Gallery

The shaft, the river and the great chambers. Tap any photo to view it larger.

The shaft of the Gouffre de Padirac
The shaft of the Gouffre de Padirac — photo: Benjamin Smith, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
The underground river by boat
The underground river by boat — photo: Benjamin Smith, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
Stalactites above the river
Stalactites above the river — photo: Benjamin Smith, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
The Lac de la Pluie
The Lac de la Pluie — photo: Benjamin Smith, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
The galleries of the chasm
The galleries of the chasm — photo: Benjamin Smith, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
Looking up the shaft
Looking up the shaft — photo: Thérèse Gaigé, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
The chasm from the rim
The chasm from the rim — photo: Thérèse Gaigé, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)

Photographs from Wikimedia Commons, used under their Creative Commons licences; the photographer and licence are shown with each image. Click a photo to open it.

Photography

Best light for photographs

The chasm itself is best photographed from the rim in the morning, when sunlight reaches the bottom. Underground, the lit stalactites of the Lac de la Pluie come out well without flash; the boat trip is the shot everyone wants.

Practical tips
The shaft of the Gouffre de Padirac

Plan your visit

Ready to visit the Gouffre de Padirac?

Choose your date and arrival time and we handle the rest. The visit takes about 1h30 with an audio guide; the season runs from 28 March to 1 November.

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