France's most famous caves are almost all located in and around the historic region of Le Périgord (department Dordogne), particularly along the river Vézère. What makes them so special is that the caves do not so much show stalactite formations, but the images that prehistoric people left on the walls. As early as 25,000 BC, a people who probably hunted and wandered painted and carved animals such as mammoths, woolly rhinoceroses and horses on and out of the cave walls. They did not live in the caves themselves. These caves may have served as cult centres.

This Périgord Caves ride starts in the market town of Sarlat-la-Canéda, Sarlat for short, and ends in the Italian-style town of Brantôme-en-Périgord.
In terms of landscape, you start in the Périgord Noir, where the villages with their ochre colour look pleasant. You follow the course of the river Beune, which flows further into the Vézère and then into the mighty Dordogne. As many caves and prehistoric sites you encounter along the Vézère, you encounter as many castles on your journey along the Dordogne. Towards Brantôme you enter a wooded, rolling landscape that is reminiscent of that of the northern Limousin.
The French praise the climate here and over the last decade even the most dilapidated hovels have been sold for high prices to begin a restored life as second homes.

Sarlat is the market town of the Périgord Noir, where the 'black diamond' or black truffle is found. When the sun shines, the medieval town transforms into a fairytale of yellow-ochre stone. The most beautiful buildings are on the Rue des Consuls, such as the Hótel Selve de Plamon at number 10. Don't miss the covered market in the church of Saint-Marie and then take the glass elevator to the top of the bell tower for a 360° view of the medieval town of Sarlat. Two enormous metal doors open on market days. The cemetery of Saint-Benoît is also special; tombstones and a lantern of the dead can be found behind the former cathedral of Saint-Sacerdos.

After filling up at the local supermarket, you return via the roundabout and take the road to Les Eyzies-de-Tayac. On the way you will pass the necessary castles, such as the château de Roche and château de Beyssac, but also a number of caves, such as the Font-de-Gaume cave with its bison, or Combarelles with the finely engraved reliefs. .

You leave Les Eyzies for now and take the road to Campagne for a visit to the castle in a beautiful park. Then you cross the Vézère river to Le Bugue.
Anyone who goes back as far as 25,000 years in time must remember that not all traces of vanished cultures are equally clear. At Le Bugue lies the cave of Bara Bahau and here the oldest traces of this art can be seen. The contours of bears and ibexes, horses and aurochs are engraved in the stone. The scratching of the drawings was made easier because the rock face here was soft. Like the cave of Lascaux, this large tunnel also owes its existence to a now vanished subterranean river.

On the other bank of the Vézère you go via Saint-Cirq back towards Les Eyzies-de-Tayac. The title 'capital of prehistory' is not without reason for Les Eyzies. The village forms a ribbon of buildings along the river Vézère and is an ideal starting point for the caves in the area. Here the attractions follow each other in quick succession: the shelters where cavemen sought refuge, stalactite caves and a modest museum for speleology (cave exploration). However, Les Eyzies owes its fame to the caves with prehistoric images. It is therefore no wonder that the national museum of prehistory is located here. This museum 'hung' against the rock face is a kaleidoscope of cave art. There is certainly an opportunity to drink coffee in the village.

Village de la Madeleine is a troglodyte village, located halfway up the cliff, built and inhabited by man from the Middle Ages to the late nineteenth century. A prehistoric site was discovered at water level in 1863 (closed to the public, a UNESCO World Heritage Site), which gave its name to a period of prehistory: the Magdalenian. From the moment you enter, the journey of 17,000 years ago begins. You will discover remarkable rock dwellings, a Gothic chapel from the 14th century and the remains of a castle from the 13th century.

The fortified house of Reignac has been exceptionally preserved since the 14th century and is entirely of that period. It is well known in the region and is the only completely intact troglodyte (i.e. built into the rocks) castle on a cliff top in France.
The facade is much larger than one might suspect from the outside and conceals impressive underground and above-ground spaces: the great hall, the armoury, the dining room, the great men's room, the kitchen, the bedrooms, the chapel, the dungeon, the cul de basse-fosse (dungeon) and the cellar.

Le Moustier has been an archaeological site since 1863, consisting of two shelters (overhanging rock walls) in Peyzac-le-Moustier. Under the two shelters, in addition to stone tools, prehistoric human remains were excavated.

Saint-Léon-Sur-Vézère is one of the “Les Plus Beaux Villages de France”. The village is located right on the Vézère river. The charm of Saint-Léon-Sur-Vézère lies mainly in the beautiful medieval houses with light stone and roofs with coyaux (a gentle slope at the bottom of the roof) and the labyrinth of narrow streets.

Overlooking the Vézère River, Château de Losse is a beautiful 16th-century residence built on the site of a medieval fortress.
The castle offers a guided tour of the main residence, furnished in period style, the completely reconstructed Renaissance gardens, as well as the defensive towers, moats, underground passages and the park.

Montignac is located on the right bank of the Vézère. The town became the centre of attention after the discovery of the Lascaux cave in 1940. For almost a quarter of a century, the subterranean wonder of the world was visited by many, because everyone wanted to see the famous cave paintings with their own eyes. The artificial light, the bacteria and organic material brought by visitors caused an explosion of algae on the rare paintings. After a clean-up in 1963, the cave was closed to the general public. A magnificent copy, Lascaux Il, was then built. The same painting technique, exact copies of the many animals on the walls of precisely reproduced rooms make Lascaux Il a true replica of the original cave. The two most famous rooms of that cave are the Rotonde, which is painted with aurochs, horses and deer and the Axial Diverticule, which includes a panel with horses.

Lascaux 4 is home to a replica of the famous Lascaux Caves named after the hill under which it is located. It was created to allow the public to explore the cave paintings and engravings in the original cave, which has been closed to the public since 1963 due to the negative impact of visiting on the preservation of the cave art. The replica also provides access to parts of the original cave that are not open to the public.

As the Loire is known for its pleasure palaces, the Périgord is a contrasting region of sturdy, fortified castles. In the town of Hautefort, the pleasure palace of the same name stands out.
In the inner courtyard you will probably immediately be struck by a sense of space. This is because one side of the plan has remained undeveloped. In the castle chapel there is a pavement that was also used a lot in the Italian Pisa.

On the edge of the Périgord and in the Loue valley we find the pleasant town of Excideuil. Large enough to provide a means of subsistence for the middle class, careful in preserving its heritage and its ancient way of life.
The impressive Château, once the stronghold of the famous Talleyrand family, is still inhabited. Incidentally, the courtyard is freely accessible; viewing is only possible from the outside.
The beautiful houses in the town date from the 15th to the 17th century. At that time, Excideuil was the centre of the forging industry, thanks to the many nearby blast furnaces, which supplied their metal here.

The Villars cave is the only cave in the Périgord that contains both original prehistoric paintings and concretions. The underground river has carved out enormous chambers connected by galleries. All the vaults, walls and floors are covered with calcite, stalactites, stalagmites, draperies, pillars and eccentrics.
Cave art is also well represented, with the prehistoric section decorated with paintings made over 19,000 years ago.

Brantôme, also called the Venice of the Périgord, is located in the Périgord Vert north of Périgueux.
Visit the troglodyte site of Brantôme Abbey: a route that bears witness to the traces of habitation by the first Benedictine monks from the 8th century. Dwellings, dovecotes, Saint-Sicaire fountain, sculpted cave known as the "cave of the Last Judgement", with two bas-reliefs, one of which is very enigmatic. The Abbey Church of Saint-Pierre de Brantôme is a rectangular church with three bays, two for the nave and one for the choir,