France Guide
The Limousin, Dordogne and Lot
Grotte de Lascaux and Lascaux II
Telephone: 05.53.51.96.23
Address: 2km south of Montignac on the D704
Opening time: Feb, March, Nov & Dec Tues– Sun 10am–12.30pm & 2–5.30pm; April– June & Sept daily 9am–6.30pm; July & Aug daily 9am–8pm; Oct daily 10am–12.30pm & 2–6pm; closed Jan
Price: €8.30, combined ticket with Le Thot prehistoric theme park, €11.50
Website: www.semitour.com
The Grotte de Lascaux was discovered in 1940 by four boys who were looking for their dog and stumbled across a deep cavern decorated with marvellously preserved paintings of animals. Executed by Cro-Magnon people 17,000 years ago, the paintings are among the finest examples of prehistoric art in existence. There are five or six identifiable styles, and subjects include bison, mammoths and horses, plus the biggest known prehistoric drawing, of a 5.5-metre bull with astonishingly expressive head and face. In 1948, the cave was opened to the public, and over the course of the next fifteen years more than a million tourists came to Lascaux. Sadly, because of deterioration caused by the heat and breath of visitors, the cave had to be closed in 1963; now you have to be content with the replica known as Lascaux II. There are two thousand tickets on sale each day but these go fast in peak season; you can buy them in person a day or so in advance, while telephone bookings are accepted only in July and August ). Note also that in winter (Oct– Easter) tickets are normally on sale at the site, while in summer (Easter– Sept) they are only available from an office (daily: July & Aug 9am–7pm; Sept & Easter to June 9am–6pm) beside Montignac tourist office – the system and opening times are somewhat fickle, however, so it's safest to check in Montignac before heading up to the cave.
Opened in 1983, Lascaux II was the result of eleven years' painstaking work by twenty artists and sculptors, using the same methods and materials as the original cave painters. While the visit can't offer the excitement of a real cave, the reconstruction rarely disappoints the thousands who trek here every year. The guided tour lasts forty minutes (commentary in French or English).