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Collioure to Cave Paintings

Posted by (Seattle, Wa) on

Hello folks,
We are spending a couple of weeks in France (with a smidge of Spain) in July. We'll be driving from Barcelona to Collioure sur Mer, staying a couple of days in Collioure, then driving to Sarlat la Caneda. Our daughter and niece (ages 12 and 13) want to see cave paintings and medieval sights, including a torture museum if they get the chance. I have heard that Le Grotte du Peche Merle is well worth going to see on our way to Sarlat, even if we play to try to see Lascaux II or other caves. I would love to have a fairly leisurely drive to Sarlat with some room to stop for interesting sights. It looks like a straight drive would be 4 1/2 hours. Here are my wonderings:

Is it worth stopping in Minerve on our drive from Collioure to Sarlat? It adds at least an hour of driving, but Minerve looks stunning and very interesting and I have some interest in the Cathars. (When we were in Italy 2 years ago, we stopped in Vinci on our drive from Lucca to Rome and enjoyed in tremendously).
It looks like we can reserve tickets for Peche Merle online. What would be a reasonable reservation? 3:30? 4:00, if we don't stop at Minerve?
We are staying at a townhouse in Sarlat, so we want to get there by 6 pm if possible (I think that's our check in deadline).
Our priorities there are: 1) eating good local food - does not need to be fancy; 2) Cave paintings and history; 3) http://www.maison-forte-reignac.com where they appear to have some suitably ghoulish torture-related sights; 4) canoeing on the Dordogne.

Anyone have recommendations on whether it's realistic to stop at Minerve and Peche Merle? Also, it is worth seeing more than one set of cave paintings given our time constraints?

After 1 day driving and 2 full days in Sarlat, we drive to the Loire valley for a couple of days, then Paris.

Thanks in advance for your advice! Susan

Posted by
784 posts

I think Minerve is worth a stop, especially if you aren't planning to go to Carcasson. Minerva is much smaller, so you don't have to stay long. I have not been to Le Grotte Peche Merle, but I have been to Lascaux II and even though it is a reproduction, I thought it had a wow factor that the other cave I visited lacked. The English tour was also very informative. I would like to add that you're covering a lot of territory in only two weeks. There is so much to see and do in SW France, that if I were you, I'd skip the Loire this trip and spend those days in the SW. You could then drive to the nearest town served by the TGV, drop the car, and take the train to Paris.

Posted by
10603 posts

Have you checked to see what the drop off fee is to rent a car in Spain and return in France? It is usually quite a hefty amount. An alternative to driving from Barcelona to Paris would be to take the train from Barcelona to Perpignan and rent the car there. It is very close to Collioure and you wouldn't have the extra cost of dropping a car in another country.

Posted by
16895 posts

Stopping in Minerve is worthwhile, and will give you a different perspective than your other destinations. But I put cave art higher on the don't-miss list. I would try to see both, if you can get an early start. www.viamichelin.com suggests these driving times: Coullioure-Minerve under 2 hours, to Pech Merle 3.5 hours, to Sarlat 1.5 hours.

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