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Travel guide
The Vézère Valley
4 days · 8 things to do
Best time to go: April to June, and September to October
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Welcome
The Vézère Valley, in a few days
Over some forty kilometres between Montignac and Les Eyzies, the Vézère valley gathers fifteen UNESCO-listed prehistoric sites. You can see the bulls of Lascaux reproduced at Lascaux IV, the painted bison of Font-de-Gaume, one of the last decorated caves still open, and cliffs lived in until the 16th century.
- Day by day
- D1 Day 1 2 things
- D2 Day 2 2 things
- D3 Day 3 2 things
- D4 Day 4 2 things
- Worth sorting before you go
- Words that help
- The practical page
- Packing checklist
The trip
Day by day
Map of the sights (numbers follow the suggested order). It prints with the base map.
D1
Day 1
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Lascaux IV · 2 to 3 hThe cave found in 1940 above Montignac and closed since 1963, reproduced in full at the International Centre for Cave Art, opened in 2016.
- Afternoon · Montignac free · about 1 hA small town on both banks of the Vézère below Lascaux hill, with timber-balconied houses leaning over the water and lanes up to the castle.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hôtel Le Cro-Magnon€110 a night
D2
Day 2
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Saint-Léon-sur-Vézère free · about 45 minA listed village in a loop of the river on the 45th parallel, whose 12th-century Romanesque church hosts summer concerts of the Périgord Noir festival.
- Afternoon · La Roque Saint-Christophe · about 1 h 30A limestone cliff a kilometre long and 80 metres high, with around a hundred shelters lived in for 55,000 years, later a medieval fort.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hostellerie du Passeur€120 a night
D3
Day 3
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Abri du Cap-Blanc · about 45 minA rock shelter where Magdalenian hunters carved a frieze of near life-size horses and bison in high relief, seen in soft daylight.
- Afternoon · Font-de-Gaume Cave · about 1 hOne of the last caves in France where you can see original polychrome paintings: over 200 figures, mostly bison, along a narrow 125-metre passage.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hôtel Le Cro-Magnon€110 a night
D4
Day 4
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · National Museum of Prehistory · about 1 h 30Set into the cliff at Les Eyzies, one of France's richest prehistoric collections of tools, ornaments and portable art, with views over the Vézère.
- Afternoon · Gouffre de Proumeyssac · about 1 hKnown as the crystal cathedral, a single great chamber some forty metres underground near Le Bugue, hung with stalactites, draperies and flowstone.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hostellerie du Passeur€120 a night
Before you go
Worth sorting before you go
📶 eSIM data
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
🛡️ Travel insurance
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
💳 Fee-free card
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
🚐 Airport transfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
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Good to know
Flavours & local habits
🍽️ Worth tasting
- Baguette: the daily bread, bought fresh from the boulangerie. Ask for a "tradition", made with nothing but flour, water, salt and yeast.
- Croissant and pain au chocolat: breakfast pastries, best in the morning while still warm.
- The cheese course: served after the main dish and before dessert, from Comté to Camembert.
- Steak frites: the bistro standard. Order it "saignant" for rare or "à point" for medium.
- Galettes and crêpes: savoury buckwheat pancakes from Brittany filled with ham, egg and cheese, then sweet ones for pudding.
- House wine: ordered by the carafe or the "pichet" at lunch, and often better value than a bottle.
⚠️ Best avoided
- Say "bonjour" when you walk into a shop, a bakery or a café, and "au revoir" as you leave. Skipping it comes across as rude.
- Lunch runs from about noon to 2pm and dinner starts around 7.30pm. In between, most restaurant kitchens are closed.
- Most shops close on Sunday, and many small towns shut on Monday too. Bakeries and markets open on Sunday morning.
- Do not pay for bottled water at the table: ask for "une carafe d'eau", tap water that is served free with a meal.
- Around the big Paris sights, walk past anyone with a petition or a friendship bracelet. They are there to distract you while someone else takes your wallet.
Getting by
Words that help
English ↔ French
| English | French |
|---|---|
| Hello | Bonjour |
| Thank you | Merci |
| Please | S'il vous plaît |
| Yes | Oui |
| No | Non |
| Excuse me | Excusez-moi |
| Goodbye | Au revoir |
| Do you speak English? | Parlez-vous anglais ? |
| I don't understand | Je ne comprends pas |
| How much is it? | Combien ça coûte ? |
| Where are the toilets? | Où sont les toilettes ? |
| The bill, please | L'addition, s'il vous plaît |
| Help! | Au secours ! |
| Cheers! | Santé ! |
The essentials
The practical page
CurrencyEuro (EUR, €)
BudgetAbout €103 a day, mid-range
Best seasonApril to June, and September to October
PlugC/E · 230V
Tap waterSafe to drink
TippingService is included by law, round up
Emergency112
EntrySchengen area: an ID card or passport for EU citizens, 90 days visa-free for UK, US, Canadian and Australian passports.
HealthNo specific vaccination needed. Check that tetanus, diphtheria, polio and MMR are up to date.
Scan to open this guide online, always up to date.
https://offwegooo.com/en/guides/vezere-valley
Don't forget
Packing checklist
Have a good trip.
Guide made on offwegooo.com · Photos via Pexels · Details are indicative, check before you leave.