Carcassonne?

Not much chatter on Carcassonne?

If you search in the box up top you should find it mentioned often

We stayed here on December 30 2019 very basic short walk to the old town
https://all.accor.com/hotel/1371/index.en.shtml

We ate at Le Casablanca I think a 9 year old would like the offerings
https://goo.gl/maps/zFrKfAms27WV9b6C8

There are a lot of places that have become so popular that the crowds really take the shine off being there. The bad news is that these places once were easy to fall in love with, they were easy to enjoy whenever you happened to show up, but now if you are there mid-day, they are so crowded and so "touristy" the experience ain't what it used to be. The good news is that if you are smart about when you are there, you can still enjoy their charms. You just need to avoid being there when everyone else is: and that's typically mid-day, from 9 or 10 am to 4 or 5 pm (depending on the season and other variables).

Carcassonne is one of those places. Like MSM and CT and others that are both super-popular and usually done as a day trip.

The way around the crowds is to be there late and early, spend the night there (or close by), and avoid the place at mid-day when the day-trippers fill the spaces.

Toulouse itself is a very attractive city. I haven't been to Carcassonne.

Stay overnight in Carcasonne to avoid the crowds of tourists. Make sure to order Cassoulet for dinner.

The way around the crowds is to be there late and early, spend the night there (or close by), and avoid the place at mid-day when the day-trippers fill the spaces.

That's good advice for many places. We've rented gites for a week in a number of villages that had a lot of tourist traffic (a few I can think of were Riquiwihr, Belcastel, Beynac, and Moustier). On most days we would be gone from early to mid-morning through late afternoon. Tourists would start arriving before we left and would mostly be gone by the time we returned. It did help that it was always off season, but I think this kind of plan would still work during high season.

Hello from Wisconsin,
I say, "a 9 year old will love it'" T-shirts, candy, a castle, plastic swords...what's not to like. And if you don't say anything about the crowds, a nine-year old won't even notice. I am betting that early in the morning or in the hours before they close the gates would be the best time for adults. Maybe everyone.
We actually found the old part of the city more enjoyable than the castle, but then again we didn't have a child to lift us up.

Let me suggest a trilogy of books by Kate Moss starting with Labyrinth. It is set in this very castle and the river that passes close by.

If you go to Albi and see the "beautiful" Cathedral (it is inside), it was built to intimidate the Albigensian heretics. Notice the Abli in that word. It looks a bit like a castle. The area around Carcassonne and Albi on down to the Spanish border played BIG in this 'believe in love' interpretation of Christianity. Knowing more about the Albigensians will help explain the plaque on the church inside the castle at Carcassonne.

Simon de Montfort is a good google.

And the mountain top castles south of Carcassonne, and I mean mountain TOP castles might trip the trigger of a kid.

wayne iNWI

Here's an excerpt from my Trip Report from a trip last May.
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/tours/rs-loire-valley-to-the-south-of-france-part-4

The name of the hotel we stayed at escapes me, I'll look it up and report back. It was very nice and right outside the walls.

Here it is https://www.hotelmontmorency.com/fr/hotel-3-etoiles-carcassonne?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=mybusiness

Loved Carcassonne and what a magic place for a 9 year old.
First off forget the too crowded nonsense.
Carcassonne is a delightful old town of about 40000 people. It has an iconic tourist attraction and that tourist attraction draws big crowds during normal tourism times. You can easily escape those crowds by wandering the outside of the walls. I wandered around inside the Cite Medievale at 6am and at 8pm as well as a 12 noon visit so we could do the Chateau and ramparts. Fantastic. So many places up there to explore for us older kids gotta be magic for a 9 year old.
As I said Carcassonne is a town of 40000. The famed Cite is up on a hill on the outskirts. There is a whole town outside those walls. Much of it is very old and it is a fun place to poke around and explore. The town itself lacks any big name sights but we found it interesting and charming.
There are a number of places in the town of interest. A couple of interesting churches etc usual stuff. A couple of museums too. Enjoyed the art gallery/ museum in a great old building. There is als a school museum. A boat trip along the canal.
The town square is the place to eat of an evening.
The Saturday we were there it became a huge farmers market.
Nice Irish pub near the square too if Granddad or Grandma feels the need for a pint lol.
It seems popular to stay within the walls of the Cite'.
Personally I was glad we stayed in town instead. We stayed a a wonderful B & B. Art Home. Highly recommend it but I am not sure whether they have rooms setup for a 3d. Emmanuelle looked after us there very, very well. Always some baked surprise at brekky.
There is often negativity about Carcassonne but I found it a fantastic place. I hope you do too.

We were there two weeks ago on a short trip to the Montpellier / Toulouse / Albi area. We went to Carcassonne on a day trip from the house we were renting near Albi. In late January and early February, it's very quiet. Few visitors. Little inside the walls that's open. But if your interest is to see the place rather than the touristic-oriented businesses that lie within, it would be a good time to visit. As others have mentioned, the main town of Carcassonne down off the hill where the people actually live and work also has some nice, though not jaw-dropping, features.

In May when you'll be there, I can imagine shoulder-to-shoulder tourists within the walled town. So, going late or early in the day probably would be best, while also offering better lighting opportunities for photographs.

That said, I think a child your granddaughter's age would find it magical, especially if you or her parents had provided some age-appropriate reading material about the medieval period ahead of time. When I get around France, especially seeing old châteaux and manor houses, one thing I unavoidably recall is the leaky old castle from Disney's The Sword and the Stone. Different place and, well, it's Disney (or rather, d'Isgny) , but it made an impression on me as a little kid. I suspect Carcassonne would do that for your granddaughter as well.

You might take a look at the Hotel Donjon. It is a bit off-putting that they are a Best Western, but it really a lovely hotel within the walls. Parking for guests is outside the walls and their driver will bring you and your luggage to the hotel. It was an enjoyable stay.

Thanks for all the comments and ideas. Safe travel friends!

We were in Carcassonne in 2013 on the RS Tour. We stayed at the lovely Hôtel Du Château. Excellent location. Carcassonne is especially magical in the early morning and at night. As mentioned up thread, enjoy the Cassoulet, the signature dish of the region.