les combarelles

Only small groups allowed so that each person can clearly make out the animals engraved 15000 years ago. Fascinating and not to be missed.

Only a small group of people participate in this tour for the reason that illumination of the drawings/engravings is by lantern and they are difficult to see, except close up. This cave is a much more intimate experience than at the Font de Gaume cave and my tour was led by an enthusiastic man in French. The drawings/engravings are all monochrome. All the paintings have disappeared over time. The Cro Magnon artists must have crawled into the cave.

An exciting visit, with a guide who just loves what she does, and it shows!... A small, dark, and compact grotte, one gets the feeling of the intimacy of a private site of Cro Magnon expressions of beauty...so dark and deep, that the carvings are even more surprising when you see them from the dimly light lanterns.Certainly not as imposing as Font de Gaume, it is, nonetheless, a great companion visit.

Wonderful tour guide (didn't get his name) loves this cave and shares his love with those on his tour 100%. We lucked out that all the people on what was suppose to be a French language tour spoke English so the guide gave an English tour. Combining this tour with the Grotte de font-de-gaume and Abri de Cap Blanc (start with Grotte de font-de-gaume and let the ticket seller organize your tours of the other 2 for the day) gives a full representation of the cave/shelter experiences available in the area. It is still hard to visualize the people responsible for this art.

There was so much to see and as part of a small group much easier to ask questions, this was made even more interesting by the very good guide, he was passionate about his subject and his love of the caves came across very clearly and influenced us all.

beautifull cave, wonderfull drawings, very good tourguide, something you have to do when in the Dordogne

Went here after Abri du Cap Blanc. Enjoyed both of them. Nice to see the drawings on the wall in the office to prepare you for the real thing, which is not always obvious to the viewer. Recommended!

A different form of prehistoric art - animal engravings - are found in this original cave. Good tour guide. Wear a jacket or sweater - the cave is cool and damp.

I knew I wanted to see Lascaux and Albi de Cap Blanc but unsure which other sites. The very helpful woman at the PIP suggested we got a combination ticket for this site, Font de Gaume and AdeCB. Recommended, you can buy it from Font de Gaume for 18 euros which I think is great value.Our tour was in English because the only other people on it were American, but usually it's in French. The guide was wonderful, providing lots of interesting information and pointing out the outlines of the engravings - originally painted but that's gone apart from a few small bits. I agree with other reviewers that there was something magical about suddenly realising I was looking at a beautifully carved buffalo, horse or reindeer. The engravings are all the more remarkable because the artists had to crawl through a narrow passage to create them.If you're wondering which sites to look at, I recommend this is one of the ones on your list.

Booked a 10am tour in advance to visit Les Comarelles, a cave which was inhabited by Cro-Magnon people approximately 13–11,000 years ago and contains more than 600 pre-historic engravings of animals and symbols. As we were the only guests, we had a 'private' tour with a gregarious male archeologist, mostly in French, which 'seemed' to be very detailed and scientific from what we could understand. We only saw a few of the 600 pieces of 'art' which were remarkable. You really need a guide for these visits - at first they just look like fissures and scratches on the walls but then when the forms are pointed out it's a little bit magical. And this was a real cave - really long and deep - quite exciting. Allow an hour.

Again, a must see for people who are interested in prehistory. It is a wonderful place, one of the few still open, it takes your breath away to see what our ancestors left on cave walls, thousands of years ago.

In October I spent 8 days on a National Geographic Expedition visiting caves and archeological sites in Southern France and Northwestern Spain. This was my favorite of all the sites. The cave experience itself is different from the more typical large open caverns which the public usually sees, being only about 3 feet wide and not much more than 6 feet high. This puts you nose to nose with the 100's of engraved animals. The guide we had was excellent, using a red light to point out the lines which form the animals. The sheer number of engravings is astonishing. If you have any interest at all in prehistoric art, this is one you should see. (There are no photos to share because you cannot take photos inside the cave.)

Les Combarelles cave, some 300 meters long (but only one meter wide!) contains more than 600 engravings carved some 13,000 years ago by our immediate ancestors. No cave in France is its equal for Cro-Magnon engravings. You'll be pleasantly surprised how equally awe-inspiring these "lowly" engravings can be in contrast to the flashier polychrome paintings at Font-de-Gaume! Lifelike raindeer abound, as do horses, cave bears, cave lions, and woolly mammoths. Symbols, still unexplained, may also be seen. Guides who speak English are available. But be warned: only 40 visitors a day are permitted entry, so that means you'll have to be up bright and early to get an entrance ticket (at nearby Font-de-Gaume). And, beginning sometime in 2014, no advance tickets will be available.Do go before it's too late!

We booked this when at FdG and did not expect to much, however it turned out to be our favourite of the two as the bear and lioness are so clear, and the face carvings are quite spooky.

You get your tickets as you do for Font De Gaume (see my review). Only 44 people may visit this cave a day - in groups of 7. There are no "english speaking tours", but our guide spoke english and gave us some commentary in English. You get amazingly close to the etchings- some, such as the lion, are spectacular. Guide was very good. This is a cave in which yoou have to stoop a great deal. great experience - if you waitin line for tickets for font de gaume, you should do this one as well.