Grottes de font de Gaume

You will want a car if you are visiting The Dordogne. I had a great time driving the area and a GPS made it stress free. There are English Tours of Font de Gaume and you will want to plan and make a reservation for one. Be aware that because of the amount of visitors the cave has had over the years that the drawings are very faded. Some people are disappointed but it is still an awe inspiring thing to see. I have heard very good things about Peche Merle and wish I knew about it before my visit. For a family of four on a budget....I would look to save money on accommodations by staying in a smaller out of the way place and spend the money on a car rental. There is so much to do and see in the area but it is spread out.

You can get reservations ahead of time. We did this in Sept 2009. I am pretty sure we had to pay in advance, but I could be wrong. They only take about 15 people and the English tour left about 11 am. We had to reconfirm our reservations a week in advance. Fortunately, the RS hotel faxed for us. As people came to the ticket window, they were told they were booked up for weeks. Most of the people on the tour were French. I found the Pre History museum much more interesting. They actually have video screens that showed how those people made artifacts. etc. We also went on a day when it was free.

We are also heading to the Dordogne in June so I have been reading up on the area a lot. Unfortunately, Font de Gaume is no longer taking reservations. You just have to show up in the morning and hope for the best. However, you still can make reservations for Pech-Merle. We are going to visit the latter, because I don't want to spend hours waiting around to hopefully get into Font de Gaume. I really think you are going to need a car to visit the Dordogne. It is my understanding that there is not much public transportation.

We were in the area in 2009 without a car and used the services of Phillippe. He not only arranged for tickets to the caves, but also tailored the day to our needs. We got to see some things we hadn't even considered and they were well worthwhile. The more people, the cheaper it is per person up to 4. He charges by the car, not by individual. It's a bit pricey, but he might be able to help you with this must-see area without you having to rent a car. BTW, the place we didn't know about had just opened. It is the Maison Forte de Reignac. You can click on the English version. I'm sure you and your kids would love it. It is built right into a cave on a cliff face. Be sure to click on Visit and then on some of the flashing lights to see what's inside. Pay particular attention to ceilings and back walls. Phillippe didn't go in with us, but as we drove along, he explained how the holes in the cliffs once held supports for platforms that people built houses on both to escape the floods and the Viking marauders. My husband has Icelandic heritage, so we had lots of fun with that. We stayed at Les Cordeliers in Sarlat. It's owned and run by some Brits. Much to our surprise, they offered to do our laundry when we said we needed to find a place to do that. They didn't charge extra, either. From checking the website, it looks like you could get a room with two beds for the kids and one for you for about 135 Euros per night. The rooms are enormous and there may be others than the six shown. France has a rule that B&B's can only show a limited number of rooms, even if they have more. Email them for options. If you go out after dark, be sure to walk through the area still lit by gas lamps. Very cool!