On our visit to Provence, we went out of our way to visit Carcassonne and, I'm sorry to say, we were disappointed. Perhaps we were expecting too much and we found no 'there' there.

Compared to Mont St Michel or Rocamadur as medieval gems, it was no match. For that matter, Aigue Mortes and La Cité Médiévale in Vaison-la-Vaucluse had Carcassonne beat...

Carcassonne is indeed overly Disneyfied (and it was done before Disney was even born!), but it is still impressive. Perhaps your expectations were too high?

The biggest renovating deviation from reality was the installation of the pointy round roofs. The towers were flat in the authentic version.

Sorry to hear about your impression of Carcassonne. I've always wanted to go, but many people seem to feel the same as you about it. After I read Henry James' description in his "A Little Trip in France" - I was enthralled. However, he wrote that in the late 1800's, so it couldn't have been so touristy!

>he wrote that in the late 1800's, so it couldn't have been so touristy!

Yes, it was.

It's another of Eugène Viollet-le-Duc's imitation restorations.

Better than leaving it as a ruin, I guess.

If you are in the vicinity, I think that it is worth an overnight.

We took the train over from Nimes, walked from the station up to the restored town, walked around the walls, took a brief tour, had lunch, walked back to the station, and took the train back to Nimes. We then could say we "saw Carcassonne" -- and that was about it. A disappointment, a good lunch, a pleasant day trip. Nothing more.

Carcassone like MSM, I liked better on the approach but yet, saying that, I could not imagine not to see them as well as Les Baux, Gordes Roussillon , Cordes and others in the South of France along with the Pont de Gard and Uzes.

Our favorite memories of Carcassone were of staying at La Maison Sur Colline which was a b&b in the fields above the city.

As far as the history goes, I love the story of the people who (during a siege) threw their last fat pig over the wall at the soldiers. The soldiers decided if these people had enough food to throw away pigs, there was no use staying there beseiging them so they left.

It also didn't do a thing for us, and we actually went back a 2nd time to see if we had been put off by the time of year (March) the 1st time. Time #2 was in June with beautiful weather and we still couldn't see what the appeal is to many. If you are in the vicinity, take 2 hours and drop by, but I wouldn't make a huge detour or center a trip around a visit.

I'll definitely go there if I'm in the vicinity (which I hope to be someday!).
And I imagine an overnight would add to the appeal, as it does for me at most places. Especially at Carcassonne, after the tourbusses have gone home. Wish I have spent the night at Mont St. Michel!

We spent a night there and enjoyed our stay. It wasn't the highlight of our trip but enjoyable. We had a nice lunch and dinner there and it's quite striking at night when it's all lit up.

I'm glad we went.

We went out of our way also and had mixed reactions. Bad weather was the main problem. Stayed in the cite' and would highly recommend the Hotel Donjon. Nice meal at the hotel restaurant. Glad we went in the end.

Based in large part on discussions in this forum, a trip to Carcassonne was moved from a "fix in the schedule" to an "on the list of options to play by ear". However, we recently got a game called Carcassonne (which is really only marginally related to the city itself!) that the whole family is sort of addicted to now - so the kids are eager to visit the real city. My thought, based on all this feedback, is to make it a 'late afternoon/evening' trip (we will be staying just over an hour away from Carcassonne) with a different activity planned in the morning. Does anyone know information about tour times (or where I can get that information?)
thanks!

My daughter and I had the same opinions of both MSM and Carassonne. They were beautiful when you are driving up to them but very disappointed when you go inside. The saving grace for MSM was the cathedral on top. They were way too commercial for me. But I guess people have to make a living.

The thing is - those places have ALWAYS been commercial/touristy! That's what they were all about! If you read about what they were like in the Middle Ages, it was the same deal - swarming with pilgrims and vendors hawking cheap trinkets! Expecting them to be some charming recreation of something they weren't is not realistic.

StCirq, we certainly weren't looking for 'charm' and we've been to many, many 'touristy' places. Those weren't the issues.

We arrived about 4pm, checked in to a hotel intending to spend a good part of the following day there. We then walked the town and the wall, had dinner and walked some more.

The next morning, we were rolled on...

Meant to say "we rolled on..." without the "were".

Myself anyway i have thoroughly loved the Cite in Carcassonne - not the blah modern town below.

Always seemed so mysterious - and a completely rebuilt medieval walled town, though rather Ersatz rather sets it apart from other authentically walled fortified towns.

I was once with my 10-yr old son and he really loved it.

To me Carcassonne is one of France's finest places, Ersatz or not.