Vézère Valley

There are some 200 prehistoric sites in the Vézère Valley. The most important one is the Lascaux cave, a labyrinth of caves and passageways that was discovered in 1940. It is thought that the cave was used for magical rites and numerous 15,000-years old rock paintings have been found there. Unfortunately, the original rock paintings have been damaged by exhalations from people visiting the cave and nowadays you can only see replicas. The original paintings have been sealed of to protect them from further degradation. More rock paintings can be found in several other caves in the area.

A good place to stay when you want to visit the Vézère Valley is nearby Sarlat-La-Canéda.