Carcassonne overrated tourist trap or a historical marvel worth seeing?
May 30th, 2022, 04:43 PM
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2022
Posts: 171
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Carcassonne overrated tourist trap or a historical marvel worth seeing?
My friend and I intend to stay in Toulouse for 3 days next June when we visit France and planned to take a day trip to Carcassonne while there (we also looked at Albi but it appeared to be quite 'museum heavy' which isn't to my friend's tastes).
From the onset Carcassonne looked beautiful but after a few google searches, I have seen numerous posts online of people expressing that Carcassonne is a tourist trap and conflicting opinions whether it is worth visiting.
We have already removed Mont St Michel from our itinerary (both due to it being a very overrun tourist stop and due to its distance from where we will be basing ourselves) and wanted to see whether Carcassonne should also be outed from our list.
I am a history nerd so Carcassonne appeals to me from that perspective (albeit I understand it is largely reconstructed) but wanted to hear some opinions from those that have already been. If we don't see Carcassonne we will only stay in Toulouse for 2 days and will allocate the extra day to another location (after Toulouse we will travel to Avignon and use it as our base for Provence, Lyon, Strasbourg, and then finish in Paris).
From the onset Carcassonne looked beautiful but after a few google searches, I have seen numerous posts online of people expressing that Carcassonne is a tourist trap and conflicting opinions whether it is worth visiting.
We have already removed Mont St Michel from our itinerary (both due to it being a very overrun tourist stop and due to its distance from where we will be basing ourselves) and wanted to see whether Carcassonne should also be outed from our list.
I am a history nerd so Carcassonne appeals to me from that perspective (albeit I understand it is largely reconstructed) but wanted to hear some opinions from those that have already been. If we don't see Carcassonne we will only stay in Toulouse for 2 days and will allocate the extra day to another location (after Toulouse we will travel to Avignon and use it as our base for Provence, Lyon, Strasbourg, and then finish in Paris).
May 30th, 2022, 05:57 PM
#2
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 9,658
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Hmm, I loved visiting Carcassonne years ago. It was during the winter and not crowded at all. I visited again a few years ago and was very disappointed that it was so touristy. However, we really enjoyed being there in the evening when it was illuminated and uncrowded.
May 30th, 2022, 06:03 PM
#3
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 12,018
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
The setting for Carcassonne is lovely. I enjoyed a brief visit, but seeing these places during the day when they are terribly crowded is not pleasant for me personally. I would not go far out of my way for it.
Near Avignon is Aigues Mortes, in The Camargue. Talk about history! It is probably one of my very favorite places like that, a perfect, intact, original, walled city. However, though I enjoyed walking the walls during the day, it is not great during the day, filled with day trippers and tacky souvenirs. At night it really is magical, so quiet you hear your footsteps and want to whisper. The main square, St Louis, is wonderful for dinner, a big fountain surrounded with small restaurants and often a musician or two. The surrounding area of salt flats, flamencos. Ponies, cowboys, etc. is beautiful in a quiet way. If you can go and spend at least one night inside the walls, in a building from the time of the crusades, do it. Your love of history will be rewarded.
Near Avignon is Aigues Mortes, in The Camargue. Talk about history! It is probably one of my very favorite places like that, a perfect, intact, original, walled city. However, though I enjoyed walking the walls during the day, it is not great during the day, filled with day trippers and tacky souvenirs. At night it really is magical, so quiet you hear your footsteps and want to whisper. The main square, St Louis, is wonderful for dinner, a big fountain surrounded with small restaurants and often a musician or two. The surrounding area of salt flats, flamencos. Ponies, cowboys, etc. is beautiful in a quiet way. If you can go and spend at least one night inside the walls, in a building from the time of the crusades, do it. Your love of history will be rewarded.
May 30th, 2022, 06:29 PM
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2022
Posts: 171
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
May 30th, 2022, 06:49 PM
#5
We stayed in Carcassonne, in the old walled town, for about 3 nights. We loved it. The walled town was magical to me, not growing up with anything remotely like that in our country. It will be busy but personally, I would recommend it.
May 30th, 2022, 07:50 PM
#6
Join Date: Apr 2011
Posts: 626
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
We visited Carcassonne from our base in the Aude and did enjoy our visit. It was April and not busy. Carcassonne is magnificent when viewed from a distance but you may not have that opportunity. We did not go into the chateau or any museums and basically just walked around and spent a few hours there. I can relate to Kay's comment. We are also Australian, have travelled a fair bit in France and never tire of seeing these wonderful beautiful places and history is everywhere.
We also visited Albi in 2016 from our base about fifteen minutes away. We always stay in self catering in small villages or in the countryside so a different approach from yours, and we always have a car. However I thought Albi was lovely. We are not big museum people but we did enjoy our visit to the Toulouse Lautrec museum which is housed in the Berbie palace, a lovely building in it's own right. The cathedral is magnificent, breath taking, and the choir stunning and well worth visiting and the town itself is in a pleasant location on the river and nice to walk around. We also saw TL's birthplace which was full circle as we had seen his grave a couple of weeks earlier in Verdelais in the Lot et Garonne.
I do not know how much time you will get to spend out of large centres. Public transport can be lacking at times in rural France. Something you could consider from Toulouse would be Cordes sur Ciel which is reached from Albi by train I think. It is a gorgeous perched village and different from large centres like Toulouse.
I think everyone differs in their impressions of places. It is very subjective. We always have more time than you so do not have to make as many decisions on what to do or what to omit. In hindsight we probably enjoyed Albi more but that may be because over several trips to France we have changed a bit ourselves. Carcassonne was in 2010 and we had two more trips before the one that included Albi in 2016. Ultimately only you can decide. We have been to places that someone else has loved and said they spent hours and we have not been there very long, and then been somewhere we had been told was not worth a visit and loved it.
Just something I will add. I have been following your journey of decision making. I know you think you have to do it all now but you do not. We did not make our first overseas trip until we were fifty for our eldest son's wedding in the UK. Since then, prior to Covid, we went every two years and only to France since 2010, our last being 2018. We cancelled a trip in 2020 and hope to brave it again next year by which time we will be almost seventy. So you do have time. One of the things we love about our trips is having time for the unexpected. Some of our favourite memories are not of the big ticket items but rather something small that stays with you long after the moment has passed.
Bon voyage.
We also visited Albi in 2016 from our base about fifteen minutes away. We always stay in self catering in small villages or in the countryside so a different approach from yours, and we always have a car. However I thought Albi was lovely. We are not big museum people but we did enjoy our visit to the Toulouse Lautrec museum which is housed in the Berbie palace, a lovely building in it's own right. The cathedral is magnificent, breath taking, and the choir stunning and well worth visiting and the town itself is in a pleasant location on the river and nice to walk around. We also saw TL's birthplace which was full circle as we had seen his grave a couple of weeks earlier in Verdelais in the Lot et Garonne.
I do not know how much time you will get to spend out of large centres. Public transport can be lacking at times in rural France. Something you could consider from Toulouse would be Cordes sur Ciel which is reached from Albi by train I think. It is a gorgeous perched village and different from large centres like Toulouse.
I think everyone differs in their impressions of places. It is very subjective. We always have more time than you so do not have to make as many decisions on what to do or what to omit. In hindsight we probably enjoyed Albi more but that may be because over several trips to France we have changed a bit ourselves. Carcassonne was in 2010 and we had two more trips before the one that included Albi in 2016. Ultimately only you can decide. We have been to places that someone else has loved and said they spent hours and we have not been there very long, and then been somewhere we had been told was not worth a visit and loved it.
Just something I will add. I have been following your journey of decision making. I know you think you have to do it all now but you do not. We did not make our first overseas trip until we were fifty for our eldest son's wedding in the UK. Since then, prior to Covid, we went every two years and only to France since 2010, our last being 2018. We cancelled a trip in 2020 and hope to brave it again next year by which time we will be almost seventy. So you do have time. One of the things we love about our trips is having time for the unexpected. Some of our favourite memories are not of the big ticket items but rather something small that stays with you long after the moment has passed.
Bon voyage.
May 30th, 2022, 08:08 PM
#7
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 12,018
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
[QUOTE=rhon;17367613]
Bon voyage.[/One of the things we love about our trips is having time for the unexpected. Some of our favourite memories are not of the big ticket items but rather something small that stays with you long after the moment has passed.
Yes!
Bon voyage.[/One of the things we love about our trips is having time for the unexpected. Some of our favourite memories are not of the big ticket items but rather something small that stays with you long after the moment has passed.
Yes!
May 30th, 2022, 08:23 PM
#10
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 2,163
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
We spent a few hours in Carcassonne and loved it, believe it was a Sunday in latter September, a beautiful day with lots of families. We had left either Toulouse or Albi the morning of, and that evening reached our final accommodations in St. Remy.. Albi was also a must for us -- the cathedral and Lautrec Musee, so only a one nighter (which we always try to avoid).
May 30th, 2022, 10:34 PM
#12
In 2006, My husband and I were traveling in France during early July. We stopped by on a weekday and I found it so crowded that, after a brief walk in the site, we turned around and left. I rarely leave a place because of crowds, but it was not enjoyable at all. It’s one of those places that are probably pleasant if you are there very early or very late, but during the normal touring hours, not worth it, IMO.
May 31st, 2022, 03:09 AM
#14
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 10,391
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Hello victoriainwanderland. I skimmed your other threads and I have a suggestion.
Stick to one thread per trip instead of opening numerous threads which require your readers to backtrack so as to put your latest draft itinerary all together and by that I mean, the itinerary for the entire trip in rough outline, and then start your questions about specific places.Whether something is worth doing isn't just a matter of the virtues of the site itself, but what one did in the immediate preceding days and where one is planning to go in the next, succeeding few days. If one has just done two day trips in a row, for example, or is about to set off on a long train journey to another destination the following day, that could make a difference in relative enjoyment of a place.
Okay, to Carcassonne. If you use google search, you can determine the public transit options very easiiy.
Carcassonne is an hour train journey each way from Toulouse, quite doable. You could even have supper in Carcassonne village which would give you a break from the big city of Toulouse. (Just don't count on the chateau being open past 17:00. Check the hours on the website.
Toulouse to Aigues Mortes, which someone has mentioned, is not doable as a day trip and even an overnight in Aigues Mortes would be long - it is over 4 hours each way. My personal experience is that 3 hours round trip is quite long enough for a day trip - if it stretches to 4 hours round trip the benefits start to be exceeded by the effort to attain them. Although we have done 4 hour round trip day trips, just not often.
Toulouse to Albi is somewhat longer a day trip - 1.5 hours each way or 3 hours round trip than to Carcassonne but still doable.
Stick to one thread per trip instead of opening numerous threads which require your readers to backtrack so as to put your latest draft itinerary all together and by that I mean, the itinerary for the entire trip in rough outline, and then start your questions about specific places.Whether something is worth doing isn't just a matter of the virtues of the site itself, but what one did in the immediate preceding days and where one is planning to go in the next, succeeding few days. If one has just done two day trips in a row, for example, or is about to set off on a long train journey to another destination the following day, that could make a difference in relative enjoyment of a place.
Okay, to Carcassonne. If you use google search, you can determine the public transit options very easiiy.
Carcassonne is an hour train journey each way from Toulouse, quite doable. You could even have supper in Carcassonne village which would give you a break from the big city of Toulouse. (Just don't count on the chateau being open past 17:00. Check the hours on the website.
Toulouse to Aigues Mortes, which someone has mentioned, is not doable as a day trip and even an overnight in Aigues Mortes would be long - it is over 4 hours each way. My personal experience is that 3 hours round trip is quite long enough for a day trip - if it stretches to 4 hours round trip the benefits start to be exceeded by the effort to attain them. Although we have done 4 hour round trip day trips, just not often.
Toulouse to Albi is somewhat longer a day trip - 1.5 hours each way or 3 hours round trip than to Carcassonne but still doable.
May 31st, 2022, 03:24 AM
#15
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2022
Posts: 171
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I know you think you have to do it all now but you do not. We did not make our first overseas trip until we were fifty for our eldest son's wedding in the UK. Since then, prior to Covid, we went every two years and only to France since 2010, our last being 2018. We cancelled a trip in 2020 and hope to brave it again next year by which time we will be almost seventy. So you do have time. One of the things we love about our trips is having time for the unexpected. Some of our favourite memories are not of the big ticket items but rather something small that stays with you long after the moment has passed.
I think we will visit Carcassonne - obviously some loved it and some hated it but we’ve already cut out Mont St Michel and Carcassonne is close enough to Toulouse I think I’d be irritated not going knowing how close it was.
May 31st, 2022, 03:29 AM
#16
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2022
Posts: 171
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Stick to one thread per trip instead of opening numerous threads which require your readers to backtrack so as to put your latest draft itinerary all together and by that I mean, the itinerary for the entire trip in rough outline, and then start your questions about specific places.Whether something is worth doing isn't just a matter of the virtues of the site itself, but what one did in the immediate preceding days and where one is planning to go in the next, succeeding few days. If one has just done two day trips in a row, for example, or is about to set off on a long train journey to another destination the following day, that could make a difference in relative enjoyment of a place..
Apologies about the numerous posts - I’ve been asking some sporadic questions so as to try narrow down our itinerary and finalize it in the interests of having dozens of versions of our basic itinerary though once it’s finalized in the next week or so I’ll post it in its entirety for feedback on the whole (though I’m certain I’ll have people tell me it’s too much no matter how much I insist I’m game for it!)
May 31st, 2022, 04:01 AM
#17
If your husband is unable/unwilling to fly, you should look into sailing. There are regular TransAtlantic trips on Cunard. Also, no reason you can't travel solo while he looks after the kids. Has he tried therapy?
May 31st, 2022, 04:03 AM
#18
We visited Carcassonne about 20 years ago, shoulder season. My memory is not particularly positive. It is great to view from a distance. The actuality was of moving hordes of other tourists, shops selling plastic cutlasses, reconstructed walls consisting of brick and metal railings, a dim old empty church, and a busy central square with decent food for lunch. Not a high point. Since you say you are going, a trip report afterwards will help future questioners.
May 31st, 2022, 04:32 AM
#19
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 12,018
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I suggested Aigues Mortes because at one point the OP said they would be staying in Avignon as a base. Aigues Mortes is just an hours drive from Avignon.
Certainly would never have meant to suggest it from Toulouse. Hope that clears it up. For a real history addict, Aigues Mortes is great. We spent three nights there and I would love to return.
Certainly would never have meant to suggest it from Toulouse. Hope that clears it up. For a real history addict, Aigues Mortes is great. We spent three nights there and I would love to return.
