Carcassonne and surrounding area

[NowyouhaveDunnett]

We're planning a trip to Carcassonne in the next 18 months. Planning to fly to Toulouse and then drive.

Does anyone know the area? Have any tips/recommendations?

Thank you!

Carcassonne has an airport, why don't you fly straight there? Ryanair goes there. I've flown to Toulouse (to go to the city) and it's a nice city for a wander. The Space centre was good for a day out, we all enjoyed it

If you don’t mind long day trips, then I’d definitely recommend trip to Les Orgues d'Ille sur Tet, another day to Lagrasse village and Fontfroide Abbey, and Sete on the coast.

I love the beautiful villages around there at the foothills of the pyrenees, such as Alet les bains, Esperaza, Axat, Quillan. So pretty.
Also if you headed to the coast, Collioure is lovely.

We had a lovely week in Carcassonne, a few years ago. It's a very easy place to be. La Cité is lovely to explore and the town itself has a nice vibe and good food. You can walk or cycle or take a boat on the Canal du Midi. There's a lovely lake nearby as well.

Hire a car and you can see some more of glorious SW France. The Cathar stronghold of Château de Montségur is so worth the trip and the climb. Toulouse and Perpignan aren't too far, and from the railway station you can also get to the coast at Marseille I think.

@RedRosie

Carcassonne is a long way from Marseille…at a guess I’d say probably the nearest coastal town easily available by train would be Narbonne.

@Malaguena123

Yep Carcassonne has an airport but outside of summer/peak seasons it is nothing like as well served as Toulouse Blagnac, just which airport to use might depend on exactly when in the next 18 months the OP decides to visit.

Perpignan might be closer than Toulouse? I think Carcassonne airport runs all year though?

I'd recommend not visiting in the summer - it's far too hot to do anything!

Can't fly there from where we live (not in UK) but there are frequent daily flights to Toulouse from our nearest airport. Don't mind anyway as heard it's nice. So might visit it. Space museum sounds great!

In laws live 40 minutes from Carcassonne so know it well. Summer can be very hot so as previous recommend going slightly earlier in July or later in August if set on a summer holiday. About half an hour from Carcassonne is a lovely town, Mirepoix which has a great market on a Monday morning. You're also not far from the beach but be prepared that mid summer will be very busy as it's when the French take their holidays. Highly recommend taking a trip to the Pyrenees which is probably a couple of hours away,...lots to do including underground rivers. Happy to answer any questions as have spent every summer there for the last 12 years 😀

Stayed at the citadel in carcassone last year- adored it.

We flew to Toulouse this year and then drove quite far to Ceret, which is lovely. Carcassonne wasn't far at all from Toulouse, about an hour as I recall. We went at the end of August and weather was cooler but the area generally was very, very busy. First week we stayed in foothills of Pyrenees, which was beautiful, second week at coast. The sea is amazing - the med! Ahhhhh.

Do not drive to Collioure.
Parking was hideous and it was heaving. Port Vendres was much nicer. Far from Carcassonne though, depending if you're moving accommodation. Beziers is much nearer for coast but we didn't go there. Personally, I would do a week at the beach and a week in the mountains.

Will probably go spring or autumn, definitely not in high summer. Thanks for all the recs so far, I'll have a read tonight and respond tomorrow. Appreciate any and all advice ❤️

Perpignan is much the same distance as Toulouse - Carcassonne, and is similar to Carcassonne in terms of traffic frequency, which means that they are both open year round, are busy in summer but nothing like as much in winter.

By far the biggest airport in the region and the one with by far the best links to Europe destinations and beyond, year round, is Toulouse (Blagnac), probably next best is Montpellier.

@NowyouhaveDunnett

As far as the space museum goes at Toulouse I haven’t been in a while but I think it’s best to think of it occupying a good packed half day rather than a full day out. That said it is very very easy to access by car from the Carcassonne direction (it’s just off the peripherique at the eastern end of the city) and you might be able to combine it with something else in or around town.

We were in the region this summer. We stayed in Beziers and Sete and took a day trip to Carcassone.

The Citadel itself is fun and interesting, but a bit of a tourist trap (to put it mildly) - we found better places to eat outside the walled city - I had a great homemade quiche and salad at a little place in the lower town. Carcassone town itself is fairly small and seemed a bit sleepy. I'd actually base myself in one of the other larger towns or cities nearly and do a day trip to Carcassone

Beziers is about 30 mins away by train and really nice place to visit, lots of historic sighrs and on on canal du midi. Equally Sete is wonderful, great seafood and beautiful beaches - one of our happy places.

Echo recommendations for Montpelier and Perpignan - both really good cities to visit. Not been to Toulouse but it is on my list. Nimes is also worth a visit, espcially if you like Roman history (which I do!). We generally go in late Jine/early July as we like the warm weather and seasonal festivals and events that start around then, but it is not too crpwded as the French are yet to decamp en masse for the summer break.

There is loads of stuff to do and see in tnr area, it's one of my favourite regions of France.

The Citadel itself is fun and interesting, but a bit of a tourist trap (to put it mildly)..

Oh that’s on the nicely tactful side of very mildly….it’s certainly busy as heck when the festival is on, looks like the OP may well avoid that.

To provide some balance it might be worth pointing out that over the years the June/July festival has had some seriously big name artists perform in the amphitheatre so sometimes it’s worth wading through the crowds and the shops of plastic souvenirs.

We are in Ireland and fly from Dublin to Rodez each summer to visit friends in Figeac which is a stunning market town in the Lot region. Its not a huge drive from Toulouse but well worth a visit and maybe a dander down the Lot river (or Dordogne) in a rented kayak, stopping off at little beach bars along the way.

Carcassonne is not far from the Cathar castles:
Montsegur
Peyrepertuse
Queribus
Aguilar
Puivert, amongst others.

I'd second: Mirepoix, Camon ('prettiest town in France' apparently), Axat (walk the sentier du tren, short easy mountain walk). Near Puivert castle (which was in the weirdly fab Johnny Depp film The Ninth Gate), is a walk called Labrynthe Vert near a small town called Nebias. Beautiful interesting walk around a natural labyrinth.

Bugerach near Quillan is an interesting mountain formation, with a very swimmable lake and waterfall (Cascade Matthieux - excuse probable misspelling, I'm not French!).

We drive up from Spain, so enjoy the mountains and greenery rather than the beach, so can't comment there.

We enjoyed Foix and the Caves of Lombrives many years ago. There are several caves fitted about, so you may find one closer to Carcassonne.

The Orgues of Ille Sur Tet as a pp mentioned are stunning. We also liked Tautavel and Europe's oldest skeleton (400,000 years), although the museum was a little old fashioned, it was fun. There's a dinosaur museum in Esperanza, that whole area of France is full of pre-historical finds.

We've never driven past Carcassonne further into France as we stay the other side of Quillan. Maybe one day we'll rent a boat and go down the Canal du Midi.

And there are a ton of watersports to enjoy - kayaks, rafting, weird floaty things I couldn't tell you the name of!

Oh, and if you're in that area, I can't recommend highly enough: Gorge de Galamus (and the hermitage) is breathtaking. Added bonus is singing Bohemian Rhapsody as you go through 😂Galamus Glamus will you do the fandango....

The road is so narrow and the rocks overhang, between I think 11-6 there are traffic lights to let you drive single file. During summer. I have no idea when they start, but they finish early September - after that you're on your own, there are passing places, but it's wonderfully hairy!