Carcassonne

Chensiyuan, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Carcassonne, one of the best preserved medieval cities in the world, has something of a fairytale feel thanks to the restoration work of Eugène Viollet-le-Duc .

The old town is surrounded by 3km of walls and ramparts which you can simply walk around, or get a guided tour to learn about some of its grislier times, such as the Albigensian Crusade . In the summers, there are also night-time guided walks.

If you are bringing little ones with you, you may want to check out the child-friendly activities . But with or without kids, it's probably best to get fully into the spirit and watch a jousting tournament. And if you want to get a marauders point of view, why not go on a circular walk/cycle-ride outside the city walls?

The Canal du Midi, which connects Toulouse to Sete , flows past Carcassonne and you can walk along the tow paths or hire a bike to go further. If you're not sure how much cycling you want to do, there are bikes available that you can use free for the first 30 minutes and 2 euros an hour after that. If you want to cycle in style, it might be worth checking out the groovy looking bikes at Alterride .

As a reward for being an eco-responsible traveller and coming by train, there's currently a 50% discount on Le Carca’Pass , which gives you access to museums, virtual reality medieval tour and other stuff.

Highlights

Immerse yourself in the Medieval city and patrol its ramparts
Go for a cycle ride along the Canal du Midi

Station stroll ideas

If you have some time free, why not go for a wander?

Tourist info provide a set of walks here and other brochures here .

Guided tours

Tourist info have listed a set of guided tours here .

Luggage

If you want to stroll without a care in the world, including your luggage, you could try using Bounce to find a place that will take your bags.

Useful links

Tourist info: https://www.tourisme-carcassonne.fr/en/

UNESCO - Historic fortified city of Carcassonne: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/345

Map

Tourist infomation

Here's a link to tourist information: Tourist info website

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