Carcassonne

We enjoyed our day in Carcassonne - stayed two nights, but arrived late, so only one usable day. Spent way more time in the walled part than we thought - until mid-afternoon. I'm glad we went.

We liked Carcassonne too. We visited as part of the RS tour of southern France and arrived late afternoon as the other tourists were leaving. We had the place to ourselves for dinner and wandering around the castle grounds. We have some terrific night photos!

We just returned from 2 1/2 weeks driving throughout the Southwest of France. If you're not spending at least 5 nights in the greater Dordogne region, or are having to drive much out of the way, I'd pass on Carcassone for an extra night further north. Rocamadour would give you a similar feel, but be less touristy. If you go to Carcassone, it's an "arrive at 4 and leave the following morning" kind of place.

Count me as a fan of Carcassonne. We stayed one night arriving late afternoon in September 2003, departing noon the next day. I walked the ramparts after dark and it was awesome. (I did sprain my ankle which made driving hard the next day). We took a guided tour the second day before heading up to the mountains to visit Peyreptuse and Queribus, two Cathar castles which were great. I would love to spend more time in this area!

I haven't been yet. It will be part of my fourth trip to France, probably next June. The pro-tip I heard was don't go in the main entrance, go around to the opposite gate and start there (the aude gate) for a completely different feel. The main gate is packed with tourist stuff but the other gate is mostly deserted - at least that's what I hear.

I'm a carcassonne fan too.
It's always interesting to see the different reponses and opinions, that's the beauty of a forum.
You see, Eventhough Rocamadour we thought was lovely from away, we didn't enjoy as much. Sometimes, you don't know why. It's an impression, on the moment. Not far from Rocamadour is one of the most beautiful village of France, st-cirq lapopie. Gorgeous little medieval town, good for 2 hours of slow walking and pictures.
And the Dordogne region, yes, a fantastic region to visit. Sarlat, laroque gageac, domme, beynac et cazenac, etc.
Ciao!

I heartily recommend finding a place that has Cassoulet on the menu in Carcassone. I found that to be a wonderful local dish!

For what it's worth, check out Chez Fred for Cassoulet. It's in the lower town across the canal from the train station. Good quality, great service, and modestly priced.

Brad - I'm not sure which entrance we used - the one opposite to where the church was - I was trying to figure it out on google maps, but without much luck (OK, I get frustrated easily...lol). We initially went in thru a big arch/drawbridge kinda thingy but we wandered along between the walls to the other end then entered the town from the other end (well, I guess where the church is located).

My husband and I discovered Carcassonne by accident when we were driving back to Avignon from Toulouse. We had a little flexibility in our itinerary, so we decided to stop and stay one night, getting the last room within the walled city. It was a delight! We may have been there when they were having a Medieval fair there, but everywhere people were in costume, playing instruments, having a jousting match, arts and crafts fair, and food to buy. It was quite busy and crowded during the day, but after the day-trippers went home, it was quiet and peaceful, and lovely. Truly one of the highlights of our first trip to France!

Nicole, There is a church near the aude gate. If you walked mostly uphill into the castle, that's the gate you entered. When you enter there's not much there until you get closer to the main gate. It's just a different feel when you go in, like a mostly empty old castle rather than a touristy sight.

Nicole and Brad--there's no mistaking the Narbonne (main) and Aude (other) gate. The Aude is a steep hill, a tiny parking lot at the bottom filled with the locals' cars and no tourist shops when you finally get to the top, only a few restaurants. The Narbonne is a gentle ramp over the empty moat. We based below the Aude gate for ten days a few years ago.

FYI trivia--in 1840s when business speculators in Paris heard that Carcassonne would be restored, they swooped in and bought up the real estate on top of the hill because they knew this would become a popular tourism destination. So even the schlocky shops have a history to them that dates back almost 200 years.

My experience with Carcassone came some 23 years ago, however it left a lasting impression.

I imagine my perspective may be different now, but at the time the Carousel at the main entrance was charming.
The walk in through the main gate was full of tourists and tourist shops, but the deeper I ventured in the more real it felt.
Outside the rear of the Castle walls there is a small house, with a stone wall, that has a top that is concrete mixed with shards of glass, and rolling farmland in the distance. Listening to Nina Simone's rendition of Leonard Cohen's Suzanne on a discman (just aged myself) was and is one of the more memorable moments of my life.

Sooo. tl;dr, its great, it has a tourist slant to it, but there is something all together charming and I would absolutely go if it were on my way somewhere or as part of a tour excursion.

P.S. There is a google street view that walks you through the entire city, pretty rad
https://www.google.com/maps/@43.2050917,2.3649349,3a,75y,128.31h,79.51t/data=!3m9!1e1!3m7!1saTQPGtoueEZl_83DkRpiNQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!9m2!1b1!2i33

OK, we def walked first over the Narbonne gate, then walked between the walls up one side and entered the village proper thru the Aude gate, I guess!

We had an airbnb in the town that was about a 10-15 min walk to the fortifications, and about a 10 min walk to the downtown. Nice little (what I would call) an in-laws suite. Connected to the main house (so the owner could come clean it), but with it's own entrance, bathroom, bedroom...and we could park the car and just walked everywhere.