things to do in carcassonne

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There are over 300 bastides in the south of France, and as well as meeting defensive strategies, they served to garrison and control the changing and feckless populations of the Middle Ages. Today, St Louis is consumed by the sprawl of the modern town, a bright, bustling place and one of the most-visited cities in the whole of Languedoc-Roussillon.

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Things to do in carcassonne

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A walk through la cite

Above the bastide, across the River Aude is the Upper Town. La Cité, is the largest fortress in Europe, consisting of a central building, the Chateau Comtal, surrounded by a double curtain wall within which hundreds of people once lived.

These days, there is a resident population of a little more than a hundred, with access by the narrow but massive Porte Narbonnaise, a crenellated redoubt built on a bridge across the moat.

Wandering the streets of La Cité at night, after the clamour of tourists has subsided and the walls are floodlit, is one of the most highly recommended things to do in Carcassonne.

Enter by the Porte Narbonnaise and you are suddenly pitched into the Rue Cros Mayrevielle which, it has to be said, is a mess of tacky souvenir shops.

But this narrow street - used by vehicles, although only those resident or staying at the hotels can drive in the city - leads up to the place du Chateau. Through an archway and over a dry moat, and you enter the world of the Chateau Comtal.

Chateau Comtal

Discover the ramparts and the château of the Counts of Carcassonne, lying in the heart of the city. They are Gallo-Roman and medieval masterpieces of military architecture on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Admission charge.

Open: January to March and October to December daily 9.30am–5pm; April to September daily 10am–6.30pm.
Closed 1 January, 1 May, 1 and 11 November and 25 December.
Tel: 04 68 11 70 70; www.remparts-carcassonne.fr.

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CARCASSONNE: THE LOWER TOWN

The regular layout of the lower town means that it is difficult to get lost. You should just keep turning left. You’ll probably find your friends wondering where you got to, still ensconced outside the café on the Place Carnot.

If you're looking for things to do in Carcassonne you should explore the Place Carnot. It's one of the city’s most favoured meeting places, where markets are held beneath the gaze of a statue of Neptune, and the problems of the world are put to rights, at least for the next hour or so.

Walk up Rue Georges Clemenceau, and eventually you come to Pont Marengo spanning the Canal du Midi, just in front of the railway station.

The canal is a remarkable engineering achievement and, like La Cité, a World Heritage Site. This 360km network of navigable waterways linking the Mediterranean and the Atlantic is one of the most remarkable feats of civil engineering. It elevates engineering to a work of art, thanks to the care that its creator, Pierre-Paul Riquet, took in its design and the way it blends with its surroundings.

If you're thinking of going boating in France the Canal du Midi should be first on your list. And it's highly suitable for newbies.

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