Explore the Dordogne caves from a peaceful village base at Les Glycines

Few places on earth hold as much prehistoric art as the Vézère valley, and Les Eyzies sits right in the middle of it. That is why so many travellers who come for the Dordogne caves choose to stay in the village rather than in a larger town. From Les Glycines, a 4-star hotel opened in a former coaching inn dating from 1862, the first decorated cave is only a few minutes away and the major sites of the valley can be reached in half an hour or less, without long motorway drives.

The painted caves come first on most lists. Font-de-Gaume, on the edge of the village, still shows original polychrome paintings of bison, around 14,000 years old and attributed to the Magdalenian culture. Only a few dozen visitors go in each day, so tickets, sold online by the Centre des monuments nationaux, need to be booked several weeks ahead. Nearby, the engravings of the Combarelles complete the picture. Twenty minutes north, the Rouffignac cave is explored aboard a small electric train along part of its eight kilometres of galleries: its walls carry more than 250 animal figures, mammoths above all. Reservations are recommended there too.

Before going underground, an hour at the National Museum of Prehistory, a five-minute walk from the hotel, helps put names on the tools, hunters and animals you are about to see. Further up the valley, Lascaux IV, the full-scale replica of the most famous decorated cave in the world, is around half an hour by car. It makes a fine day out, but it is one cave among many: the Dordogne's caves reward those who look beyond a single name. Choosing two or three painted caves of the Dordogne over a long weekend, rather than one, gives a far richer sense of how these artists worked.

To make these early starts easier, the hotel takes care of a few practical details:

• A picnic basket prepared by the kitchen, to order the evening before.
• Bicycles to rent with 24 hours' notice, and hiking maps at reception.
• Electric car charging on site, so the battery is full each morning.

Not every cave in the Dordogne is about prehistoric art, and the valley offers plenty of variety for a second or third day. Some are natural cathedrals of rock, others were lived in for thousands of years. The Grand Roc, two minutes by car from the hotel, is famous for its concretions: stalactites, stalagmites, calcite crystals and rare eccentrics that twist in every direction. It is presented as the only cave with concretions listed by UNESCO, and the Laugerie-Basse rock shelters lie just 85 metres away. Discovered in 1924, it is reached by a staircase of 76 steps, and the Grand Roc cave reopens each spring after its winter closure.

Further down the Vézère, at Audrix, the Gouffre de Proumeyssac is known as the crystal cathedral. This huge underground vault, covered in formations and enhanced by sound and light, is the largest cave open to visitors in the Périgord. Those who like a little thrill can descend into it in a cable-hung basket that drops nearly 40 metres into the void, just like the visitors who followed its discovery in 1907, while a tunnel offers easier access for everyone else.

Upstream, at Peyzac-le-Moustier, La Roque Saint-Christophe shows another side of the valley. People have sheltered in this cliff for around 55,000 years, and in the Middle Ages it became a fortified town built over five levels, with replica lifting machines that bring the site to life. Ten minutes from Les Glycines, the troglodyte village of La Madeleine tells a similar story, inhabited from prehistory until the end of the 19th century.

Mixing these sites with the painted caves avoids spending every hour in the dark. A morning in a cliff village, an afternoon among crystals, then back to the hotel well before dinner: that rhythm suits families as much as couples. Among the caves of the Dordogne, these lived-in cliffs are often the ones children remember best. For further ideas and driving times, the hotel's page on things to do around Les Glycines lists castles, gardens and villages, as well as canoe trips on the river in season.

Between two visits, the house offers a few useful services:

• A concierge service to pass on requests for visits and bookings.
• Boules for pétanque, lent at no charge for a game in the park.
• Route maps for walkers, kept at the reception desk.

After a few hours underground or on the stairs of a cliff fort, it is good to come back to a room where nothing needs organising. Following a cave in the Dordogne, Les Glycines makes that return easy, since it stands in the village itself. The house has only twenty-five rooms, set in a three-hectare park at the foot of the cliffs, so evenings stay peaceful even in high season. In summer, the heated outdoor pool in the park is a welcome contrast with the cool air of the caves. Each category is described on the rooms and suites page, and four of them suit cave explorers particularly well:

• Charm Room: a large bed and, for some, a terrace on the park.
• Junior Suite: a sitting area to plan the next day's visits.
• Lodge: an independent wooden house sleeping up to four.
• PRM Room: adapted for guests with reduced mobility, with lift access.

Back from the valley, the Sothys spa offers 162 m² to warm up after a cool cave visit. Reserved for adults and booked by time slot, it brings together a heated pool, a hammam and a sauna, while the nearby Institute adds massages and facials. Practical details are gathered on the spa page of the hotel.

Dinner then becomes the last stop of the day. Neighbouring farms and the hotel's own organic vegetable plot supply the dishes, with black truffle as the signature of the head chef, Pascal Lombard. Depending on the season, guests eat at the Bistro or at Le 1862, the gourmet table awarded a Michelin star. Both dining rooms are presented on the restaurant page, along with the days they open. Before or after the meal, the bar by the fireplace is a pleasant place to compare notes on the day's discoveries.

Staying in Les Eyzies means waking up a few minutes from the first painted walls, which makes it easy to reach popular sites before the crowds. Seasonal stays combining room, dinner and sometimes a visit are listed among the hotel's offers. For a long weekend devoted to the Dordogne's caves, it is the simplest way to see a lot without spending the whole trip on the road.