Guide · around Château du Boscau
Gouffre de Padirac
Gouffre de Padirac from the château (12 km)
The Gouffre de Padirac lies 12 km from Château du Boscau: an enormous cave, carved out deep underground by running water. Here you travel by small boat along an underground river — of all the places in this series of guides, it’s the only one that takes you beneath the ground rather than across it.
The entrance is a hole in the ground about 33 metres across. The visible shaft drops 75 metres, and the underground river runs deeper still, some 103 metres below the surface. Down below it’s a constant 13°C all year round, so it’s worth bringing a light jumper, even in summer.
The cave lies within the Causses du Quercy Regional Nature Park, on the same limestone plateau as Rocamadour, Autoire and Loubressac: the very rock that gives the dry, rugged Causse on the surface has been hollowed out by water down here over thousands of years.
What you'll see
For centuries, the gaping hole in the ground fed nothing but the imagination: tales of saints, hidden treasure and pacts with the devil did the rounds in the surrounding villages, and no one dared venture inside. It wasn’t until 1889 that the French explorer Édouard-Alfred Martel became the first to investigate the cave properly.
Backed by funding from the Irish heir George Beamish, Martel opened the cave up to visitors: the first went down on 1 November 1898, and the official opening followed the next spring.
From the bottom of the shaft you glide in a flat-bottomed boat along the underground river, past lakes such as the Lac de la Pluie and the Lac des Gours, to the Salle du Grand Dôme: one of the largest underground chambers in Europe, with stalactites and stalagmites shaped by the water over a million years.
Research has never stopped since Martel’s first exploration: the Padiracothèque holds more than 1,500 documents on the cave’s history, collected since 1889, and speleologists have now mapped more than 58 km of passages in the underlying cave system.
Since that first descent in 1898, more than 24 million visitors have made the trip — all through the same hole in the ground that you’ll soon be heading down yourself.
When to go
The Gouffre de Padirac is one of the most visited underground sights in France, with more than 500,000 visitors a year. In July and August the wait at the ticket office can stretch to around two hours. For a quieter visit, go early in the morning or late in the afternoon.
The Gouffre de Padirac is unique: a magical, enormous hole in the ground, and beneath it a vast, endlessly deep and colourful cave that you partly explore by boat on an underground river. A visit is ideal on a very hot day (it’s lovely and cool down there) or when it rains. Don’t forget a jumper!
Combine with
At 12 km, Padirac is closer to the château than Rocamadour (27 km), and the two are only about 15 km apart, so they make a natural day out together. Autoire and Loubressac are both 6 km from the château and make a lovely stop on the way back — see our guide to Autoire and Loubressac.
As the cave is only a 12 km drive away, a visit fits comfortably into half a day: the cave in the morning, leaving the afternoon free for one of the smaller villages, or simply for relaxing on the terrace. Carennac is one such village, and slots easily into the same afternoon.
The Gouffre de Padirac lies on the Causses du Quercy, a vast limestone plateau that stretches all the way to the river Lot in the south. Did you know it is a regional nature park and a UNESCO Geopark too? The walking there is endlessly beautiful. On the way there or back, you can also take a look at the Ruines de Taillefer, with another wonderful view over the Dordogne valley.
Back to the château
With only 12 km to cover, you’re back at Boscau in no time after a morning or afternoon at Padirac. By arrangement we serve a three-course dinner of local and organic produce as our table d’hôtes, or you can enjoy a pot of tea and something sweet in our own tea garden.
After the steady 13°C underground, sitting out on the terrace in the sun is often exactly what you need.
It may sound odd in France, but after a day’s walking and a visit to the Gouffre de Padirac we sometimes head to the bridge over the Cère in Bretenoux. There’s a food truck there serving genuine American burgers: really tasty, not expensive, and you eat them on a bench by the river. Just go for it.
Padirac suits every stay
Pick one of the stays as your base, and make the Gouffre de Padirac part of your time in the Lot.