Carcassonne in 2 days, on foot

This 2-day self-guided walking plan for Carcassonne covers 13 narrated sights in an easy day-by-day order. Each day is split into a morning and an afternoon loop, and every stop has a two to three minute audio story in the Gingerguide app.

You set the pace: this is a suggested order, not a schedule. Walk it in 2 days, or stretch it out. Reorder freely; Carcassonne rewards a detour.

The Carcassonne route at a glance

Day 1

Day 1 covers 7 stops over about 1 km as the crow flies, from Pont Vieux to Château Comtal. ≈ 1 km between stops, straight line

Morning

1. Pont Vieux: A 14th-century stone bridge of twelve arches over the River Aude, once the only crossing to the Cité. Now pedestrian-only, it frames the classic floodlit view of the ramparts. 0.6 km to the next stop
2. Porte Narbonnaise: The Cité's grand eastern gate, guarded by two beaked towers, a drawbridge and a barbican; built around 1280 and marked by a copy of the legendary Dame Carcas bust. 0.1 km to the next stop
3. Cité de Carcassonne: A double-walled medieval fortress town crowning a hill above the river Aude, ringed by fifty-two towers and carrying a famous, much-debated 19th-century restoration; UNESCO-listed since 1997 and free to enter. 0 km to the next stop
4. Ramparts and Towers of the Cité: Two concentric rings of curtain wall, about three kilometres long with fifty-two towers, form one of Europe's most complete medieval defences, restored and partly re-imagined by Viollet-le-Duc. 0.1 km to the next stop

Afternoon

1. Basilica of Saint-Nazaire: Carcassonne's cathedral until 1801, half heavy Romanesque nave and half soaring Gothic choir, lit through rose windows by one of southern France's most complete medieval glass ensembles. 0.1 km to the next stop
2. Les Lices: The grassy corridor between the Cité's two rings of wall, once a deadly killing-ground and now a free walking loop that circles the fortress past its towers. 0 km to the next stop
3. Château Comtal: The Trencavel viscounts' castle, sealed off by its own moat inside the Cité: a medieval fortress within a fortress, and today the ticketed gateway to the Cité's rampart walk.

Day 2

Day 2 covers 6 stops over about 2 km as the crow flies, from Porte d'Aude to Canal du Midi. ≈ 2 km between stops, straight line

Morning

1. Porte d'Aude: The Cité's western gate, reached by a steep fortified ramp climbing from the river Aude and the Pont Vieux, offering the most dramatic view of the western walls. 1 km to the next stop
2. Cathedral of Saint-Michel: Carcassonne's cathedral since 1803, a 13th-century southern Gothic church in the lower town, with a single wide nave, a great rose window, and a 19th-century Viollet-le-Duc restoration. 0.2 km to the next stop
3. Place Carnot: The living heart of the lower town, a market square since medieval times. Its marble Neptune fountain of 1770 is ringed by cafes and a lively Saturday market. 0 km to the next stop

Afternoon

1. Bastide Saint-Louis: Carcassonne's planned lower town, founded by Louis IX in 1260 on the Aude's west bank. A checkerboard grid of streets, markets and cafes facing the hilltop Cité. 0.3 km to the next stop
2. Église Saint-Vincent: A Languedoc Gothic church in the lower town with one of France's widest naves and a climbable 54-metre tower once used in the survey that defined the metre. 0.4 km to the next stop
3. Canal du Midi: A 17th-century, UNESCO-listed canal from Toulouse to the Mediterranean. Carcassonne joined it only by an 1810 diversion; today a lock and plane-lined port sit by the station.

Distances are straight-line between stops; streets add a little.

Updated: September 28, 2026

Full Carcassonne guide and all stops →