Tarascon-sur-Ariège is a small town in the Ariège valley between Foix and the Spanish border. It is pleasant enough in itself — stone houses along the river, a ruined castle on the hill above — but the real draw is the prehistoric cave art in the surrounding valleys.
The Grotte de Niaux, a few kilometres south, contains some of the finest Magdalenian cave paintings in Europe: bison, horses, and ibex drawn with astonishing skill around 14,000 years ago. Visits are limited and must be booked in advance. The Parc de la Préhistoire nearby offers a broader introduction to the region's cave art heritage, and the vast Grotte de Lombrives and Grotte de Bédeilhac round out a serious circuit of Ice Age sites.
Tarascon makes a good base for exploring the upper Ariège, with hiking trails into the Pyrenees starting from the valley floor and the old town along the river for evenings.