Visit Les Eyzies during your stay in the Dordogne

Located in the Dordogne region of France, a region full of fascinating prehistoric sites, the charming village of Les Eyzies is one of the best places to get a glimpse of prehistory. In addition to its impressive prehistoric heritage, there are other assets that are waiting to be discovered!

Explore Les Eyzies

Discover a world of over 300,000 years of human history by going back in time to visit Les Eyzies, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Learn about the world’s first artists and their prehistoric caves in the vast Perigord region, see prehistoric rock art from that period, and enjoy nature trails leading from the caves to a riverbank.

What to see and do in Les Eyzies ?

The castle of Commarque

Built in the 12th and 14th centuries, the castle of Commarque dominates the valley. On site, you can discover its gardens, where you can admire the topiaries, the labyrinth, the lakes, the statues and the fountains. The castle offers audio guides with the voice of Guillaume Galienne, but also various activities (workshops, escape game, etc.)

Go back in time to prehistory at Les Eyzies in Dordogne

Imagine going back in time to 60,000 years before Christ to live among the very first humans. To see how they lived and survived during a period that lasted thousands of years. From where they migrated, their greatest allies and enemies. Where they lived and how. This is what you can do in Les Eyzies-de-Tayac. Les Eyzies in Dordogne, an exceptional site for the prehistoric period, has been classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This village is the ideal starting point to discover the prehistoric sites where the Neanderthals lived until 40 000 years ago! The first traces of humanity were found in this locality about 30,000 years ago. The first discoveries were made by coincidence here, “after” the Second World War, during quarrying activities. Most of the discoveries are now preserved in the National Museum of Prehistory in Les Eyzies-de-Tayac, opened in 1963.

National Museum of Prehistory

On the banks of the Vézère stands the National Museum of Prehistory in Les Eyzies, a large building erected in 1853 and one of the oldest in the Dordogne. Just a few steps from downtown, you will find archaeology in all its splendor, preserved for all. It’s easy to get lost in this museum, especially with its claustrophobic narrow corridors that lead to larger rooms, high ceilings, and the feeling that time has stood still since prehistoric times.

Cave of Font-de-Gaume

It is the ideal place if you want to take a trip back in time. The cave is located on top of a rocky cliff, on the side of a steep hill near Les Eyzies. The “Grotte de la Font-de-Gaume” owes its name to a fascinating rock formation that can be seen from outside the cave entrance. Only 30 minutes away from the popular prehistoric caves of Lascaux, you will find Font-de-Gaume. This cave offers another opportunity to glimpse prehistory.

Grotto of the Grand Roc

The cave or the Grand Roc is an archaeological site located in the commune of Les Eyzies-de-Tayac-Sireuil (Dordogne, France), in a limestone cliff about 50 meters above the banks of the Vézère. The rock art of the Grand Roc cave is considered the best preserved prehistoric art in France.

Cave of Combarelles

The Grotte de Combarelles is a series of limestone caves located near the village of Combarelles, in the Dordogne region of southwest France. The caves were occupied in prehistoric times by Homo sapiens. The site was occupied for about 15,000 years, until about 5,000 years ago. The cave has hosted Neanderthals, modern humans and Cro-Magnons at different times

To these prehistoric sites are added the Cro-Magnon shelter and the Laugerie Basse shelter. Rock paintings, UNESCO world heritage site, virgin forest, breathtaking landscapes, prehistoric art… Les Eyzies is, without a doubt, the place to visit if you want to discover one of the most incredible periods of human history.