cave if we can.

In times gone by, I have experienced useful advice from Avignon's tourism bureau, both on-line and at their main office in the city centre. Unfortunately the information boutique appears to be closed in the current lock-down. E-mail questions to  [email protected]

This link connects to excursions and day trips in the surrounding area:

https://avignon-tourisme.com/en/discover/continuing-on/discovery-excursions-and-theme-outings/

The regional travel bureau also has suggestions:

https://www.avignon-et-provence.com/en/tourism-provence

Thanks to Southam for facts about using the official Tourist Information in Avignon. We will try as time passes to find out if they will be open physically next spring. Until then, communicating with them via email is the best bet. We are starting to look for information early, so we are hoping that France will be more open in a year.