Frequently asked questions

No — and that's an important and rather wonderful thing to understand. The original Lascaux cave has been closed to the public since 1963 to protect its 17,000-year-old paintings, which were being damaged by visitors' breath and humidity, and it has never reopened. What you visit is Lascaux IV, the complete full-scale replica opened in 2016, which recreates the entire cave to the millimetre. It is the closest anyone alive can get to standing inside Lascaux — and because the original is sealed forever, the replica is genuinely how the world experiences this masterpiece today.

Yes — overwhelmingly so. Lascaux IV is not a model in a museum case; it is a full-scale recreation of the whole cave, built into the hillside, kept cool and dark, with the rock contours and every painted line reproduced by artists and 3D-imaging specialists from precise scans of the original. Most visitors say that within minutes they forget it isn't the real cave. And unlike the few who saw Lascaux before 1963, you experience the complete cave, plus workshop galleries, a 3D cinema and interactive exhibits that explain the art. It regularly ranks among the best-reviewed cultural sites in France.

Lascaux became hugely popular after its 1940 discovery, and by the early 1960s the breath, heat, carbon dioxide and humidity of large numbers of visitors had triggered algae and mineral deposits that began to damage the paintings. To save them, the original cave was closed to the public in 1963. It remains closed today, monitored in near-darkness by conservators, and is not open to tourists under any ticket.

On 12 September 1940, four teenagers — Marcel Ravidat, Jacques Marsal, Georges Agnel and Simon Coencas — discovered the cave near Montignac after exploring a hole left by a fallen tree, famously after Ravidat's dog had drawn attention to the spot. Inside they found walls covered with Ice-Age paintings that had been hidden for some 17,000 years. It is one of the most important archaeological discoveries of the 20th century.

The original paintings are roughly 17,000 years old, made by Magdalenian hunter-gatherers in the Upper Palaeolithic. They are among the finest surviving works of Ice-Age art anywhere in the world, which is why Lascaux is often called the 'Sistine Chapel of prehistory'. Lascaux IV recreates these paintings exactly.

The Hall of the Bulls is the most famous chamber of Lascaux — a rotunda whose walls are covered with great painted aurochs (wild cattle), horses and deer, including an aurochs over five metres long, the largest animal figure in the cave. It is usually the dramatic high point of the visit, and it is fully recreated at Lascaux IV so you can stand within it just as the discoverers did in 1940.

Lascaux contains roughly 600 painted and drawn figures — animals such as aurochs, horses, stags, bison and ibex, along with abstract signs — plus nearly 1,500 engravings, making close to 6,000 figures in total across its galleries. Almost no human figures appear, and there is one celebrated scene of a bird-headed man in the Shaft. All of it is reproduced at Lascaux IV.

Yes. Lascaux IV admits visitors in timed slots, and tickets are time-stamped for a specific day and entry time. We book and hold your chosen slot, so you arrive, skip the ticket-office queue, and go straight in with your group. Please arrive at least 20 minutes before your slot to check in.

Arrive at least 20 minutes before the time on your ticket. This gives you time to check in, collect any tablet companion, and join the correct group before your guided entry into the cave replica. Slots run to schedule, so arriving late can mean missing your entry.

Allow about 2.5 hours in total. The guided tour of the cave replica lasts roughly an hour, and afterwards you can spend as long as you like in the workshop galleries, the 3D cinema and the interactive exhibition spaces, which explain how and why the paintings were made.

Very. Children are fascinated by the animals and the story of four teenagers discovering the cave, and Lascaux IV provides a tablet companion that turns the visit into an interactive exploration. Children under 5 enter free, and we offer a reduced-rate child ticket for ages 5 to 12. It is one of the best family attractions in the Dordogne.

Children under 5 enter free — there's no need to book a ticket for them, simply bring them along. For children aged 5 to 12 we offer a reduced-rate child ticket. Everyone aged 13 and over is booked on the adult ticket.

Lascaux IV is on the edge of Montignac-Lascaux in the Dordogne, in south-west France's Vézère valley. It is about 30 minutes by car from Sarlat, 45 minutes from Périgueux and around two hours from Bordeaux. There is no convenient direct train, so most international visitors arrive by car; we can advise on routes when you book.

There are earlier partial replicas — Lascaux II, opened in 1983 near the cave, reproduces two of the most famous galleries. Lascaux IV, opened in 2016, is the complete full-scale recreation of the entire cave and the modern flagship visit, with the full International Centre for Cave Art around it. For most visitors wanting the definitive experience, Lascaux IV is the one to book.

Yes. Lascaux was inscribed by UNESCO in 1979 as part of the 'Prehistoric Sites and Decorated Caves of the Vézère Valley', a group of caves and rock shelters in the Dordogne that together form one of the most important records of prehistoric human life and art in the world.

The cave replica is visited with a guide on a timed tour, and tablet-based audio companions are available in several languages so international visitors can follow in their own language. The workshop galleries and exhibition that follow are self-guided at your own pace. We confirm the available language options when you book.

Yes — and far more so than the original cave ever was. Lascaux IV was purpose-built with step-free routes and adapted facilities throughout the centre and the cave replica. If you have specific mobility or sensory requirements, contact us before booking and we will confirm the current arrangements with the site.