Carcassonne from St. Remy-de-Provence
 

My wife and I will be visiting Burgundy and Provence in May and June. We will be lodging in St. Remy the last 5 days. My wife would like to go over to Carcassonne for a day. Any opinions as to whether this would be a worthwhile destination? What would you recommend doing in Carcassonne?

What's your definition of "worthwhile?" Why does your wife want to go there?

There's only one thing TO do in Carcassonne, and that's tour it, preferably on one of the English-language tours unless you're a francophone. The lower town is of little interest.

I and my wife enjoyed our visit to Carcassone with an overnight stay. That being said, you would be driving at least 2 1/2 hrs one way to get there from St Remy. Five hours of driving (w/o stops) would not be justified in my opinion. I imagine you have not been to Provence before and even if you have, there are just too many things to do, sights to see and places worth your effort in the greater Provence areas to take such an extended day trip. Save it for another visit. Paul

I will consume an entire day. When we were there in early June of '04, the only English tour was cancelled & we had to take the French tour (my wife translated for me). The drive to/from Carcassonne is not interesting.

Just stay in Provence.

Stu Dudley

We went from St. Remy to Carcassonne 3 years ago. Walked thru the town, didn't take the tour, didn't stay the night. We both were well under-impressed. As castles go, we much preferred Beynac. The drive between is sort of a sun-baked Nebraska. On to Bordeaux.
Summary: in 6 weeks of travel throughout France over the last 6 years, Carcassonne was in the lowest 20% group. It's still French, of course, so how bad could it be?

It was mobbed when we were there in the day night but at night when all the day-trippers are gone, it becomes magical.
Also the approach is better in the day time rather than being in behind the walls.

Thanks everyone. My wife has agreed that we would better spend our time in Provence on this trip.

Smart woman

Stu Dudley

Hi Lyndell; I agree with 'cigal' that Carcassonne is magical. We have stayed there twice, once inside the walls and once outside. BUT, with only five days in Provence, there is too much to see in that area. Stay in the Provence. Read about Carcassonne and visit in your next trip to France. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/carcassonne and a little about Burgundy www.burgundyeye.com/ Dick