Carcassonne

lauratkd

Going for 3 nights in June.

As the forum says - anyone recommend "things to do"??

10-10-20

Cool town.
Was there for a night in 2006. Been there a couple of times before.
The town is a huge attraction in terms of it's historic function and form so it's filled with museums and attractions. There are often events on in various locations around the city ever night. Shopping is good in the city also - very posh!

If you want to get out for a day, hire a car and drive up the Pyrenees. See Perpignan or go out to the beach in Argles. Spain is just a short drive away (2hrs?) so, drop in there for a round of tapas.

leincar

Carcassonne is great just for walking around. There are some great bars and restaurants if a little bit pricy. June is a great time to go before all the U.K, French and German schools break up. It gets really crowded in July.

There is a music festival there in June and July. Its more classical and electronic in June but its very atmospheric.

If you want to mix old with the new, hire a car and head for Millau and take a trip over the Millau Bridge. It truly is a stunning sight and makes a great comparison of both old world and modern cutting edge architecture.

lauratkd

Thanks a million! Next thing I'm looking for now is a hotel recommendation. I've tried tripadvisor and have a few ideas from there but if anyone can advise on whther or not to stay inside the old part, it'd be great...

ChilliNuts

I've never been, but before you go it might be worth reading Labyrinthe by Kate Mosse. Parts of it are set in Carcassonne, should give you some interesting spots to visit while you're there...

bamboozle

Stayed in hotel le terminus, its in the new part of the citi but is a lovely old style hotel with a nice pool in the basement, 60 quid for a double room per night back in March.

travellingkitty

So Lauratkd how was it?

We're off to Carcassonne in November for a 3 day short break. What should we make sure not to miss? Where did you stay and would you recommend it? Is it worth hiring a car for one of the days given that it's such a short stay or is there enough in Carcassonne itself to keep us occupied.

Has anyone been there in November? Are many things closed at that time?

Many thanks in advance
Kitty

Lollymcd

We where there in April and everything seemed to be open even though it was the off season, no bus tours or boat tours on the canal. We stayed in Best Western Le Donjon, it was beautiful and the staff amazing. Walking is a must, especially along the Ramparts. We went to all the museums as we had loads of time to kill! Beautiful city, don't forget the camera!

Kalinda

Trying to book a girly weekend away and was thinking of Carcassone? Anyone have any further info. The flight leaves Dublin at 7am on a Friday morning arriving in Car. at 10am. So we would have all day Friday and a full day saturday and Saturday night. We would fly home Sunday at 10.30am. So annoying we wouldn't be able to get more time on the Sunday but that is the only flight. Do you think that is good timing to see Carcasonne?

Wondering should I book somewhere (finding it hard to ) that leaves early Friday morning and not home til late Sunday to get the most out of the weekend. Hate these airline websites - flight times never suit. And there is NO SUCH THING as a cheap flight anymore with all the add-ons.

Lollymcd

Kalinda wrote: »

Trying to book a girly weekend away and was thinking of Carcassone? Anyone have any further info. The flight leaves Dublin at 7am on a Friday morning arriving in Car. at 10am. So we would have all day Friday and a full day saturday and Saturday night. We would fly home Sunday at 10.30am. So annoying we wouldn't be able to get more time on the Sunday but that is the only flight. Do you think that is good timing to see Carcasonne?

Wondering should I book somewhere (finding it hard to ) that leaves early Friday morning and not home til late Sunday to get the most out of the weekend. Hate these airline websites - flight times never suit. And there is NO SUCH THING as a cheap flight anymore with all the add-ons.

I understand your frustration with having to fly home so early on Sunday morning, if you have to pay for an extra night you at least want to get the benefit of it! The only saving grace is that you get to try one of Carcassonne's many scrumptious restaurants on the Saturday night.

You will be able to see pretty much everything that the city has to offer in your two days I think and be able to soak up the atmosphere. With such a short amount of time I would advise staying in the old town/castle as this is where most of what you will want to see is. I stayed in the Best Western Le Donjon and thought it was amazing.

Enjoy.

travellingkitty

Kalinda wrote: »

Trying to book a girly weekend away and was thinking of Carcassone? Anyone have any further info. The flight leaves Dublin at 7am on a Friday morning arriving in Car. at 10am. So we would have all day Friday and a full day saturday and Saturday night. We would fly home Sunday at 10.30am. So annoying we wouldn't be able to get more time on the Sunday but that is the only flight. Do you think that is good timing to see Carcasonne?

Wondering should I book somewhere (finding it hard to ) that leaves early Friday morning and not home til late Sunday to get the most out of the weekend. Hate these airline websites - flight times never suit. And there is NO SUCH THING as a cheap flight anymore with all the add-ons.

Just got back from this very proposition last weekend. We flew out on Friday morning and back on Monday lunchtime but we went to stay with a friend in Cahors for the first night and spent Sat & Sun night in Carcassonne. Two nights at this time of year is plenty and you would be better off going on Friday back on Sunday than the way we did it as there were more things closed on the Sunday than on Friday.

We stayed in the Best Western le Donjean which is a lovely hotel. The hotel website has a great deal at the moment for two weekend nights for the price of one for EUR161 for two. It includes the buffet breakfast plus a Carcassonne Pass from the Tourist Office which gives you discounts off anything that is open. The hotel is lovely - we booked a standard room but I'm pretty sure they put us in a superior room as they weren't full. Breakfast was grand for France - nothing special but you could boil your own eggs which was handy as I like mine rock solid.

The chateau is brilliant and it's worth taking the guided tour even if you don't speak french as this is the only way they let you up onto the ramparts. We didn't have time to do the audio headphone tour of the new town as the Office de Tourisme in that section was only open till 12 on the Sunday and we didn't have time to get down there.

As soon as you check into the hotel get yourself to the Old town Tourist office and they'll give you the Carcassonne Pass and maps and loads of advice on what to do and what order to do it in to get the most out of the weekend. There are quite a few things closed at this time of year but there's still plenty open and the beauty of going now is that the streets of the old town aren't jammed with tourists.

There are enough restaurants in the Old Town to give a good choice (more on the Sat night than the Sunday night). We did the old trick of going to the one that seemed busiest each night and had two lovely meals and very reasonable. With your Pass you also get free aperitifs in most restaurants. Best meal was in a place called something like "La Dame Carcas" but both were good.

Make sure you do the walk all the wall around the Lices - the section between the inner and outer walls. We liked it so much we did it twice - once by day and once by night when it was all lit up to work off the Cassoulet.

We didn't get to the hotel till about 5pm on the Saturday so we really only had a day and a half and as a result we missed out on some of the things we would have liked to see like the Mediavel Museum. The Christmas market was starting this weekend in the new town (which only dates from the 13th century) so we missed that. They were putting it up when we walked around the new town on Mon morning and it looks quite good.

We also fancied the massage or hammam that they advertised in the hotel - very reasonable rates - but they weren't available on the Sunday.

We had hired a car due to going to Cahors as well and we were able to park in a free hotel carpark just outside the outer wall of the old town. If you wanted you could bring the car into the old town at night from 6pm to 10am to a secure carpark by the hotel but we didn't bother. But for two nights you won't need a car as you can get a bus straight into town from the airport and walk around after that.

Have a great time - the hotel offer was called "Bon Weeked en Ville"
Kitty

Dionysus

Thinking of going to Carcassonne the week after next, for a week. Does anybody have any ideas of outdoor activities we could do in the region for the week. We initially wanted to walk the Camino de Finisterre but there are no flights from Ireland to Santiago de Compostela that fit our schedule. So Carcassonne is the most serious alternative at the moment.

All suggestions will be welcome.