I've wanted to visit this area for a long time, so I was thrilled to finally fit it into a trip. We visited three main sites: Font-de-Gaume, Combarelles, and Lascaux (IV) in October 2022.

First, to update some logistics:  No more lining up at dawn to get tickets for Font-de-Gaume or Combarelles. They sell time-reserved tickets online now, and it is essential you get them ahead of time. Even in the off/shoulder season of late October, they do sell out and I didn't always get  my ideal time slot booking about a week ahead. You can also reserve tickets for Lascaux IV, but in late October, we just showed up and were able to join the next (non-guided) group. It would have been about a 45 minute wait for the next English guided tour, but we were fine with the audioguides. We also stopped by Abri de Cap Blanc, and would have been allowed to join the next tour, but we didn't have time to wait, and unfortunately, you can't see anything at all without paying the admission.

We visited Font-de-Gaume first, and it's wonderful to see the painted figures there. There were some scientists studying certain sections while we were there. It was a bit frustrating being told, "Oh there are some good ones at the end there, but we don't allow the public there any more." But overall, our guide was very good at explaining what we were looking at.

At Grotte des Combarelles, there's basically no pigment left, but you see the engravings in the walls of a wider variety of animals, including mammoth, lion, and rhino (in addition to the usual horses and bison) which was really satisfying. There are also some human(like) figures. Combarelles is also much longer -- about 300 meters long, and once you start seeing the figures engraved, hundreds of them go on continuously for a long distance, which was also quite amazing.

Lascaux IV was very impressive.  The number and vibrancy of figures is really incredible. I really enjoyed the whole experience. I initially thought the audio-guide was too brief when walking through the  re-created caverns but then the space at the end lets you sit down and explore more topics in front of more replicas.

For getting around, we had a rental car (starting from Bordeaux) and stayed at a wonderful bed & breakfast in La Roque Gageac, which is about a half-hour drive to Font-de-Gaume.  But it worked out as a great base for exploration of the area.

Just a general comment on the Perigord region:  I was astounded at how much there is to see and do there: caves, both for the pre-historical aspects and just nature, museums, castles, gardens, bike trails. I would have happily spent about 2 weeks in the area, but didn't have that much time.