Paris/Carcasonne/Barcelona trip in October?

Hi
I did a similar trip in October two years ago by myself (62 YO male). it was a lot of fun, so dont let anything hold you back. I few thoughts come to mind:
train travel: either keep your luggage near you or bring a bicycle cable lock. The couple next to me got their suitcase stolen from the rack near the exit door at an intermediate station stop.

Carcassonne: for a fun experience, I stayed in the hostel that is in Rick's book. I never did that in my youth, so I gave it a go. Clean, Quiet, and safe. nice fellow travelers to meet as well. Personally, one day/two nights is plenty there. Be sure to have the cassoulet!

Barcelona: I read about the anti-tourist actions. I believe it's mostly a backlash about apartments being converted to Air B&B units. Don't cancel your trip over this. I took a taxi from the train station to my hotel in the old town, which again was recommended by RS. Otherwise its a very walkable city. The beaches were nice. 5-6 days might be a bit long, unless you do excursions. I took an overnight ferry to Majorca Island.

if you spend one day less at the other 3 locations, this will allow 3 days in Lyon, which I highly recommend.
Enjoy your trip!

It is better solo in Barcelona than in an obvious tour group. But picket pocketing happens there a lot. Otherwise your itinerary works in the order you put it in and can be accomplished all by train. Fly into Paris and out of Barcelona.

If you watch "Netlix" check out "The Agency"...it is a reality based show about a family of Parisian Real Estate Agents. They show luxury properties thruout France and more recently they expanded to other countries. One of their recent episodes was in Barcelona; it was interestig as it showed areas not on the Tourist Trail. I've really enjoyed this show! They do dub it or you can watch in Francais with sub titles. Lyon is on the east part of France. I would go down the west part of France to Carcasonne and then continue on to Spain from there. Start looking up general infomation; I use Wikipedia to read some history, and a general idea of what to see in each location.

I was in Carcassonne and in Barcelona earlier this year.

In Carcassonne I stayed at Hotel le Donjon, right in the medieval fortress. I definitely recommend you stay inside the fortress and not down below.

However, I think three days is too many for Carcassonne. Two full days is really more than enough. In fact, you can thoroughly explore the fortress in a half day and then explore the city below, which has a few things worth checking out. With an extra day I'd do a day trip, perhaps to Narbonne. Only issue with that is the fortress is a good long walk (about a half hour, the last third all uphill) from the train station, and of course a long walk from the fortress down to the station.

You could easily take a day away from Carcassonne and add it to either Barcelona or Paris. Or you could do a couple of nights in Carcassonne and a couple of nights in Girona, on the way to Barcelona.

I experienced exactly zero instances of feeling unwelcome in Barcelona.

Unless you have a specific reason to go to Lyon, it makes more sense to go to Toulouse or possibly Montpellier if you then want to go to Carcassonne and Barcelona.

I don't see the point of spending several days in Carcassonne, the medieval city is just a "big open-air museum". Also note that this city remained in ruins for centuries, its "Disneyland castle" appearance is only due to reconstruction work that was done in the 19th century by Viollet le Duc without taking into account the historical reality. What you will see, for example the towers with the tip-shaped roofs, never existed before.

Carcasonne is great, we did it a year ago, but you don't need more than a day or two there.

Yes, Barcelona is the WORST place in the World for pickpockets, so wear a money belt or neck wallet.

In fact, this is the third iteration of Carcassonne, not counting the prehistoric settlement underneath it all. In the 19thcentury, when it was announced that Carcassonne was going to be rebuilt, Parisian businessmen flocked down south to buy up the available shop space. They knew we were coming. And recent research has supported the head architect of the renovation. There's a long list of favorite places in France that owe their current features to this same man.

Tip: if you enter by the steep Barbacane entrance rather than the easy Narbonne entrance, you won't immediately encounter the disdained Disney-like features. We spent 10 nights in Carcassonne.

I'll be in Carcassonne to meet up with a multi-day tour in October so I've been collecting some links on Things to do.

In case any of these are of interest to you:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g13320446-i42895-k15386977-Carcassone_walking_and_cycling-Carcassonne_Aude_Occitanie.html

https://www.taxis-carcassonne.fr

https://franceadventurer.com/things-to-do-in-carcassonne/?fbclid=IwY2xjawK9YAhleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFmQzF4Y1YyM010TG1TM1NaAR5oeF5cpBiWBaoHF2p_f5ciSKUcDgk7N5wgIql2oMDoEg_VpuZphrP_6uL0Rg_aem_oIkyeZ2_-te4nAe8ynQGoQ

https://www.tourisme-carcassonne.fr/en/

They also have what looks like a DIY walking tour app called Carcassonne Interactive. No real reviews on it so it may or may not be helpful. I've downloaded it and will see if I can get it to work when I am there.

Looks like there are some Art Nouveau and Art Deco sites if those are of interest to you:

https://www.calameo.com/carcassonne-tourisme/read/002429985d6992cadb1db

Other brochures/maps:

https://www.tourisme-carcassonne.fr/en/useful/our-brochures/