Caves & Castles
Small Group
Guided Archaeology Tours
& Self Catering Holidays
Dordogne, France
The Cave Art & Castles
Guided Archaeology Tour
Lascaux II : Font de Gaume : Sarlat : Les Eyzies
Your guided archaeology tour starts with a visit to Lascaux II - known as the ‘Sistine Chapel of Prehistory’. It has to be seen to appreciate its scale and the range of artistic techniques used by our ancestors. You can’t help but be impressed. We explore various world famous Ice Age sites over the next few days - Font de Gaume, Cougnac and Les Combarelles. The archaeology here in the Dordogne, France is stunning and your Tour takes in some of the best!
This is a 4 night/5 day Tour - the price is for full board*. The price includes ticket costs, guiding/interpretation and local transport. Once at Les Rosiers, there is nothing more to pay!
To quote one visitor:
“All I had to do was take photographs and drink wine!”
This is the usual Itinerary:
* Except lunch in Sarlat
Price: This depends on whether you are booking as a single traveller, two sharing a double room or groups of 4 or 6.
To find out more go to How to Book
Our Tours Include:
- Steve Burman as your guide/interpreter
- Full board accommodation*
- At least 2 visits on full touring days
- Al fresco/plat simple lunches
- Evening meals at Les Rosiers or local restaurant
- Transport to/from sites/restaurants
- Entrance tickets
- FREE transfer from/to Brive-la-Gaillarde Rail Station**
** One pick-up per Tour, usually approx. 14.00 to fit in with the above Itinerary
|
Day 1 Mon |
Arrive into Brive-la-Gaillard rail station around 14.00 (other routings possible). Before going to Les Rosiers to settle in, your Tour starts with a visit to Grotte de Rouffignac - 'the Hundred Mammoths’ Cave which is accessed by electric train. |
|
Day 2 Tues |
Today we visit Lascaux II, the stunning facsimile of the world famous painted caves known as the ‘Sistine Chapel of Prehistory’. Then to Cap Blanc - the finest set of Ice Age sculptures open to the public in their original location. In the afternoon, we’ll go to Abri Cro-Magnon which gave its name to our species. |
|
Day 3 Wed |
Morning to explore Sarlat medieval town and its bustling market followed by a visit to Cougnac, stunning geology & wonderful archaeology - red and black outline paintings of ibex and the extinct megaceros. You get really close to your ancestors here. |
|
Day 4 Thurs |
We go to Les Eyzies - the World Capital of Prehistory - to visit the National Museum of Prehistory, Steve will show you the highlights of its vast collections and make sense of it for you. Our other visits today are to Font de Gaume - the only polychrome cave of its type in the world that is open to the public and Les Combarelles - famous for its 600+ engravings, especially the ‘Drinking Deer’ |
|
Day 5 Fri |
Our final visit is to Le Thot where you can see additional scenes from Lascaux and also the techniques used - the same in both the facsimile and the original! Sadly this is the day of your departure, so we’ll head to Brive for a quick lunch and then a train around 14.00 - we hope you’ll come back, there’s still plenty more to see and do! |
Steve will be there to meet you and start your Tour - usually around 14.00 at Brive station, but other routings are possible.
Cougnac
Staying in the area? Ask about our
& the famous ‘falling man’.
colourful galloping buffalos
You’ll see stunning images at Lascaux II including
The Chinese horses,
