The Languedoc-Roussillon region of southern France consists of the Departments of Aude, Gard, Hérault, Lozère and Pyrénées-Orientales making this one of the most varied of the French regions.
Castles and walled villages abound throughout the region. These range from castles of the Cathar era (Queribus, Peyrepertous being the most famous) to the walled city of Carcassonne along with numerous walled villages such as Villefranche.
The entire region is steeped in history with extensive Roman remains around Nime including the world famous Pont du Gard.
In the west the region stops just short of the Pyrenees whilst to the east it borders on Provence which gives you some idea of the range of climates encompassed here.
Watersports include everything that you would expect of a region that runs alongside the Mediterranean but with the addition of the Canal du Midi which runs inland and the Canal du Rhone which skirts along the Mediterranean beach resorts.
Amongst the collection of Les Plus Beaux Villages in this region are Aigueze, Castelnou, Eus, Evol, La Garde Guérin, La Roque sur Ceze, Lagrasse, Minerve, Mosset, Olargues, St Guilhem le Desert, Ste Enimie and Villefranche de Conflent.
The popularity of the region means many airport options including Toulouse (TLS), Carcassonne (CCF), Perpignan (PGF), Montpellier (MPL) and Nimes but numerous others lie just outside the region offering a wealth of choices.
The rail network is extensive but don't forget that the highspeed trains radiate out from Paris so whilst the high speed TGV trains will get you from Paris in under six hours, it can take just as long to go from Perpignan to Nimes.
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Whole Earth Guide in Languedoc-Roussillon
Rennes le Chateau and the Da Vinci Code
The Da Vinci Code books and films has placed a number of sights in the Pyrenees firmly on the tourist circuit.
Of these, by far the easiest to get to is the village of Rennes le Chateau which is about 15 minutes drive from Quillan on the Carcassonne road.
Not so long ago, there was one relatively small car park which would have held at most 20 cars yet when we went recently we found a stream...
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Last updated 12 Jan 2008
Cathar Castles
Remnants of the Cathar castles are confined to a fairly small area of southern France with all of them within a couple of hours drive. This being the case, it's possible to see them all in a single day or, more realistically, over the course of a couple of days.
The first group consists of Aquila, Peyrepertuse and Queribus which takes around an hour to drive. Arques can be seen along this route...
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Last updated 1 Nov 2007
The walled town of Carcassonne
The walled city of Carcassonne is perhaps the most visited tourist site in southwest France and it's easy to see why. If anywhere looks like it was just ripped out of medieval times and dropped into modern day France, this is the place.
From a distance, the city looks just like what many people would picture as a fairy tale palace and within the walls, there are still quiet sections of the town...
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Last updated 1 Nov 2007
Pont du Gard
The World Heritage site Pont du Gard has been around for a very long time with construction taking some 1000 people five years to complete the aqueduct to take around 5 million gallons of water per day the 50km to the city of Nîmes.
Although the waterway to Nîmes has long since gone, the aqueduct over the river Gardon remains a monument to the work carried out all those years ago. Amazingly, th...
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Last updated 1 Nov 2007
Montpellier
Montpellier isn't a touristy city as such and usually considered more as a jumping off point for other places.
As is typical with towns in the area there's a delightful medieval quarter. The Place de Comedie pictured is the main square in the town and where you'll find numerous restaurants along with the Antigone shopping centre. The tram system is presently quite limited in its extent but is b...
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Last updated 1 Nov 2007
