Parc de la Préhistoire de Tarascon-sur-Ariège, D.Viet
Peintures Grotte de Niaux, P.Thébault
Grotte du Mas d'Azil, D.Viet
Tarascon-sur-Ariège, D.Viet
Lying in a natural haven near Tarascon-sur-Ariège, the 13ha Prehistory Park unfurls indoors and outdoors. The site itself is staggering. Plan a day here as there's so much to see and do (you can eat at the on-site restaurant). Reconstructions, workshops run by "prehistoric men", games, introductions, interactive activities: you can see, touch, smell and even hear the sounds of our caveman ancestors' world. The scientific standard of the museum is remarkable.
Atelier de peinture, Parc de la Préhistoire de Tarascon-sur-Ariège, D.Viet
With children
Meet a life-size mammoth, see how to make fire with flint, play hide and seek behind the rocks and waterfalls: your kids are going to love the Prehistory Park.
The Prehistory Park, at the foot of the Pyrenees and 4km from Tarascon-sur-Ariège, brings you a fun-filled and realistic escape from your everyday life to meet our Magdalenian ancestors: the men and women who lived in the Niaux Cave.
Video 2 :33 © Sites Touristiques Ariège.
Its cave art is a materpiece in its field. Niaux Cave welcomes visitors (booking required and strict terms and conditions) for small group tours of its famous Black Room. You'll see a parade of amazing bison, horses, ibex and deer adorning the walls of a huge roundhouse burrowed 700m from the cave entrance. You won't forget the sight of these picture-perfect paintings. Bring shoes and a jumper (12°C in the cave) for the tour (not recommended for under 5s).
Grotte de Niaux, D.Viet
You'll be blown away by Bedeilhac Cave and its entrance's XXL dimensions: 40m wide, up to 80m high and 1km deep... It was used as a warehouse during World War II. The cave's first residents, hunters, have left their mark: cave paintings of prehistoric wildlife, children's hands painted on the walls and a very rare animal bas-relief sculpted from clay. Its impressive concretions are also worth the trip.
Grotte de Bédeilhac, Grotte de Bédeilhac
Did you know ?
Whilst filming Le Passe-Montagne directed by Christian Bernadac in 1974, Georges Bonnet, a test pilot in Tarbes, took off from inside Bédeilhac Cave.
La Vache Cave is burrowed into the same mountain range as the Niaux Cave and plunges you into a real seasonal habitat for Paleolithic hunters: the same ones who painted the Niaux's Black Room. Digs have excavated over a million items. They have provided a wealth of information about what life was like at the time. You'll see the remains of households, hunting weapons, reproductions of sculpted or engraved items. Everything is so real and so familiar. One of our ancestors could pop up any minute !
Grotte de la Vache, Grotte de la Vache
Grotte du Mas d'Azil (D119), D.Viet
Incredible: the road (the D119) goes through a cave for over 400m with the river (Arize) that created it running below! You're already in the Mas d’Azil Cave. But obviously you'll need to walk to experience its soul and history. Over the centuries it has been used as a shelter for persecuted people. Its first residents left highly sophisticated wooden reindeer sculptures, jewellery, painted pebbles... Artworks from the Paleolithic period that you can see at the Mas d'Azil Prehistory Museum.
Worth the detour
Bungee jumping from the vault of a cave? You can only do it at Mas d'Azil. A 70m high drop head-first over the river! Wow!
Regional Committee for Tourism and Leisure Occitanie
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