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Aurignac-grotte-01

France France Cave

Cave of Aurignac

14 °C inside, all year.

See the descentHow to visit

Totor-22 · CC BY-SA 3.0

The descent

The entrance, at 327 m.

The real relief above Cave of Aurignac, measured on the Copernicus model every 30 m, and the cave going down at the same vertical scale.

depth not publishedEntrance482 m1.0 kmvertical × 12.3depth not publishedEntrance482 m1.0 kmvertical × 26.7

The depth is the one published by those who explored it; the shape of the galleries is a sketch, not a survey. No depth has been published for this cave yet.

327m

Entrance altitude

from the 30 m relief model

14°C

Inside, all year

the yearly average outside, at the entrance

116m

Rock above

the highest point within 1.5 km

Inside and outside

14 °C inside, all year.

Deep inside, a cave keeps the average temperature of the year outside: about 14 °C here, in January and in August. In August the afternoon reaches 29 °C at the entrance, 15 °C warmer than inside: take a jacket. The best months to escape the heat are from July to August.

outside, at the entrance (327 m)inside
  1. 10°2°Jan
  2. 11°2°Feb
  3. 14°4°Mar
  4. 18°7°Apr
  5. 21°11°May
  6. 26°15°Jun
  7. 29°17°Jul
  8. 29°17°Aug
  9. 25°13°Sep
  10. 21°10°Oct
  11. 14°5°Nov
  12. 11°3°Dec
Inside: 14 °C all yearEscape the heat: Jul–AugWettest: May

Outside: afternoon and night averages for 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) brought to the altitude of the entrance. Inside: the yearly average, which deep parts of a cave keep. Near the entrance it follows the weather a little.

Prehistoric habitat from the upper paleolithic at Aurignac, Haute-Garonne, France

Cave of Aurignac is a cave in France. The entrance is at 327 m.

Read more on Wikipedia

Getting there.

  • No public accessProtected for science or for its art. Look for a replica or a visitor centre nearby.
  • Aurignacnearest town · 1.5 km in a straight line
  • Table d'orientationnearest viewpoint · 1.2 km from the entrance
  • Toulouse-Blagnac Airport (TLS)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 61 km in a straight lineCar hire at TLS airport (Toulouse/Blagnac)Discover Cars · sponsored link

Plan the visit

Guided tours, a bed nearby, a car.

Car hire at TLS airport (Toulouse/Blagnac)Discover CarsSee prices 

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

From above.

The ground above the cave, with the relief shaded, the line of the section and what people have mapped around the entrance.

The ground above Cave of Aurignac (Sentinel-2) N 1.5 km

Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 6.0 × 6.0 km, north up. The line is the section above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Around the entrance.

  • 2other cave entrances within 3 kmGrotte de Rodes, Grottes de Rodes
  • 1viewpoints within 3 kmTable d'orientation
  • 2marked hiking routes within 3 kmDe Sainte-Foy à Aurignac, D'Aurignac à Gourdan
  • 8car parks within 2 km
  • 2information boards and visitor centres within 3 km
  • 4bus stops within 2 km
  • 4campsites within 8 kmPré Fixe, Aire de service d'Auzas, Camping Les Petites Pyrénées and 1 more
  • 1hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmGîte Le Liron
  • 5restaurants and cafés within 3 km
  • springs within 2 km
  • sinkholes within 3 km
  • caving clubs and spots within 15 km
  • climbing crags within 3 km
  • named waterfalls within 4 km

Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, around the entrance. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).

Towns nearby

  • Aurignac1.5 km in a straight line
  • Martres-Tolosane12 km in a straight line
  • Salies-du-Salat15 km in a straight line
  • Saint-Gaudens17 km in a straight line
  • Le Fousseret18 km in a straight line
  • L'Isle-en-Dodon18 km in a straight line
  • Cazères18 km in a straight line
  • Boulogne-sur-Gesse19 km in a straight line

Month by month

The weather outside, at the entrance.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Afternoon101114182126292925211411
Afternoon101114182126292925211411
Night224711151717131053
Rain (mm)846671859665555557688970
Rainy days121011141411101010121312
Sun hours/day3.04.76.06.77.18.38.68.17.45.43.73.2
Snow on the ground (cm)121284200001611
AfternoonAfternoonNightRain (mm)Sun hours/day
Jan10102843.0
Feb11112664.7
Mar14144716.0
Apr18187856.7
May212111967.1
Jun262615658.3
Jul292917558.6
Aug292917558.1
Sep252513577.4
Oct212110685.4
Nov14145893.7
Dec11113703.2

Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the altitude of the entrance (327 m) with the standard lapse rate. Not a forecast.

Photographs

Inside and around.

Lame Aurignac Lartet global N°II
Didier Descouens · CC BY-SA 4.0
Aurignac 1 1
Thilo Parg · CC BY-SA 4.0
Aurignac 1 2
Thilo Parg · CC BY-SA 4.0

Recent years

Wet years, dry years.

Rain of each month as a share of the 1991–2020 average. A dry year means a lower river and hotter rock; a wet one, more water in the gorge.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
202060%51%139%136%109%153%58%83%169%217%48%206%
202189%47%25%37%53%113%84%37%146%53%82%103%
202245%30%77%66%32%82%46%69%116%39%89%52%
202389%34%46%60%87%169%71%83%71%84%109%86%
202443%117%110%45%74%98%46%78%170%117%34%59%
202543%17%83%52%40%42%50%77%62%25%54%30%

130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month

Caves nearby.

Cave of Aurignac

France

  • —Depth
  • —Galleries
  • 327 mEntrance altitude
  • 14 °CInside, all year

Caves of Gargas

France · 33 km

  • —Depth
  • —Galleries
  • 551 mEntrance altitude
  • 12 °CInside, all year

See the guide

Trois Frères Cave

France · 35 km

  • —Depth
  • —Galleries
  • 486 mEntrance altitude
  • 13 °CInside, all year

See the guide

Grotte de Montespan

France · 17 km

  • —Depth
  • —Galleries
  • 392 mEntrance altitude
  • 14 °CInside, all year

See the guide

Where these figures come from

Name, type, published depth and length, visitorsWikidata (Q3117113) · CC0
The relief above, the entrance altitude, the section and the 3D modelCopernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
ClimateNASA POWER, 1991–2020
Entrances, springs, sinkholes, opening hours and what is around© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves, dark skies, viewpoints, birdwatching or forests?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Visit mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Visit islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Visit riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Visit
cavesCavernyasEvery cave with its real depth and length: the rock above, the temperature inside all year, and how to visit.You are here
dark skiesDarkskyasWhere the night is still dark: the sky of every place, the Milky Way month by month, the Moon, eclipses and auroras.Coming soonVisit
viewpointsViewyasEvery viewpoint with its real 360° panorama: the peaks you can name, how far you see and where the sun sets.Coming soonVisit
birdwatchingBirdyasEvery bird sanctuary and wetland with the species recorded month by month: who is resident, who comes for the summer, who only passes through.Coming soonVisit
forestsForestyaEvery forest with its land-cover rings, what grows and lives in it, and the best months to walk it.Coming soonVisit