An Archaeological Study Tour
Caves & Castles
Northern Spain & France
September 5 – 19, 2009
Led by Dr. Roy Larick


A sophisticated tradition of representational art arose 25,000 years ago in southwestern Europe. Many outstanding works of fresco, sculpture, and engraving have been preserved deep within caves of southwestern France’s Périgord region and in the foothills of the Pyrénées. They offer evidence of complex aesthetics and advanced technical artistry in the distant past. Paleolithic art also provides a vivid image of the life our ancestors led during the late Ice Age. Archaeological Tours has selected the most representative examples from among more than 200 such sites now identified to create a fascinating itinerary. By good fortune, the most important of these caves are found in areas with beautiful scenery, medieval castles, fortresses and cathedrals located in charming towns. Good food and warm sunshine will enhance our exploration of this exciting part of the world.


Saturday, Sunday, September 5 & 6: BURGOS: Independent departures from our home cities on Saturday. Sunday the tour gathers in the Madrid airport for our drive to Burgos, the native city of Spain’s legendary hero El Cid. Our hotel, Hotel Velada Burgos, is located within the walls of the medieval city. After a rest we will offer a short visit to the Archaeological Museum, which houses finds from the region, and, the Burgos Cathedral, the third largest in Spain, remarkable for its transformation of traditional Gothic into a typically Spanish style and for its outstanding art. This evening Dr. Larick will host our opening dinner. Meals: Dinner

Monday, September 7: SANTILLANA DEL MAR: This morning touring begins at Atapuerca, one of the most important paleontological sites. Here the remains of hominids who lived around 800,000 years ago have been found, as well as an enormous number of fossils dating from the Middle Pleistocene age. After visiting the site and its museum, we continue north to Santillana del Mar, where we will spend the next two nights at the Hotel Los Enfantes, a former manor house. Our hotel is located on the main square of this ancient and well-preserved coastal village.

Meals: Breakfast, lunch & dinner

Tuesday, September 8: SANTILLANA DEL MAR:This morning we will continue our exploration of prehistoric Spain with a visit to Altamira II, an exact replica of the famous cave of Altamira, which is now closed to the public in order to preserve its 15,000-year-old depictions of bison, boar and deer. After visiting the Altamira Museum, we continue touring to the cave of El Castillo. Especially notable here are the elephants and abstract symbols that have sometimes been interpreted as representing male and female fertility. Our last stop today will be the cave of Las Monedas.
Meals: Breakfast & lunch

Wednesday, September 9: SAN SEBASTIAN: Out touring begins at the cavern of Tito Bustillo. This cavern, with its high-quality paintings in black and red, shows bison, horses and stags. We then drive along the Cantabrian coastline through many beautiful little Spanish towns to Bilbao, where we will visit the Guggenheim Museum, designed by Pritzker Prize winner Frank Gehry. Its collection focuses on art from the 1950s to the present and draws on the vast Guggenheim collections in New York and Venice. We then continue to the seaside Abba Londres y de Inglaterra Hotel in San Sebastián for the night.
Meals: Breakfast & lunch

Thursday, Friday, September 10 & 11: ST- GIRONS: As we drive east we begin our ascent into the foothills of the Pyrénées, where our first stops will be the Gargas Caves and the Pyrénées’ most renowned city, Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges. This pretty little Gallo-Roman town is famous for its fabulous cathedral, its architectural treasures and steep, narrow streets crowded with medieval houses and artisans’ workshops. We then continue to St-Girons for two nights at the Hotel Eychenne. Tuesday our very exciting day begins at the famous cave of Niaux. In a section known as the Black Salon, we see paintings and engravings of horses, ibex, bison and salmon. Touring continues at the Prehistoric Art Park of the Pyrénées, which displays replicas and photos of paintings and drawings from caves, some of which are no longer open to the public. Lastly, at Le Mas-d’Azil on the River Arize, we explore caverns that once contained extraordinary prehistoric remains, including the famous sculptured horse head we will see at the museum in St-Germain-en-Laye.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch & dinner daily

Saturday, September 12: CAHORS: A lovely drive brings us into the Dordogne to visit the site of Pech-Merle, an extensive series of adjoining caves with impressive rock formations and decorated with drawings and paintings of both human and animal figures. After our tour we continue to the lovely Chateau Hotel Mercues outside Cahors.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch & dinner

Sunday, September 13: LES EYZIES-DE-TAYAC: As we wind our way to Les Eyzies-de-Tayac, we will visit the former pilgrimage town of Rocamadour. This fortified town, with its castle towering above, clings to the face of a spectacular cliff that rises above Alzou Canyon. After lunch in Souillac, we continue to Beynac-et-Cazenac to visit its fortified castle. Its strategic position on the top of a rocky cliff overlooking the Dordogne Valley placed it on the front lines during the Hundred Years’ War. The interior is quite interesting for its architecture and Gothic frescoes in naive style. Our base for the next five nights will be Hotel Les Glycines in Les Eyzies-de-Tayac. This pretty town straddles the Vézère River. Its historic buildings have been preserved, maintaining the atmosphere of a small market town with numerous small restaurants and shops, which we will have the opportunity to investigate during our stay.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch & dinner

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, September 14, 15, 16 & 17: LES EYZIES-DE-TAYAC: This region is known as the “capital of prehistory.” Our touring will include the major caves in the area: Font-de-Gaume, Cap Blanc, Les Combarelles, La Mouthe and Rouffignac. We will also visit Cougnac, known for paintings of extinct megaloceros (giant deer), and Lascaux II, whose galleries are often called the “Sistine Chapel of Prehistoric Art.” Between visits to these magnificent caves, we will have time to explore many of the wonderful towns in this area. Nearby is the wonderful Belves Abbey, known for its location on the cliffs overlooking the Dordogne River Valley. We will visit La Roque-Saint Christophe in Le Moustier and the Abri Pataud Museum in Les Eyzies-de-Tayac.
Meals: Every day will include breakfast and either lunch or dinner, depending on the itinerary.

Friday, September 18: ST-GERMAIN-EN-LAYE: A morning flight takes us to Paris and the nearby town of St-Germain-en-Laye, where we will have an extensive visit to the Musée des Antiquités Nationales, exceptional for its collection of prehistoric artifacts. There will be time to explore this charming village and to enjoy our lovely hotel, Cazaudehore et la Forestière, before our gala farewell dinner.
Meals: Breakfast & dinner

Saturday, September 19: There will be one group transfer to the airport for our departure flights.