Which Caves in Dordogne

You don't need reservations for Lascaux II but you do need reservations right now if they are still available for the Font du Gaume. The very few reserved spaces for the year go on sale January 1, so book now if you can. Otherwise you can show up at the crack of dawn and hope to get one of the few spaces they book each day. (they have numbered seats so you can tell if you are going to get a ticket if you wait) The other natural cave I recommend is Roffignac (they also have the coolest T shirts) You ride a km or so underground in a little train for that one. there was no wait when we did it this September. We have visited Lascaux II twice and had no trouble either time just getting a ticket for entrance within a couple of hours.

My wife and I really enjoyed Rouffignac when we visited back in 2003. You might not be so lucky, but we had a tour guide that spoke very lovingly and with great pride about the monochrome paintings.

Thanks! Janettravels44, what's so special about Font du Gaume that there'd be such demand?

The paintings in FdG are original whereas Lascaux II is a reproduction (but still well worth a visit). This year or next will likely be the last one in which visitors are allowed in the cave.

Also, the paintings at Font-de-Gaume are polychromatic. My wife and I visited in 2014, along with Pech Merle which I would also recommend.

I recommend The Cave Painters, by Gregory Curtis, to find out more about the art and why being in the real thing is a different experience than being in a reproduction (though Lascaux II is good). He presents all the theories that people have come up with for the purpose of the art and why it's ultimately unknowable.

We were lucky enough to easily visit the Font du Gaume twice before it became so well known and tickets became so restricted. It was awe inspiring to stand in front of genuine genius from the days of our early ancestors. It is the best polychrome 'real' cave available in the area. We have also visited Peche Merle and it does have one gorgeous polychrome painting of spotted horses; it is also a lovely natural cave, but there is very little else in the way of interesting cave art. At Roffignac you ride a little train underground and it contains some interesting art although it is not as artistically realized as Lascaux or Font du Gaume or Chauvet. We also visited the new replica at Pont d'Arc of the Chauvet cave discovered only a few years ago. This is deep in the Ardeche forrest and difficult to get to but the exhibit is truly wonderful and I highly recommend it if you can make the time commitment. The cave itself will never be open to the public so the damage incurred by Lascaux will not occur. We spent two nights in the area and it is just beautiful. The winding mountain road high above the Arc river coming into Pont d'Arc is just incredibly gorgeous if tough going. Swimming and canoeing under the Pont d'Arc natural bridge is also amazing. Alas my arm was in a huge cast from surgery to wire my elbow back together and so I could only look on. But the cave replica is outstanding.

When you're in the area, consider a stop at l'Abri du Cap Blanc. It's a 42 ft. relief carved frieze of almost life-size horses. The tours takes about half an hour. It's probably a good idea to check when the tours are in English. We were there so long ago, I can't remember the arrangements, In any case, they've probably changed by now.