I stumbled across visiting Carcassone whilst looking for places to visit using Google Flights. I noticed that you could visit cheaply for the weekend & upon research I decided that visiting the city would be an ideal weekend break. Ryanair really does have a lot of flights to regional and smaller airports, increasing the amount of flights from London to places which I otherwise would never visit, such as Carcassonne
We flew from London Stansted, on the Friday 14:25PM flight and arrived in Carcassonne for 17:10. The total price for return flights without baggage was £35.23 each, or £70.46 for two. Given that we were only in Carcassonne for just over 48 hours, we decided that hand luggage would be enough.
My recommendation is to travel on the Friday evening trip and return on the Sunday, as one whole day is enough for the area. You could alternatively visit from Toulouse and make the day trip to Carcassonne.
Parking at Stansted is fine, but I would advise booking as soon as you have the flights booked to keep costs down. I would advise booking through Quidco, to maximise savings. I have been fortunate enough to receive up to 7% cash back per booking before.
Leaving Carcassonne airport was seamless and easy, with no real queue. After around a five minute wait at the passport checkout, I got my stamp and was sent on my way.
We then had to find transport to Carcassonne. I got the bus directly outside the airport & for two it was €12 for single tickets to Carcassonne’s train station which took approx. 20 minutes and I then followed google maps to my apartment.
There were multiple options for dinner near the main square & we chose quite well. The restaurant that we visited in the end was called Au lard et au cochon, located at 1 Rue Denisse, 11000 Carcassonne, France. Dinner was reasonably priced, although they did not have an English language option menu option which made ordering a bit trickier!
We then went to the Irish Pub called ‘The Celt’ for a few drinks before bed. The atmosphere here was really fun and we made some friends during our visit.
The following morning, we made the journey to UNESCO Carcassonne castle, firstly paying a visit to the bakery named ‘Boulangerie – Patisserie Papineau, found at 57 Rue De Verdun, 11000 Carcassonne. The Croissants and Pain Au Chocolates were by far the best we tried on our visit, costing as low as €1.05.
We followed the route on google maps to the Cite De Carcassonne, passing the Point Vieux bridge, to admire the walled city from a distance and to take some rather scenic photographs. By the beginning of the Point Vieux Bridge, there is a small church called the ‘Notre Dame De La Santé’ which is worth quickly popping in to see.
Following the bridge, you can take the ‘Rue Trivalle’ road, which will allow you to walk past and check out some of the best rated restaurants and cafes before heading to the Citadel.
I would highly recommend pre-booking prior to going, as even in January the queue to pay for a ticket on the day was approx. 20 minutes. The castle is really astonishing and should not be missed during your visit.
We opted to walk around the castle & city walls without a tour guide, which took around two hours, although we did go around the walls again for a second loop in around twenty minutes, without taking photos or reading further information. We enjoyed spending a view moments admiring the stunning views over the City of Carcassone, surrounding vineyards and mountainous regions.
You can then walk around the Cite De Carcassonne, exploring the restaurants, cafés, shops & museums, and streets. Notable shops visits include taste testing truffle products at the ‘Signorini Tartufi Carcassonne’ and various attractions that we opted not to visit on the day, including the ‘Haunted House’ & ‘Musee De Inquisition’.
We then travelled back to the apartment to get ready for the evening and to freshen up for dinner. On the way back, we stumbled across visited an art museum which was free entry, named ‘Musee des Beaux-Arts De Carcassonne’, which contained local arts and history & then the ‘Chapelle Des Dominicaines’, which again is a free entry art exhibition that was visiting, which holds various local artist exhibitions.
A note of caution for all visitors in the out of season period, we were looking for restaurants on google maps & trip advisor, but were left frustrated after visiting a few and realising that they were shut & were to reopen between April & September, despite being listed as open on google maps. I would recommend heading to Rue Trivalle as all the restaurants on this road were open.
We decided upon visiting Barrière Truffles and were greeted by a friendly restaurant owner, who was extremely knowledgeable on all local wines and truffles. It was the best culinary experience of my life, albeit quite expensive. You do pay for what you get, and I would extremely recommend visiting. Phillipe the owner and head chef is highly renown and passionate about what he does. You can listen to his stories and take his recommendation on wine paring. He was a former Rugby player for Carcassonne and was multilingual.
Still feeling quite hungry and cautious of our dwindling budget, we went down the road to a Tapas restaurant named ‘FloridaBlanca’ to finish off for dinner, which was ok – filling and fair priced. The atmosphere was good and if you’re looking for a few small plates and drinks which is affordable, I would recommend here if you want a quick bite to eat and a drink.
In hindsight and looking back on our experience, we agreed that if we were to come again, we would visit a market or supermarket and make our own dinner using fresh products, visiting Barrière Truffles for some wine and small dishes.
On the Sunday, we had the day to make the most of before headed to the airport. Our flight was at 6pm.
We started by checking out of our Airbnb and heading the local bakery for a croissant, noting that most of the establishments were shut, because it was a Sunday. Most of the people on the streets were heading to the cathedrals for Sunday mass, which was romantically signalled by the cathedral bell. There are some Sunday markets which are worth wondering around, although with flying home in the evening and already checked out of the apartment, there was not much point purchasing any food.
With many of the shops and cafes shut, we decided to head back to the castle walls for some more photographs. You can walk around most of the inner city without paying and can walking around the external walls, taking in the beautiful environment and views. On a clear day, you can see the Pyrénées mountains.
We then headed to the Tribe Hotel for a coffee as this was basically the only place open on a Sunday (I believe that during the summer some more places are actually open on Sundays, but with the lack of tourism in January, I would assume it is uneconomical to open). We then booked a taxi from the Tribe Hotel to the airport, leaving at 2:45PM, noting that there is no Uber or Bolt Taxi Service currently operating in Carcassonne as of Jan 2023.
We arrived at the airport in good time, with only a few flights running on the Sunday. The airport is very small & does have a small café that you can grab some light food and drinks. The security at the airport is minimal, we entered approx. 4.45 and were through within 10 minutes.
At the gates, there are no cafes or shops, a few vending machines (one of which took card, the rest required coins). The gates do have adequate seating, charging facilities & boasts WIFI.
Carcassonne is a fantastic place to visit and could be done in either a day or a weekend. Fri evening to Sunday did work quite well for us and provided adequate time to complete all the items on the list.
I have seen videos of the large swathes of tourists in the summer, with four million annual visitors who usually attend between April – September, I do believe visiting in January is worth it as you will get some scenic photographs, avoid queuing and also will not need to feel rushed around. The cons with visiting in January was that it was quite cold & some restaurants were shut for the winter period. The flights are substantially cheaper in January and judging by my conversations with the locals, the restaurants and bars all hike their prices during the summer months, to cater for the influx of tourists.
Do not expect the locals to speak English. Some do in the restaurants, but it pays dividends to open your sentences with basic French (I have been working on my French but am still someway off being able to hold coherent sentences). They will usually even reply in English! It appears that the majority of tourists are actually Spanish, and this is the second language spoken by the locals. If you do visit during the summer, make sure to allow time for a vineyard tour.
Modest Travels 
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