Day trips from Carcassonne
 

I will be spending a week based in Carcassonne in May. I was there last year with my husband and we also visited Montpellier and Toulouse. This year, we would like to make several day trips or overnight stays to places such as, Beziers, Narbonne, Nimes, Albi and Perpignan. We do not have a car, so we intend to travel by train from Carcassonne. Rather than buying indivdual return tickets, does anyone know if there is a discounted rail pass, which would allow us to travel more economically?

There are discounted rail passes usually valid for a year but they cost €53 for the senior pass and €85 for the escapade card. Not a bargain when you travel short distances. There are no PREM's on the local trains (TER) you will be taking.
The best thing is to ask when you buy your ticket at the station. In some cases there is a discount if you overnight.

Thanks for the information.

I was in Carcassone last September and went on an excellent tour of some vineyards in the area, run by an English lady called Wendy Gedney, who is now based in the area and runs tours of the vineyards. She is extremely knowledgeable and the day was great, visiting several small wine companies and having lunch at a rural French restaurant, all for a quite reasonable cost of around 40 euros, including lunch. She even managed to squeeze in a spot of sightseeing for us, and we ended up having a very full and interesting 10 hour day, and were dropped off at our hotels!

http://www.thewinewisecompany.com/wine_holidays/

We found Castres a very interesting town to visit. With my group of six people, we met a man that invited us into his home that overlooked the valley. Not too far from your home base. Probably about an hour. Loved the town. Richard http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/castres