Grotte de Combarelles Caves and chasms, Prehistoric Sites in Les Eyzies de Tayac

Traveller Reviews Google Grotte de Combarelles

4.7 sur 5 212 reviews

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  5 sur 5 Reviews posted by Shannon Mckay on 27/03/2024

  I don’t speak French, so the website is very difficult to understand and the reviews for this cave and Grotto de Dont-de-Gaume have a lot of negativity. I took the time to copy and paste and type the French website text into Google translate because I really wanted to see these caves. I booked the tour, I then translated the tour tickets. Grotto de Dont-de-Gaume does offer an English tour once a day but Grotte Les Combarelles does not offer an English tour. Children under 7 are not allowed. Very few tickets are sold each day to preserve the paintings and because you need a small group to see and appreciate the cave paintings. Both of our tours were limited to 8 or fewer guests and any more would have made viewing the paintings impossible. I knew to take screenshots of our tickets in case the WiFi didn’t work. We also had printed backups, because I wasn’t going to make a mistake that would prevent me from seeing these sites! I also understood that arriving “30-minutes before the tour” was a polite suggestion…. But it is required! If you are not early, you may be denied entrance especially at Dont-de-Gaume because there is a brief hike to access the cave entrance. We met 6 different cave employees and every one was very kind, patient, helpful… even though we speak basically no French. We arrived an hour early to each of the two tours to minimize risk of missing our ticket times. Parking was easy, restrooms were available. Dont-de-Gaume has an affordable Souvenir shop and Grotte Les Combarelles has some lovely binders you can flip through for information and sketches (although French only). You cannot take photos of the cave paintings, but I literally took photos of photos in the Grotte Les Combarelles binders and they look like I took photos in the cave!! Haha. At Grotte Les Combarelles the incredibly generous and talented and informative tour guide translated everything into English for my mother and I!!! We did not expect this and very much appreciated the effort. The tour was absolutely lovely at both locations, I appreciate that we saw Grotte Les Combarelles second (because this cave allows you to appreciate the carvings) and Grotto de Dont-de-Gaume focuses on the pigments. I don’t think it’s possible to see both in one day and it would actually be a bad idea because I think it’s good to have time for what you have seen and learned to settle in your mind and memory. These two caves and the lovely tours are a memory I will cherish for the rest of my life.

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  5 sur 5 Reviews posted by Del Brindle on 05/08/2023

  What an experience! Amazing tour guide that accommodated both French and English. Book in advance as limited entry. No pics from inside the caves as understandably not allowed. These drawings are etchings in the cave wall surface as most of the paint has not lasted. But still an amazing experience.

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  5 sur 5 Reviews posted by Sandy on 05/06/2023

  We pre-booked for a tour of this site, a month in advance online. Only spaces on a French speaking tour were left, and despite not being able to speak the language we booked all the same. It was excellent. Our guide was very knowledgeable and really accommodating, conducting the tour in English once she realised it was the best language for the 6 of us booked in. It would be better to book the tour in your preferred language in the first instance if available. The cave is 230m long, and full of remarkable cave engravings. Our guide took the time to explain and show them to us, answering all our questions. She was brilliant, highly recommended.