Aquitaine Attractions

The Caves of Lascaux in SW France are famous for its Paleolithic cave paintings. The original caves are located near the village of Montignac, in the Dordogne Region. They contain some of the best-known Upper Paleolithic art. These paintings are estimated to be around 17,000 years old. They consist mainly of primitive images of large animals, most of which are known from fossil evidence to have lived in the area at the time. In 1979, Lascaux was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Sites list along with other prehistoric sites in the Vézère valley. The cave contains nearly 2,000 figures, which can be grouped into three main categories — animals, human figures and abstract signs. Notably, the paintings contain no images of the surrounding landscape or the vegetation of the time. Most of the major images have been painted onto the walls using mineral pig...

Located in the department of Vienne, 10 kilometres N of Poitiers, Futuroscope (or Parc du Futuroscope) is a French theme park based upon multimedia, cinematographic futorscope and audio-visual techniques. It has several 3D cinemas and a few 4D cinemas along with other attractions and shows, some of which are the only examples in the world. The park attraction around 1.5 million visitors annually (about a tenth of the visitors of Disneyland Paris). The notable attractions at the park include: Most are available to non French speakers via translation headsets, while some are French only and are listed below. ÉcoDingo - French Only La Cité du Numérique (Digital City) - Hands on exhibit Danse avec les Robots (Dances with Robots) Arthur, l'aventure 4D (Arthur and the Minimoys 4D) Sous les Mers du Monde 3D (Deep Sea 3D) Les Aile...

The Château de Chenonceau is a castle near the small village of Chenonceaux, in the Indre-et-Loire department of the Loire Valley in France. It was built on the site of an old mill on the River Cher, sometime before its first mention in writing in the 11th century. The Chateuu interior is well known for its elegant 59m long gallery, for the libraryi and for the famous guard room. Visitors can also see Francois I’s bedroom, Louis XIV’s living room along with Diane de Poitiers’s bedroom.