Two of the four World Heritage–listed Cuevas de Monte Castillo – El Castillo and Las Monedas – are open for 45-minute guided visits. Booking ahead is highly advisable, especially for the more spectacular El Castillo, which contains the oldest cave art in the world. Here, you penetrate 500m into the cave where the art is almost as breathtaking as Altamira's – and unlike at Altamira, this is the genuine article rather than a replica.
The 275 paintings and engravings of deer, bison, horses, goats, aurochs, mammoths, handprints and mysterious symbols found within El Castillo date from 39,000 to 11,000 BC. Las Monedas has less art (black animal outlines, from around 10,000 BC) but contains an astounding labyrinth of stalactites and stalagmites.
