Loire to the South of France in 13 Days Tour - Cave Art

We were on the tour a few years ago and as I remember the free day is on the Sarlat market day. Even walking slowly and looking at every booth it's going to be hard to spend more than an hour or two and there isn't much else to do/see in Sarlat. Seeing Lascaux probably has a fair amount of overlap (I've never been) but it may be a once-in-a-lifetime chance unless you spend a lot of time traveling to France. On the forum I've since read that some guides will help arrange transportation for those who want to see Lascaux, but ours did not. If you don't go to Lascaux I suggest planning a train trip to another town after visiting the market.

Thanks Bll G. We've been to Paris a few times and in 2023 was on the RS Paris and the Heart of France. We are leaning to visit Lascaux and we may never get another chance. We appreciate your input!

Yes, visite Lascaux. It’s completely different from Ruffignac.

I agree with Bill. We were done with the market after an hour and just walked the perimeter of the town. Part of our group put together a picnic dinner but we had dinner reservations. I would have loved to have seen Lascaux instead of a down day.

To me you can't visit too many caves with art! I, too, found Lascaux different from Rouffignac so I would do that.

When are you going? A friend has stayed in Sarlat and visited some of the caves with a private driver. If you like I can get the name for you.

Thanks to everyone for their responses. The suggestions have been encouraging. We will make the visit to Lascaux :-)

Pam, I sent you a private message.

That's what we did in 2019. I asked our guide about it on the first day of the trip and then she asked the group if anyone else would be interested. She then arranged a ride and tickets for us for the afternoon of our free day in Sarlat. Cost was about €25 per person-I think there were five of us. Lascaux was spectacular and well worth the time.

I was on this tour in April and our guide was able to arrange a ride to/from for a number of us to go to the Lascaux cave on our free day - for me it was an absolute highlight of the trip. Completely amazing. It was actually helpful to have seen the Rouffignac Cave the day before because they are pretty different and incredible in their own ways. Definitely do not pass up the chance to go!!!

Thank you everyone for sharing. We are looking forward to visiting Lascaux.

I agree with the others - do it! Earlier this year, our guide arraigned transport to/from Lascaux (don't remember our cost) on our free day. While Rouffignac is the real thing (drawings, bear claw marks and "nests", photos not allowed), what many of us have in our mind are the drawings from Lascaux (colorful drawings, painstakingly reproduced for both Lascaux and the museum where photos are allowed). Two very different but complimentary experiences.

Thanks for sharing. We do plan on visiting Lascaux.

Everyone has been extremely helpful!

Update, returned early Monday morning from our Loire to the South of France tour. It was a fabulous adventure.

The decision to visit Lascaux cave in addition to the Rouffignac cave was decided for us. Two days before our trip, the RS office sent an email that the Rouffignac cave visit was being substituted with Lascaux. The Rouffignac cave is undergoing renovation and will reopen in 2026 (no exact date listed).

Thanks to all who made suggestions and replies.

Thanks for the update. I’m soon to leave for the same tour and got the same message a week or so ago. I was a little disappointed but from what I’ve read it will still be incredible. Seeing the cave is one of the big reasons I wanted to go on this tour. Any other highlights or tips from the tour that you care to share?

Lyndash, just follow the usual RS packing light tips and walking to get prepared. If you have access to stairs, hills or a gym with a Stairmaster, definitely get in shape.

The weather turned unseasonably cooler (~15-20 degrees). It was cold and rainy the first week. Be prepared with waterproof raincoat, hat, gloves, scarf, and waterproof shoes. I watched the weather forecast and made my final packing decisions the day of my flight. This was the first trip that I took an old umbrella, and actually used it. My husband and I ate most of our free-time meals inside the various restaurants due to the weather. I was glad to wear my Oboz Sawtooth low hiking shoes. The castles and fortresses were extremely rocky and uneven and sometimes worn smooth. My knees are still achy. They were fine stepping up, but going down the uneven surfaces did a job on my knees :-)

We took a taxi from CDG to Montparnarsse station to take the train to Chartres. We were in rush hour traffic and the commute to Gare Montparnasse train station took about an hour. We've trekked suitcases before on the Paris subway system and we decided not to this time.

Our guide was Arnaud Servignat -- Loved him! Most days started at 8:30am.

The day we visited Les Baux, the Mistral wind was gusting ~20mph. The weather turned pleasant as we got to Nice. We stayed an extra two nights. One day, we went to Monaco. The bus from Nice to Monaco is now #600 (formally #607). Sit on the right side for water views. I saw more Bugattis, Ferraris, Lamborghinis, etc. in one day than in my entire life!

Lyndash, if you have particular questions, feel free to direct message me. This was our 10th RS tour and the first one where everyone had been on at least one RS tour before. It's a great tour!