SANDOVAL

Tour in French was the only tour available though English is advertised on their website (only once at 12) without a very strong grasp of French the tour is a bit boring as the views in a dark cave are nice but not spectacular and most important to know, photography is not permitted inside the cave.

40km of the old mines. Exciting tour that will open eyes on the production of the rubber, paint and mushrooms. Yes yes, mushrooms. If your kids like Minecraft, they will enjoy it. Tons of true stories and legends that goes through the 90 years and beyond. The place is must visit during the very hot day to take an advantage of the 10-13 C stable degrees right inside the hill. The excursion will take around 1.5 hours. For a left handed person there is a special benefit :-) Go there to know, why :-)

It is good place to know the history of the ochre mine. Our guide,Mathilde, was very informative. She explained humorously and educationally how important the ochre in this region. It definitely worths a visit.

IMO the most beautiful thing is the view from the city. I do not recommend to buy tickets and take the walk inside.

Our visit to the mines was definitely memorable. The guide was incredibly friendly and was able to answer all questions in flawless English. We learned a lot about the process of extracting ocher from the ground. I would recommend this attraction to everyone. It is fun for all ages, and is relatively inexpensive.

Very interesting mines! Worth to visit in hot sunmer days to cool down and learn history. Reserve the tour before visiting! I got lucky and was able to join the french tour. BIG BIG thanks to the staff for enabling this, providing englih tablet and even bigger thanks for the guide who took the time to explain in englih just for me, very nice people. There are also event here becouse of amazing accustics. Unfortunately didn't take the time to stay longer. Thank you

Only guided tours which are usually done in French. Tours in other languages are available, but only if a guide for the target language is available on the day you want to take a tour. Reservations for all tours are recommended so ask for a foreign language guided tour at the time you make the reservation. If there is only a French tour available, the ticket office will give you a nice 4 page summary in your chosen language to read before the tour starts. I recommend getting to the site a half hour or more in order to read the guide and take photos. No photos allowed inside the mines for security reasons. Great tour for anyone over the age of 10. Younger kids might not enjoy it too much. Bring a jacket or sweatshirt. It's around 9C inside. Our tour guide was great. She did some fun and interesting question and answer sessions and had great stories to tell. Well worth seeing. The ochre galleries and history of the site are amazing.

The site and the history of this ocre mine are both fascinating. Though there are only very limited English tours available, and only in summer, it might be worth it to take a French tour of this unusual locale, even with limited French language skills. Definitely reserve ahead, and arrive early, of you would like to take the tour. The vaulted ceilings were dug by local farm labour -- initially suffering due to the failure of both the silk and wine industries, due to diseases, and to other factors. The layout of the tunnels and columns was rigorously followed after early collapses. From 1860 to 1942, 40km of tunnels were dug to extract ocre, mostly for the expanding rubber industry. If this is your type of thing, then come and explore the exterior, even without taking a tour. There's lots of parking, good signage from the village of Gargas, and lots of ocre to be seen without entering the mine site. I really enjoyed the French tour, which I'm able to understand, though the guide was a little on the preachy side, like a stereotypical, cynical, French school teacher (for those who've had the pleasure of attending French schools) -- which is why I gave Les Mines four stars instead of five.