We are planning a road trip in May and one of our stops will be the Lascaux caves near Bordeaux. I know that what we will be seeing is the duplication and not the real caves. I've looked at their website and I was wondering if one can buy entry tickets in advance and also if there is a good place to stay overnight nearby. We will be driving from there to Lyon so any suggestions of interesting places to see along that route (don't want to travel more than a few miles off that route) will be very welcome. We have been many places in France but the southwestern corner is new to us.
Posted by
Tucson
4151 posts
I think I responded to someone else with a similar question recently. I hope this isn't too repetitive of what you've already seen. I don't think of the Lascaux caves being near Bordeaux. It's a 200+ KM and 2+ hours drive to get there.
We stayed at Les Cordeliers in Sarlat (http://www.hotelsarlat.com/bedandbreakfastsarlat/rooms/breakfast/) and thoroughly enjoyed it. We didn't have a car, but there was parking on the street. The owners are Brits. We loved walking at night through the part of town with only gaslights. There were plenty of walkable restaurants near the B&B.
Since we had no car, we had a driver take us around. He made the reservations. We did see the Lascaux replica and I thought it was magnificent. This virtual tour, http://www.lascaux.culture.fr/?lng=en#/fr/02_00.xml, gives a great idea of what it is like, but nothing beats seeing it in person. Search Lascaux II on Trip Advisor for good, recent info on how to buy tickets.
We also went to Font-de-Gaume, which is even more challenging to do these days. Here's a link about that and with access to many other French monuments of various types: http://eyzies.monuments-nationaux.fr/en/.
We didn't make it to the prehistory museum (http://www.musee-prehistoire-eyzies.fr/homes/home_id24921_u1l2.htm) that trip, unfortunately. Maybe next time we are in the Dordogne.
But we did go to something that's somewhat off the grid, the Maison Forte de Reignac, built right into a cave (http://www.maison-forte-reignac.com/main.php?l=en). There is a self-guided tour in English and it is well worth the time if you have it.
You might find this Smithsonian tour itinerary instructive: http://www.smithsonianjourneys.org/tours/dordogne-france?display=itinerary.
Posted by
Auburn, Washington, USA
515 posts
I hate to tell you but Bordeaux is roughly 220 KM from the Lascaux caves. If you want to stay in a town near the caves, I recommend Motignac. You can hire Taxi driver from there to take you to the caves and back.