Carcassone

[Lucky Luke]

Got a week off early October . I fancy going near here both to visit the city itself and to cycle in the area . Any paricular areas I should consider or indeed avoid ?

 

[Cathryn]

Thinking about going to the same part of France next year. Don't have much advice but I believe the Canal du Midi is round there which is apparently lovely riding.

 

[Tony]

I have a lot of experience of that area. Let me know what sort of riding you would like. There is a mix of quality on the towpath on the C du M, and the Balck Mountain to the North is gorgeous for riding.

 

[Lucky Luke]

I have a lot of experience of that area. Let me know what sort of riding you would like. There is a mix of quality on the towpath on the C du M, and the Balck Mountain to the North is gorgeous for riding.

Hi Tony ,

It would be road riding , we don't really go for flat much preferring hilly/varied terrain . What we tend to do is to rent a gite and plan out day rides (normally 100-150km) from our accomodation , taking in a nice menu du jour at midday .

To give you some idea of the terrain we like , we recently spent a week near Carpentras and a week near Dieulefit further north doing just the above and it was fantastic so would like to explore a new area . We also liked the area near Albi we visited last year .

 

[mosschops2]

btw - spelt carcassonne - took me a while to realise that something was wrong!!

I went there when I was at school (a long, long time ago), it was even then very commercial - but the walk around the walls is worth the visit alone.
snapshot of walled old town

Unfortunately I can not find the hot spa town I was looking for - sorry!!! I'll keep looking....

 

[John Wr]

Spent part of August last year camping in the Black Mountains. An excellent area for cycling, but I have one warning. Languedoc is the windiest part of France I have visited ( more so than Provence ), the valley roads in this area are delightful and sheltered, but to get to them from Carcassonne is a long drag into the prevailing north westerley wind.
Apart from the wind splendid weather as well.

Google Earth gives you a good idea of the terrain.

If you decide to visit, enjoy.

John.

 

[mrfionn]

To Lucky Luke

We went from Paris to Barcelona, in Toulouse we decided to take the Canal du Midi route as far as Castelnaudary - a truly bike friendly , good surface, beautiful cycle - but we had to continue on the canal route to Carcassonne because of the wind which was really very trong and in our face. the story is on our website www.youghalcyclingclub.com if you want to read about it.
Weather permittingg take the road from Castelnaudary to Carcassonne .

you do know, I'm sure, you can fly direct to Carcassonne with a bike on Ryanair .

 

[sheddy]

Are you going by boat ? http://www.narrowdog.com/reviews.htm

 

[Cathryn]

We did some cycling in that area last month. We did Toulouse to Castelnaudary on a splendid bike path along the Canal du Midi, and then Castelnaudary to Carcassonne on a less splendid bike path that was still perfectly adequate. It was gorgeous. Carcassonne is stunning...I can recommend the Hotel Espace Cite (accent on the e) which is excellent value if not very atmospheric!!

It is, as people have said, VERY windy down there!!

 

[dragon72]

Don't, whatever you do, go to the house of horrors museum by the well in the centre of Carcassonne.

I just came back from taking some Year 8 students on a school trip there and two of our 13 year-old girls got their boobs and bums groped by one of the employees there.

We reported it to the police and they arrested the guy, but the police said they have had problems there before. Seems they have a habit of employing scumbags.

Otherwise the area's gorgeous, the people (pervs aside) are fantastic, the food top drawer and the plonk not half bad, but the valleys can be very windy when the Tramontane (the wind that blows off the Pyrenees) is blowing.

 

[Cathryn]

Darn, sounds like I missed a good opportunity!!

 

[Aperitif]

It is lovely round there...be sure to go for a trip and try 'Blanquette de Limoux'

 

[HelenD123]

It is lovely round there...be sure to go for a trip and try 'Blanquette de Limoux'

OOh yes! I stayed near Limoux a few years ago and we couldn't get enough of this stuff. We found an equivalent yummy pink fizzy stuff when staying near Lyon a couple of years later but I can't for the life of me remember what it was called. Cerdon maybe?

Back OT, Carcasonne was lovely!

 

[ju5t1n]

Another vote for the Canal du Midi – fantastic!

 

[Tony]

I would suggest the Astoria hotel near the station in Carcassonne, a bike-friendly place with a HUUUUUUGE garage for locking bikes up in.