Cro Magnon caves

Karen,
It is way too early for tickets to be obtained. Start checking the official website maybe 6 weeks before your preferred dates.. Since Font-de-Gaume is a site where you see the original paintings, group size is limited to about 12-14 people at a time. This makes it more difficult to get in, as there are only a few tours a day. (e.g. 7 tours x 13 people means only 91 people can go in a day.) Also, there is usually only one tour a day in English. When we went in 2023 I checked the website daily from 8 weeks out, as we had a party of seven people and wanted the English tour. As soon as my date became available, I reserved. Next day that tour was full, so I am glad I stayed on top of it so we could all go together.
We also went to Lascaux IV, a re-creation of the original. It is well worth it as the recreation is excellent, the info provided by the guide is thorough and helpful, and the displays in the info center are very well-done. Definitely worth a stop. Tickets are easier to get, but we reserved a time for the English language tour ahead of time as well, just to be on the safe side. Tours are larger and more frequent, and walk-ups were available (in French for sure). Seeing both caves was agood idea for us, as the experience is different with both. Also, in Les Eyzies, near Font de Gaume, is the Prehistory Museum, which is supposed to be a valuable help re the caves. Alas, it was closed on the day we were at Les Eyzies, so we missed it.
Be sure to use the official site for the Centre des Monuments Nationaux to reserve your tickets.
Bonne chance! You are heading toi one of my favorite parts of France!

Karen,
Do a search for Dordogne caves and grottes on the France forum for info on other caves. Peach Merle is often mentioned here as a good site as well. We only had time to visit two, as we were busy with so many of the other activities and sights available in the region. Bonne chance!

Other prehistoric caves open to the public with original paintings (no reproductions) in the region:

Bara-Bahau: https://www.bara-bahau.fr/#

Bernifal: https://www.dordogne-perigord-tourisme.fr/offres/grotte-de-bernifal-meyrals-fr-2940671/

Combarelles: https://www.sites-les-eyzies.fr/agenda/visite-approfondie-de-la-grotte-des-combarelles

Cougnac: https://www.grottesdecougnac.com/

Merveilles (Rocamadour): https://www.grottedesmerveilles.com/fr

Pech Merle: https://en.pechmerle.com/

Roufignac: https://www.grottederouffignac.fr/index.php/en/

Sorcerer: https://www.guide-du-perigord.com/en/tourism/discover/tourist-sites/caves-and-chasms/saint-cirq-486/sorcerer-s-cave-2384.html

Villars : http://grotte-villars.com/gb/

A very complete and exciting travel report about the caves of the region:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g187081-i2144-k14943444-Solo_trip_report_Dordogne_London_Bordeaux_Nov_Dec_2024-Dordogne_Nouvelle_Aquitaine.html#1222472

Font du Gaume has always been the hardest to get and the rules change all the time. We luckily had little trouble the two times we did it years ago but that was before the upswing in interest. I would grab whatever tour you can. If English, great. But if not, just take a French tour and read up on the cave first. It is about the seeing not the gibble gabble. You can easily learn what you need to know by reading up first.

Roffignac is a delight -- underground via mini train. The art is nowhere near as impressive as Lascaux or Font du Gaume but it is nevertheless interesting. And they have really good tshirts. We have always just walked in and got tickets without problems but it has been in May or September.

The Lascaux and Chauvet recreations are amazing and you see what it was like when the caves were new. =Absolutely do Lascaux IV (and Chauvet if you get to the area)

In 2023, I would start checking for late May tix 60 to 75 days in advance. Generally the tix showed up as available or not shortly after the 1st of the month for the following month, ie Feb (or March?) for April in your case. I began checking it out 3 or 4 months in advance to get a feel for the rhythm of the ticket site. But there was little rhyme or reason and the early May (in our case) dates would vanish quickly but late May would be there, more likely in French than English as Judy has already pointed out. Anyway, bookmark the site and keep going back.

We had a French language tour and our French (refresher practice notwithstanding) was weak. But the guide had five of us who spoke English (Americans and Dutch) and gave us a fair amount of info in English, apres le Francais. Merci, monsieur.

Font de Gaume is just outside Les Eyzies with its wonderful Musee National de Pre-histoire. https://musee-prehistoire-eyzies.fr/ We spent an hour or more there before going to Font de Guaume in the afternoon. So glad we did.

Lascaux IV, not far away in Montignac is a re- creation and very well done … and accessible. We enjoyed that visit as well. We spent two nights in Montignac at a delightful inn. https://www.laroseraie-hotel.com/ HIGHLY recommend La Rosarie.

Thanks for all the info. I add reminders to calendar to book important travel events

Things do change all the time because when we went, a decade ago, we called Monuments Historique office when the tickets went on sale for the year, about January 6. Our tour was in late May. So it varies wildly. What does it say in the most recent tour book?

We stayed at Rosaraei in Montignac 20+ years ago and the restaurant was one of our first introductions to a great rural French hotel meal -- we had planned to eat there just one night, but it was so amazing we ate there the next night too and then returned on two later trips when we were staying in gite's in the area. The place was run by a lovely couple and the food was both modestly priced and wonderful -- with elegant tables in the garden in good weather and a multi course menu.

I know the hotel has changed hands now and so I wonder if the restaurant is still as fabulous? What was your experience? Generally once you get outside Paris and Nice, the best restaurants, especially in the countryside, are hotel restaurants. Often people come from miles around. We have stayed in places with rooms like summer camp -- minimal in the extreme -- which had wonderful restaurants.

Janet

2023 dinner at La Roseraie was quite nice. Traditional French meal, though perhaps slightly more modern. Our best meal that month in France was just outside Sarlat, very near the train station, at Le Grand Bleu. But it is not as if we were making a tour of Michelin starred restaurants.

The grounds at the hotel were beautiful.

Re restaurants in the Dordogne region. We also ate at Le Grand Bleu for a celebration evening. Not cheap, but utterly superb food and service. For lower prices, we had an excellent lunch in La Roque Gageac at Les Courtines. Yum!

After a bit more playing with the site to buy tickets. Switching language in website to English took me away from the caves. So I copied the link in RS book into Google App (not google in Safari). There’s an option to translate to English. That allowed me to see what dates were available as of now. - Feb 28. The site also said “Opening of the visiting slots 15 days before the beginning of the following month”. So I’ll check January 15/16 to see if March is released at that time. English tours are at 11:16am.

Hope this helps others. I’ll provide update next week.

When we went last year in early April it was pretty easy to get tickets, but you do need to keep your eye on the website. We also went to Lascaux IV, which I highly recommend, and then to Peche Merle several days later.