Visiting the Chauvet cave in France - with 36,000-year-old paintings

Writer: Helena Bergström

Visiting the Chauvet Cave in France, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is incredibly fascinating. In fact, it is Chauvet Cave 2 you visit - a replica of the real cave. After all, you can't expose the 36,000-year-old artefacts to hordes of visitors. The solution is impressive and offers a dizzying journey through time.

Chauvet cave in France

Discovered as recently as the 1990s, Chauvet Cave quickly became recognised as one of the world's most interesting sites for prehistoric art and stories of our ancestors' lives.

Chauvet Cave is located in Vallon-Pont-d'Arc, in Ardèche, in south-eastern France.

The Chauvet cave was found in 1994 ...

On 18 December 1994, three amateur speleologists, or cavers, made a revolutionary discovery. They found a collapsed cave opening, which collapsed about 21 500 years ago, thus protecting the large cavity inside, along with its treasures ...

The cave, located in Vallon Pont d'Arc in Ardèche, later became known as the Decorated Pont d'Arc Cave, or Chauvet Cave. It is home to one of the oldest known masterpieces of humanity, in the form of a large collection of artworks that are over 36 000 years old. In other words, they are 18 000 years older than the famous cave paintings found in the Lascaux cave in the Dordogne.

The Chauvet Cave is a unique and exceptional site in many ways. Not only are the artworks extremely old, they are also well preserved and very skilfully executed. The cave's paintings tell the story of a prehistoric time when people lived in the region as hunter-gatherers.

The people who lived at this time were actually very similar to us, but lived in very different conditions, in a world filled with mammoths, cave lions and cave bears, which measured three metres in height when they stood up.

These people mastered fire, they had a developed language, they could sew clothes, they played music, they had an imaginary world filled with stories and they created art. There's a lot we don't know about these people, but the art they left behind gives us a glimpse...

Visiting Chauvet Cave - a major visitor centre

As mentioned, the real Chauvet Cave cannot be visited at all, and instead you visit Chauvet Cave 2, which is an artificially constructed replica. You can come here at your own risk, but we recommend booking in advance, especially if you visit the cave during the high season. Only a certain number of tourists are admitted per time slot, and it can fill up quickly.

The large visitor centre also offers a wide range of other services, such as a souvenir shop, restaurant and activities for children.

You can also watch a film about the people of the time and visit a very stylish and modern museum. Here you can walk around among large models of the wild animals that existed at that time.

It's dizzying to try to imagine how people of that time developed language, tools, art and stories, while living in an extremely harsh environment.

Visiting Chauvet Cave - audio-guided tour of Chauvet Cave 2

The centrepiece of the visit is of course the cave, which feels like a real cave, despite being a replica. The visit is highly structured, with around 20 tourists admitted per timeslot. You are provided with a digital audio guide, and it is possible to choose English or German, for example. Photography is prohibited in the cave, so we show a number of press photos.

It's a bit special to wander around a cave that's a constructed replica. Although it's not 'real', it feels real, with winding passageways, stalagtites, stalagmites and piles of ancient animal bones.

Prehistoric people made three types of images: animals, people and symbols. By far the most common was the depiction of animals, and the cave contains images of 14 different animal species.

What is fascinating is that the animals are not just clumsily carved. On the contrary, there is a large dose of artistry. For example, shading techniques have been used to create shape and volume.

The very last piece of art on the tour is the most fascinating: a 12-metre-long fresco in which a total of 92 animals appear to move out of the mountain. There's an artistic depth to it, and a magical feeling that brings distant time closer to us. 36,000 years ago, some of our ancestors stood here, struggling with their project. So far away, and yet so close. Vertiginous for real!

Where can you stay or park your motorhome?

It is popular to visit the Ardèche and thus there are many accommodations in the area, not least campsites. We stood on Camping du Midi, which is a scenic and relaxed 3-star riverside campsite, with canoe hire.

More to see and do in the neighbourhood

Chauvet Cave is located in Ardèche which is an incredibly beautiful natural area, with a canyon and a meandering river. There are lots of campsites in the area and canoeing on the river is extremely popular. Another interesting destination, not too far from here, is the fascinating Ideal Palace, created by the postman Ferdinand Cheval.

Have you visited the Chauvet cave in France?

Have you visited the Chauvet cave in France? Do you like this kind of historical sights?