As part of a longer trip starting mid-January (a week in Nice, a week in Arles before, then a week in Port-Vendres after) we have four nights for Toulouse - Albi - Carcassone. The first objective was to see Carcassone with few tourists, but then we started looking at Toulouse and so I thought it would be interesting to spend 2 or 3 days there, but then I saw the Cathedral in Albi so I decided absolutely a day trip to Albi.....one place leads to another.... We will be there with our car (driving from Italy). The question is where to base, arriving from Arles.
Option 1: 4 nights in Toulouse
Albi day trip ok; but to drive past Carcassone on the way to Toulouse and then spend a day returning to Carcassone for a day trip seems daft; also that only leaves one full day in Toulouse.
Option 2: 1 night in Carcassone, 3 nights in Toulouse
Great for Carcassone but in Toulouse only two full days of which one day trip to Albi doesn't seem to leave long for Toulouse (extra accommodation move uses up time)
Option 3: base in Carcassone
Good accommodation options (apartments with parking) but two day trips to Toulouse seems a waste of time from a travel point of view? Also Carcassone to Albi is nearly two hours on a Tour de France road - not a good day trip in January.
So here I am going round in circles without deciding - also started reading about driving in Toulouse which sounds a bit scary - even with option 2 I will still have to daytrip to Albi (would prefer car to train for several reasons)
Any ideas?
Somewhere else we could base?
Are drivers in Toulouse really as bad as they say? (I survived Naples, just)
Posted by
935 posts
I haven’t been to this part of France in many years, so my opinions are out of date. That said, I would stop in Carcassonne on the way from Arles to Toulouse, then sleep in Toulouse. The old town in Carcassone will be dead on a January evening. Spend 3 nights in Toulouse, with 2 full days and possibly another half day when you leave. Drive to Albi, spend half day there, possibly next morning depending on your next destination. If you want a full day in Albi, leave early from Toulouse.
Posted by
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, USA
16265 posts
I don't have solid advice but I will tell you my experience. I'd visited Carcassonne with a tour group as a day trip from Toulouse a few years ago. It was OK. In October I stayed there for 2 nights on my own and 7 nights with a small group tour. I really enjoyed the old Cite of Carcassonne either early in the day or after the day trippers left. It was so cool to walk around although toward the 3rd week of October many things were shutting down by 6-7P. Restaurants were still open.
We did day trips from Carcassonne but ours were all to smaller places than Toulouse and Albi and might not interest you for a first trip to the area.
I'd probably go with at least 1 night in Carcassonne just so you can walk around the old cite In the evening.
Our tour stayed at the ibis Styles Carcassonne La Cité at 2 Darius Milhaud. It's in a neighborhood, not the Bastide (new town area) and there is a large parking lot. It's about a 10 minute walk to the Cite although it could be darkish at times with street lights not coming on. It's flat until you get to the actual Cite area which has some elevation. It was clean, awesome staff, stridently eco/recycling with signs everywhere (I wanted to scream...I was recycling before you were born....but I restrained myself, hahaha) and located so it was easy for my tour guide to get out of town. The price was reasonable compared to the hotels IN the Cite.
If you want a restaurant recommendation, I loved L'Ostal des Troubadours and ate there 3 times. There was a guitarist there all the nights who was excellent. His name is Jericho and he is Gitane so sang in French, Spanish, Oc and a little English.
https://ostal.net/index_en.html
Maison de Cassoulet was also delicious. I am not much for cassoulet but I had a salad with steamed shrimp and they were possibly the best shrimp I might have ever eaten....and that says a lot!
Enjoy this area. It is very interesting and there is a lot to see. I really liked Albi which I saw on the Road Scholar tour. Toulouse was fine and interesting but it is a bigger city.
Posted by
Camano Island, WA, usa
1680 posts
I would visit Albi for the Toulouse Lautrec Museum. The Louvre, which was too conservative at the time of the Lautrec death, refused the offer of his works; so his mother started the Museum in Albi. You will be delighted to see this expansive collection. They open by noon most days, or 10 on some days. Bon Voyage!
Posted by
France Southwest
3301 posts
From Arles, take the road to Toulouse (via the A9 then the A61) and stop in Carcassonne along the way. It's true that it would be a shame to drive past without stopping, especially since you will see the medieval city from the highway, but you don't need to stay all day; you have plenty of time to visit the medieval city in two or three hours. Why would you want to stay longer in this kind of large open-air museum? (especially in January in the winter wind).
And the modern part of Carcassonne doesn't have any particular appeal other than having the services, hotels, restaurants, and shops to accommodate the crowds of tourists. There are much better and more authentic places in the region.
On that note, you should know that the medieval city was abandoned for centuries and partially destroyed. It was restored in the 19th century by Viollet-le-Duc, who significantly altered it. So what you see, which looks a bit like a beautiful Walt Disney castle, is not at all historically accurate to what originally existed.
Leaving Carcassonne, you'll be about an hour's drive from Toulouse.
If from Toulouse you're going to Port-Vendres (a charming fishing port overlooked by tourists who prefer to stay in Collioure) you can also stop in Carcassonne at that point in your itinerary. I've made the round trip by car several times in a single day from Toulouse, taking friends to visit Carcassonne, Collioure, and the surrounding area. You just have to get up early.
Also, Carcassonne to Albi is nearly two hours on a Tour de France
route – not a good day trip.
Right ! In January, you should definitely avoid driving from Carcassonne to Albi, as it will take you through the Montagne Noire (Black Mountain), which is a very bad idea by car (it was snowy the last two days). It's nothing like the sunny weather in July with the Tour de France.
So, spend more time in Toulouse, from where you can take a day trip to Albi. And since you have a car, stop in Gaillac, halfway between Toulouse and Albi.
Toulouse is a Low Emission Zone and, in theory, requires a Crit'Air sticker (at least the entire area inside the Toulouse ring road). However, this requirement isn't widely observed by locals, and there are no specific police checks for stickers. It's the only low emission zone in the region.
You won't have much time to explore the region, but here's some information and ideas on this map:
https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1SrAtdgxHVZnob6W3FwLoW4bqrLmZCuU&usp=sharing
All these places are well-known to French and European tourists, but unknown to most others. Too bad for them.
Another one, more focused on Toulouse:
https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1Z1sSFFM4Injq9W_WArpkpYN_6SanFjw&usp=sharing
Regarding cassoulet, there are quite a few places that true cassoulet connoisseurs avoid, some of which are notorious tourist traps (even for French tourists). But one you can go to without hesitation is the Auberge du Poids Public.