Monkey Forest — Attraction in Gourdon

The Monkey Forest is very cool and has beautiful views of Rocamadour, but we had a frustrating experience that I think could be helpful for others to know about when planning a trip there. On the weekend the park is open is the mornings from 10-12. We arrived with our 2.5 year old at 11 and after walking in we were told we needed to hurry to make it through the 1km path before 12. We were not worried, everyone was walking just fine. By 11:30 the park employees started following us down the path telling us to hurry up. Clearly more concerned about missing a minute of lunch than visitors having a nice experience. At that point we were only 10 minute walk from our car and we told them we were not worried about making it out by 12. But they insisted that we were being very slow and they kept pestering us and making our time less than fun and rushing along our toddler when he was just starting to really enjoy watching the monkeys. I wanted a refund after this experience but the office was closed by 11:45 when we make it back to the parking lot with 15 minutes to spare. I really wish they had told us that they expect you to run as fast as you can through the park and that you will be harassed if your not out by 11:30 (eventhough they close for lunch 12-1 officially). Instead of sympathy when we expressed exasperation for the 3 employee flanking and berating) we received sarcasm and criticism. Not a very nice was to treat your guests monkey forest, I hope you will try to do better in the future and that others are aware that they should arrive at 10 for the morning walk if you don’t want to get this kind...

Fantastic experience. Monkeys running free in a park with natural surroundings for the animals. The monkeys are fed regularly, and the staff explained alot about the monkeys. First in French, but they always start by asking if anyone speaks english. If that is the case, they take care of those who speaks english afterwards. There is plenty of picnic areas, so if you want to enjoy lunch in the park or is possible. If you do not bring anything to eat, it is possible to buy food at the park and well. There is of cause also a small souvenir shop, where you can buy a small gift or just souvenirs. There are slow of information boards around the park in both French and English. There are some activities for the children as well. All in all it was well worth the 10 euros that was the price for adults. We recommend...

Beautiful park, it's obvious the monkeys are taken care of with their best interest in mind, the monkeys get a lot of forest area to roam around so it's possible you don't see a lot of monkeys if they don't want to be around people but that's what makes this park so great in my opinion: the monkeys aren't forced out for the pleasure of the visitors. I got a little stuffed monkey from the giftshop and named it Luana after the amazing employee that answered our questions about the park and the monkeys. No food and smoking/vaping, together with not being allowed to touch the monkeys again shows that the park behaves with the monkeys well-being in mind. The people giving bad reviews because of this makes me upset, animals are not just for...