Carcassonne
 

Hi!
My family are planning on staying in Carcassonne for a few days in the end of June and I was just wondering whether it would be better to stay in La cite or the less touristy La ville basse? Any recommedations?
Thank you!

IMO in the Cite up top - the most intact medieval ramparted fortified town anywhere (of course rebuilt from rubble in the 1800s i believe)

lots of day trippers there in the day but oh so romantic at night when few are lurking around its intimate old cobbled lanes

but be sure to go down at night sometime to glimpse La Cite and its towers and turrets and ramparts on the hill gloriously floodlit after dark

Definitely stay in the old city up top. As PalenQ said, the tourist crowds will thin out at night and you will have the place more to yourselves during the long June evenings. I haven't had the opportunity to stay there so can't suggest any hotels. Yes, the town has been reconstructed, but it is truly incredible! Enjoy.

I disagree (but not vehemently). I think carcassone is better as a back drop than stage centre.

The old town is Disneyland, with prices and quality of food etc to match. The new town is a real town and not such a tourist trap.

But the two are so close you can combine elemnts of both easily.

In 2006, rather than stay in the Cite, which was being prepared to receive the Tour de France, we stayed at the Chateaux du Floure, 7 kilometers East of the Cite.

We found this place just perfect for a full day in the Cite and touring South towards the Pyrenees.

The Chateaux is affiliated with several associations, including Chateaux Hotels de France.