Travel

Travel: An off-season trip to Carcassonne offers history, great food, and views to remember

Packed in high season, this city in the Languedoc is a pleasure to visit when the crowds aren’t quite so overwhelming

Carcassonne: few places epitomise the ancient splendour of France so magnificently. It is a tale of two cities – the fortified hilltop citadel dating from the 11th century on one side of the river Aude, and the bastide, or new town, spread out beneath. Picture: Getty

My first glimpse of Carcassonne, from a rented cabin cruiser on the Canal du Midi, is a cherished memory. Sunset illuminated the mighty ramparts of its hilltop citadel, turning them a blazing red one minute, bathed in a soft golden glow the next.

A few days later we docked for a short visit, joining hordes of tourists who packed the old fortified city’s narrow cobbled streets, and converged on the souvenir shops to pick up ...