Visiting Gouffre de Padirac in France - a fascinating cave

Writer: Helena Bergström

We highly recommend visiting the Gouffre de Padirac when travelling through France. Not only is this cave deep and dramatically beautiful, it also offers an exciting underground boat ride experience.

Padirac Abyss

Gouffre de Padirac is a spectacular cave that is well worth a visit. We made our way here by motorhome, during our motorhome tour of France, and bought a ticket to descend into the underworld...

Gouffre de Padirac is located near Gramat, in the Lot department, in the Occitan region.

The first adventurers climbed down in 1898 ...

Why is there a deep hole in the middle of the ground? Such a special place naturally gives rise to legends and stories. Did it perhaps have something to do with the devil? Or was it the trace of a divine gesture?

One of the legends tells of flames coming out of the chasm to defend a treasure hidden by the English at the end of the Hundred Years' War. According to another legend, the chasm was created by Lucifer, who was later himself defeated and disappeared into the depths of the chasm ...

One man who wanted not just to listen to legends, but to explore the cave for real, was Édouard-Alfred Martel (1859-1938). This man had the knowledge and enthusiasm, but lacked the resources. Fortunately, he accidentally left his maps and plans in a carriage in Paris, and these were found by George Beamish, heir to the Irish brewing family of the same name. Together they were able to realise the project!

On 1 November 1898, the two adventurers began their descent into Gouffre. Today, the cave is a major tourist attraction with over half a million visitors a year.

To visit Gouffre de Padirac

So, what about visiting Gouffre de Padirac today? This is a popular destination and you can book your tickets online (best if you want to secure your place) or at the ticket offices on site (it worked great when we were here in May). There are car parks, toilets and restaurants at the venue.

Right next to the visitor centre buildings is the big hole. It's fascinating! You look straight down into a large open abyss, and down there visitors walk in peace.

When you pay for your ticket, you get a "time slot" and headphones with a guide in the desired language (that is, English for us). Then the staircase (or lift) journey down into the deep hole begins.

Once you're at the bottom of the hole, the adventure is just beginning. From here, the journey continues down and into the mountain, via nice footpaths.

A unique part of the visit to Gouffre de Padirac is that it includes two underground boat trips, on rivers that flow 103 metres below the surface. No photography is allowed during the boat trips, perhaps because you have to sit still in the boat, and you glide almost silently through the beautiful waterways of the mountain, while the boat guide narrates and answers questions.

Between boat trips, you walk in the huge cave. Although you only see a bit of it, it feels like it never ends. You walk through time after time, and one large room after another opens up.

The rock formations are spectacular, and sometimes you feel like you're in the middle of a film about aliens, on some distant planet... An incredibly fascinating visit that we highly recommend!

More to see and do in the neighbourhood

When planning to visit Gouffre de Padirac, we can also recommend making a trip to Rocamadour, which is a stunning medieval town with a dramatic cliff-top location. We can also recommend a trip to Chateau de Beynac, which is also an incredibly picturesque place. There are even more castles and caves in the area.

Have you visited Gouffre de Padirac?

Would you like to visit Gouffre de Padirac, or have you already been here? Do you like exploring caves?