Les Combarelles Cave

"A must see, but (if you only speak English), be sure to book the correct tour! We didn't realise that we could book an English speaking group and once we arrived it was too late to change our plans. Our guide was very helpful, given we were in a French speaking tour! This is a cave of engravings and it's pretty difficult to picture some of them without being able to understand the explanation of what you are seeing. They use laser pointers and lighting to make the images more clear. A must see, but important to be able to understand the explanations that are being given by the expert leading the tour. Generally very accessible, a few areas where it is necessary to watch the height of the cave"

R C

"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."

Shannon Mckay

"Gravures and nothing else.....But .....
But so so well explained by our passionate guide. And so authentic..... The feeling of authenticity was supreme. Why would our cromagnon ancestors go so so deep into the heart of the cliffs to make such etchings is a mystery still now.
Note: the place is narrow and tight and goes on for several hundred meters from the entrance so not recommended if you are claustrophobic."

michelle marrone