Lascaux IV and a second destination on the same day -> recommendations?

You could do Font du Gaume in the morning or St. Christoph Abri.

Hello! Your question is still relevant either way, but I don't want you to miss your tour. We also have tickets for late June for the English tour, which is at 11:10--and every date in late June that I just checked also has it at 11:10. So you may want to double-check the time of your tickets, and you would have a bit more time in the afternoon.

Meg99,

Thanks for commenting on this. We got the "self guided" tour that uses audio headphones. It is different from the normal tours and the website for selecting tours is... strange... to say the least. It's not well documented, so I had to back and fourth to be sure what I was getting.

They call it the "Audioguided" tour. It is different from the normal guided tour, and I guess it also has a different schedule. I figured it may give us a little more time to linger in the exhibit than a regular guided tour would, so we chose that.

Our tour date in July 1...

---Michael

We've been researching the area, since we will be bicycling through there next month.

Have you been to https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/france/dordogne and, in particular, the "At a Glance" part of the page?

By bike, we plan to visit the Prehistory Welcome Center in Les Eyzies and Font-de-Gaume earlier in the the day before we get to Montignac closer to dinner. Then Lascaux the next day.

La Grotte de Font-de-Gaume is challenging to book tickets, particularly for an English language tour. It is now too soon for June. Starting May 1st you may or may not find it is still too early for LATE June, but keep checking with some regularity. https://tickets.monuments-nationaux.fr/fr-FR/familles?site=2117969240920404140 Once the window opens up, it quickly closes, especally for English. Alors, on doit participer en Francais. (That same link will allow you to get tix for some other cave sites.)

I am not quite sure about how the ticket availability works, but today 24 April 2023, there are some French tickets available in the first two weeks of May, none the next two weeks except for Sundays, and some on 29, 30 and 31 May. In English, availablity is spotty with just 5 days are available in May, as of now. June is not yet available to reserve in English or French.

The museum at Les Eyzies is nearby and very good. Much of it is up on a ledge above the valley that could have been (maybe was) a rock shelter for a prehistoric community. Very helpful context for Lascaux, Font de Gaume, or other caves.

We were wowed by Font de Gaume, but it's small and hard to get into, as noted above. I haven't been Peche Merle, south of Sarlat, but friends recommended it highly.

Highly recommend seeing genuine cave art. There is something about being right there in situ where the artist stood more than 15,000 years ago that is very profound. I have been to Pech Merle and Tito Bustillo in Spain neither tour was in English, the guides were very considerate the experience was beyond the language barrier. Pech Merle is very doable from Sarlat, same day with Lascaux I don't know. Brad

I've done Font du Gaume in English and in French -- if you can't get an English tour take what you can get and then read up on the site. The thing is being there in the presence of a great artist from thousands of years ago -- it is unforgettable to see the real deal. The tour gibble gabble doesn't matter -- you can read about that.

Thanks for the feedback everyone... I'm watching for Font du Gaume and will check the other recommendations.

I think we will be there on 7/1 so FdG tickets aren't available for that day yet.

English language tours for Font de Gaume are at 11:30 and 1:30. You won't have time to go before or after your Lascaux tour, but maybe Rouffignac will work. If you can go a different day, I would jump on a ticket to Font de Gaume. June is now available, except for Saturdays. I would get those tickets as soon as you can, because tour groups are small and total entry is much smaller per day because you are in the original cave. Per this forum, Font de Gaume seems to be the most desirable tickets to get. If you want July, the availability will probably open up around the 5th of June.
We are going to Font de Gaume , followed by a visit to the museum at Les Eyzies, on a Tuesday and Lascaux IV on a Thursday. I imagine Lascaux IV will be a longer visit because of the interactive exhibits as well as the tour. The English language tour times are almost the same, so we can't do both in the same day. Even with a 1:30 tour for Font de Gaume, there wouldn't be time to do both on the same day.
Lots of luck with whatever you decide, and have fun. We are really looking forward to this trip and sharing the prehistory with our children and grandchildren!

Just got back...

We did Pech Merle in the AM (9:45 I think) and then did Lascaux at 12:50. It was a lot of driving and there wasn't much time between, but it all worked out fine.

Pech Merle is a great tour. Ours was in French, but we had an English brochure to follow along with so it was all fine. I highly recommend going there, possibly even over Lascaux.