Dordogne's Grotte de Font-de-Gaume by train or bus?

Thanks for the tip about Perigueux, Ed. I believe I will visit Perigueux as well as Souillac (for the cathedral) instead of Sarlat.

We found this B&B to be an excellent value, very close to the Font-de-Gaume cave (10 minutes away by car, max): http://www.lechevrefeuille.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=frontpage&Itemid=1 The owners are charming native-English speakers. You may be able to arrange car transfers to/from Les Eyzies with them. This would be an ideal solution, as the English tour is early & well worth it!! We were there just this past May.

They're not the only open original ones, but are probably the easiet to get to. The caves are a mile from the Les Eyzies railroad station. The tourist office is halfway there. I've never noticed any taxis around - - which means nothing.

Thanks Ed. Well, if there are no taxis I can walk a mile. Anyone have a cheap place to stay (double under 70 euro) in Les Eyzies?

Les Eyzies is a lovely little town and I would definitely stay there. They also have a museum that I hear is worthwhile. reservations for the cave are recommended but even if you don't have one you may still get in a tour. English tours fill up the fastest. Don't go in expecting the pictures in the book, they are really faded. It's still a fantastic experience. Also don't miss Castle Beynac, La Rouque and a canoe trip down the river. Everything in the Dordogne is incredible. I can't imagine it without a car and a GPS but that was my experience. It was like an episode of "The Bachelor" (the horrible TV show) because every other word we said was "amazing".

Thanks Richard. We plan to get the "amazing" views from the bus too!

You absolutely will need a reservation, no matter what language you're willing to accept. The place is limited to X visitors per day. If the sanskrit speakers have taken up a good share of the quota, the english speakers might might have only room for three before the total number alloted for the day is used up. Also, guess what - - the French tours fill up the fastest for some odd reason. For a hotel in that price range you'll probably have to go up to Perigueux which is about a half hour away by train. Les Eyzies is nice, but only has a couple of hotels and they're expnsive. The National Prehistory Museum is, I think, the best in the world of it's type and well worth a couple of hours. Some people will probably recommend staying in Sarlat, which I think is boring. Perigueux, on the other hand, is my favorite small city in southern France. The best deal there is undobutedly the ETAP at about seventy-five bucks a night. It's close to the city center and good grub and about ten minutes from the train station.

Thanks Diane--that hotel sounds perfect. I hope they still have a room available for us. How far in advance did you reserve for Font-de-Gaume?

We got our English language tour reservation confirmed yesterday (for end of September).

Thank you Andrea. Did you book a hotel in the area too?

No, H.S., we are booked for a four night stay in Sarlat. We have a car.

We booked a couple of months in advance for a date at the end of May, which could be considered a moderately busy time.