Need help finding tickets to Paleolithic Caves in Dordogne

abbyyoung3,
Don't fret. They are not all filled. Ticket availability is not up this far in advance. Font de Gaume, especially, is a rather tough ticket to get because there are only a limited number of tours per day, and each one is only about 13 people. And there is usually only one in English. (You are in the original cave, next to the original drawings, and great care is taken to protect and preserve the art work, hence the small groups.) We went last June. I had my desired day picked out and just checked the web site each day from about two months before our date. The calendar for June didn't open up until early May (I think it was the 4th). Familiarize yourself with the site and reservation system, and jump on the tickets as soon as you see them available. Start checking in March or April if you want, but you will probably see that, in March, May might not even be open. I started checking way too early, but needed seven tickets, so was anxious for us all to visit together. I got my tickets the first day that June was available.
I reserved our Lascaux IV tickets early also, in order to have an English language tour, but when we were there, there seemed to be openings for walk-ups. Those may have been French language tours, however. The groups are larger because it is a reproduction. I visited Lascaux II in 2001, and both II and IV are marvelous! I haven't been to the others you mentioned, so cannot comment on them. Bonne chance!

Thanks so much Judy--Today I was thinking about giving up on my trip entirely because it looked like all the visitor places were taken four months in advance! You greatly eased my mind about the tourist office's 'different' booking system. It's confusing that there is no explanation. At least now I will make a daily visit to the website till they post openings!

So glad you were able to get tickets for your group to Font de Gaume. Lascaux must have been amazing as well. I won't get there this trip, but am hoping to see the original caves on the first round, and the replications next. Thanks again!

We have never had trouble getting walk up tickets to Lascaux replicas or Roffignac -- font du Gaume is the best though and hard to get. The rules for getting tickets constantly change. Last time we went with friends we had to get there at dawn and sit in a numbered bench spot -- when they were filled, all tickets for that day were gone. And then you waited a couple of hours until the tours opened. and got your tickets. Now apparently you can again reserve on line.

The museum nearby at Les Eyzies is excellent.

I want to visit Font-de- Gaume this May. The dates are still blocked. I will be checking everyday from today forward. Rick Steves' Best of France [2023] book says that even if you can't get the tour in English, it's about the art, so take the tour in French. I'll follow his advice. I will come back to this site once I get the tickets (fingers crossed) so that you'll know how far in advance they were offered. Best of luck to you!

I found this information on
https://tickets.monuments-nationaux.fr/fr-FR/familles?site=2117969240920404140

"Opening of visiting slots 15 days before the start of the following month."

I'm assuming that means for my May tickets, I can purchase them on @ April 15th since that is 15 days before the start of May. For you, if I am correct, that would mean @ May 15th/16th for June.

Don't panic!
Tickets for sites in the Dordogne: caves, chasms, monuments are generally on sale only according to the principle indicated by Lindy. No more than two months ahead.
Regularly check the websites to see which dates are open for reservation.

I would also like to remind you that anyone who has done a minimum of research and consulted travel guides other than that of RS knows that Sarlat la Canéda and its surroundings is only a small part of the Dordogne valley.
You can visit many other caves in the region, and Combarelle, Font de Gaume, Lascaux, etc. are not the only paleolithic sites.

Other caves allow you to see real authentic paintings over 20,000 years old (and not copies)

The Pech Merle Cave

https://en.pechmerle.com/

The prehistoric Merveilles Cave (near Rocamadour)

https://www.grottedesmerveilles.com/fr

The prehistoric Cougnac Cave

https://www.grottesdecougnac.com/

Other caves and chasms that can be visited:

The Presque Cave

https://grottes-de-presque.com/?lang=en

The Padirac Chasm:

https://www.gouffre-de-padirac.com/en/home

abbyyoung3,
As Jolui says, there are a LOT of caves to visit. I wish I had had the time to see more. Many contributors to this forum recommend Peche Merle. That will be my next must-see when I am in the area again. And try to see the museum in Les Eyzies. Alas, our trip to Font de Gaume was on a Wednesday, and the museum was closed that day. (They are close to each other.) Scan this forum for comments on the various caves to visit. The area is like a candy store for paleolithic sights!

Last year, we went to Font de Gaume. When the window opens, and I don’t think it’s exactly 60 days because it seemed that a month opens up, you have to be on it quickly. We were unable to get an English language tour, but my wife and I had some college French which I had been refreshing for a number of months, so I signed us up. As close to half our tour group were non French speakers - US and Dutch - the guide actually did a 2/3 - 1/3 split, while speaking quickly. Mon Dieu! Il etait tres gentil.

We were really glad to have spent 90 minutes in the Musee de Pre-histoire in Les Eyzies before we took our early afternoon tour of Font de Gaume. What a great little museum.

If you are unable to get to Font de Gaume or other original caves, it’s ok. The recreation of Lascaux IV is incredibly well done and the accompanying building and exhibits have good information and displays, as well.

Not far from Les Eyzies are caves at La Roque St Christophe. Since we were cycling and had just been to the Musee and Font de Gaume, we failed to
stop there. A lot of cars had, and perhaps we should have. It’s also a bit of a re-creation, though the caves were quite visible and genuine.

I would not skip Lascaux IV on your first trip. The guided tour is excellent and the recreation is excellent.. It will give you a lot of insight into what you are seeing and what was once there before you get to visit the actual caves.

Are you familiar with another reproduction - Grotte chauvet 2 - Ardèche? It is outstanding! However, it is in a different part of France, 55 miles north of Avignon.

Thank you to everyone for your helpful and encouraging comments. I am making note of them all, and may change my trip around them too. As a solo traveler without a car I am a little hesitant to take on too much the first time. But maybe Lascaux has to be in the itinerary too. The reason i chose Font-de-Gaume with Les-Eyzies as a base was because of the remarkable book by Christine Desdemaines-Hugon "Stepping Stones" which describes her studies of the five caves all in that same region. But this is a life-long study-and I'm so glad to hear from all of you who have made it your study too. Thank you!

The Lascaux replicas are terrific and look the way the caves looked when they were new. Font du Gaume was not discovered for years partly because the pictures are heavily obscured sort of black on black -- still a thrilling experience as it is the real deal. It doesn't matter what language the tour is -- we have done English and French at a time when our French was non-existent instead of just terrible as it is now. You can read up on the cave -- it is SEEING not hearing that is important.

FWIW besides the wonderful spotted horses there is little interesting cave art in Peche Merle -- it is a beautiful cave. but I would rank it below Font du Gaume, Roffingnac and Lascaux replicas (II and IV) in terms of visual interest.

We are attempting to visit Grotte de Font de Gaume, Lascaux IV, Grotte Pech Merle and Grotte de Rouffignac in that order of preference. I am a bit anxious about getting tickets for the first two since they are the most popular. I easily bought tickets a few days ago for Pech Merle in May. The nice part about Grotte de Rouffignac is that tickets can be bought only at the cave's entrance, so I don't have to do ticket jockeying and can fit it in around the others.

abbyyoung3,

I just read that you won't have a car. You will therefore unfortunately have no or almost no possibility of visiting sites other than those around Les Eyzies if you stay there (Grotte de Font-de-Gaume & Grotte des Combarelles & Abri du Cap-Blanc)

Thanks JoLui for your comment about the difficulty of my not having a car for this trip.. I had thought there might be tour guides that provide transportation to different sites-- or else I could take the train. Am I dreaming?
Your observation leads to another question--is driving in France difficult? I haven't ever rented a car in Europe and was concerned about laws, traffic, parking etc.if driving in Southern France. That is why I thought I'd rely on public transportation. Any good thoughts from personal experiences? Thank you all!

Re transport, not sure of your age or activity level.

Our trip was by e-bike. 7 days of cycling. Starting and ending in Bergerac. We cycled from LeBugue (second night) to Montignac (where Lascaux is situated) in a single day via Les Eyzies, with our stops at the Musee de Prehistoire and Font de Gaume. Two nights in Montignac and then on to Sarlat.

Dordogne is hilly but the e-bikes conquered all but two hills on our route. Yup, had to walk the bikes up those two, but it was still a great way to go. Even (especially) at age 70.

abbyyoung3,

Without knowing where you want to stay in Dordogne and what you want to do and see I cannot give you a precise answer.
The Dordogne is a rural region and the vast majority of caves or villages, castles, etc. are only accessible by road, either by personal car or by organized private or group tour (see the local Tourist Offices)

Some bus lines are only operational in summer in July and August.

Regional train lines (TER) only connect medium or large cities.

From Les Eyzies you can go by train to Sarlat la Canéda, it takes 1 to 2 hours of travel depending on timetables while by car it's a 20 minutes ride.

Taxis are rare and are often used by locals who do not have a car and have medical appointments (the taxi price is paid by health insurance)

I know that North American tourists are hesitant to drive in the French countryside but you can ask those who have experienced it, there is no specific difficulty in driving on the roads in Dordogne, These are small departmental roads where you will never drive more than 50 Mph. The roads are often scenic and allow you to stop in quaint villages, which is impossible to do by train or bus.

The e-bike suggested by Fred is also a good way to visit the nearby surroundings.

It's up to you!

Here is the public transport map in Dordogne (pdf file). The blue lines are only operational in July and August.
The gray dashed lines are the regional train lines.

http://tinyurl.com/2mau2zz4.

The website, in English, to find out how to get around in the Périgord Noir (the part of the Dordogne where Les Eyzies and Sarlat la Canéda are located)

https://www.lascaux-dordogne.com/en/pratique/venir-et-se-deplacer/

And by the way, a map showing this small part of the Dordogne valley (the one suggested by Rick Steves) in relation to everything possible to visit in the region:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1OdPOg8AgsNn0Jlv1cNHkujaWv9p_Jpc&usp=sharing

I posted this in another's question about hiring a guide in the Dordogne.
angelika.simeon@wanadoo.fr
I emailed Angelika because I was interested in her tour. This is the response that I received:

"During a full day tour we would meet in Les Eyzies to first go on a short and very scenic walk to the national museum of prehistory. During a private tour there we will "meet" our ancestors, their living conditions and cultural traditions.

Afterwards discovery of nearby Font de Gaume decorated cave.
Then a short lunchbreak during which I will give you a private lecture based on my personal documents.

Then drive to Grotte de Rouffignac where we board a small train to drive deep inside the large cave to see pictures made about 15000 years ago.

Fees for guide-lecturer service for two: 485€, tickets to sites are additional."
You would have to get to Les Eyzies.

I don't know what this tour includes other than taking you to the sites (for which you will have to pay entrance tickets) by car for a total of 12 mi and giving you a private reading (a reading???), but 485€ for two, seems very expensive to me compared to other offers in the region. Especially since this offer seems to be more accompaniment with a professional interpreter rather than a real approved tourist guide

See for example what Melissa Ayroles can offer you, she was born in Dordogne and is an official licensed guide

https://www.randoetpatrimoine.fr/english/about-me/

With the Sarlat tourist office you can have a 1 hour guided tour of La Roque Gageac for €10/person and a 1h30 guided tour of Beynac for €8/person

The only drawback is that you have to be on site for the departure of the guided tour.

If I had 485€ to spend to visit the Dordogne, I would spend it on a rental car at 70€-80€ / day and with the money saved I would go to restaurants to eat some duck confit with Sarladaise potatoes. :-)))

We drove a rental car in France in 2008 and again in 2018 and had no problems. It wasn't much different from driving in the US except that France has quite a few toll roads. The tolls were easily paid with a credit card. It is helpful to have a GPS in the car, especially if you are travelling alone. You can take the train from Paris to Brive-la- Gaillard (about 20 miles from Sarlat) and rent a car there. Only rent from a name brand company and try to avoid picking up or returning on week-ends, since many of the rental agencies have short or no hours on weekends. We arranged our 2018 rental through autoeurope.

Thanks again to every one of you who has responded to my questions about tickets, car, caves, guides etc. for the Dordogne--so practical and helpful. I had a good laugh at JoLui's recommendation just to get a car instead of a guide and spend the balance on good cuisine. Sounds like the right plan. You have all helped me to reframe my trip so now I will be renting a car, will put Lascaux on the itinerary, and will. drive instead of relying on guides. Thanks to all for the help--and any other tips are still welcome!

Today, I was able to get tickets for Lasceaux IV for late May. They just became available. I believe that June is also available.

While I'm sure the guide must be grand, as recommended by Rick Steves and others on this forum, we too will forgo the expense.

Fingers crossed that you and we are able to get tickets for Font-de-Gaume.

Thank you Lindy for the news about tickets becoming available for Lascaux IV. I was able to get one today for mid June!
I also want to visit Lascaux II but tickets won't go on sale for that till March 15 if you are interested.

Great! I'm happy for you. We will look at Lasceaux II.

I definitely want tickets for Font-de-Gaume. I just checked and see that tickets still aren't for sale in March even though March is just eight days away. Their website says that tickets are available 15 days before the beginning of the next month, so who knows. We want tickets for late May. I'm wondering if anyone knows the time of day that Font-de-Gaume tickets become available for the next month. I'll set my alarm if I have to get up in the middle of the night to get them. They sell only a few each day and are very hard to get.

I made some updates to the map for which I gave the link in a previous post.

Since Rick Steves didn't have time to show you everything, perhaps you would be interested in this map of the region where you will find:

33 villages classified as "Most Beautiful Village in France"

9 caves with paintings and other caves and chasms open to the public

28 castles, mostly medieval.

The main cities and some activities such as riverside beach, kayaking, wine tasting, local products..

There is a short description for each item and a web link when available

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1OdPOg8AgsNn0Jlv1cNHkujaWv9p_Jpc&usp=sharing

abbyyoung3,
In the summer some villages have "Marches Nocturnes', night markets. But they are so much more...music, dancing, great meals. Try to find one to attend. We were too early in June, but you should be able to find one. There is one somewhere just about every night of the week.

We spent two weeks in the Dordogne region last April and loved it. We rented a car at CDG, drove to the Loire Valley for two nights ( had been before ) and then rented a VRBO house in Saint-Cyprien for two weeks. It was four bedrooms and three and a half baths - if you want details, DM me.

My sister and I are in our 70’s and had no issues with the driving. We read up on the rules of the road ahead of time and watched a couple of You Tube videos. Our last trip to France had been 10 years before so we felt we should brush up.

One point on the car GSP - you don’t need it, especially if it doesn’t come with your rental. Most rentals now have Apple Car Play and a usb port to plug in your phone. Our app of preference was Waze but others on this site are fans of Google maps.

We did not visit any caves but did visit many of Les Plus Beaux Villages ( the most beautiful villages ) in the area. If you are interested in our favorites, dm me and I’ll send to you.

I am excited for you, it’s a beautiful region! With a car you’ll have much more freedom to see more, especially the smaller less traveled villages.

Thanks jhilts for the good driving info on Dordogne. I'm in my 70s too, and you gave me the encouragement I needed.
And also to Judy for the tip on the Marchés Nocturnes--I would have missed that entirely and will keep a watch for them.
And finally, to JoLui, what a great link to the interactive map of the Dordogne--all the information at your fingertips with visuals--really helpful. This forum is a god-send for travelers--thank you everyone!

Lindy and others, let's keep each other posted on when we see tickets coming available for Font-de-Gaume. As you say, we don't want to miss this chance!

I will definitely come back to this thread when tickets have been released for May which is when I want tickets. Btw, tickets for March weren't released until yesterday, February 24. That was five days from March 1. Their website states that release dates for tickets would be 15 days before the following month, so I'll try not to be antsy if tickets for May are released later than April 15. Good luck to all!

Today, I checked the release dates for tickets in April for Font-de-Gaume. At present, there are no tickets available beyond April 11. Does anyone know why that is?

Why are no tickets available for sale on the Font de Gaume ticket website for May given that it is only 7 days away. I am going in late June and given the amount of money we're spending to get there I am wondering if it is impossible to get tickets. I don't understand why nothing is open for any date whatsoever now. I assume April was sold out long ago but for some reason May is not up yet or already sold out?? June is also "complet" already or seems to be. I thought tickets did not become available til 15 days before the next month.
??? INfo??thanks!

Regarding the impossibility of booking online for the Font-de-Gaume cave, I sent an email, here is their answer (translated into English):

The sale of tickets, on our website www.sites-les-eyzies.fr, for the month of May has been delayed. Tickets should be available from Friday April 26.
Please excuse us for this delay beyond our control;
We hope to welcome you this month of May.

Excellent, JoLui. Thank you.

I also left this message on the other thread--when I finally was able to buy my tickets for April 2 on March 26, I found that the site wouldn't work when I used Safari, but did work when I switched to Chrome. No idea why.

I just bought tickets for May 22nd! The times in English are 11:30 and 1:30. Good luck getting yours! Btw, none had been sold for that date, so it's not like getting tickets for the Eiffel Tower, etc.