Visit Carcassonne – Walking tour in the city and ramparts visit + map

On vacation or road trip in the Aude, you want to visit Carcassonne but you wonder:

• How long to visit the City?
• How to visit the City of Carcassonne?
• How to visit the ramparts of Carcassonne?

So here is my walking tour in the medieval city (with route map) and the plan to visit the ramparts of Carcassonne.

Visit Carcassonne in 1 day

The City of Carcassonne is classified as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO and listed among the Great Sites ofoccicheap. It is one of the largest fortified cities in Europe, in particular for its 3 km long double enclosure and its 52 towers. It includes the Saint-Nazaire Basilica, the Comtal castle, museums, shops and good restaurants.

To make the most of the medieval city and its ramparts, it is better to arrive when it opens and plan the whole day.

Indeed, this site is an immense medieval architectural ensemble which can be visited in 3 stages:

1. Le Carcassonne Castle which dates from the 1000th century and testifies to 2600 years of military architecture and XNUMX years of history;
2. The walls that surround the City of Carcassonne;
3. La Cité de Carcassonne which is the old town inside the ramparts.

How to visit Carcassonne?

To start, I recommend that you park in the car park which is 400 m from the Medieval City opposite the main entrance of the Porte Narbonnaise. See its Google Maps location: City park car park

Then the best is:

• to enter the City by the Porte Narbonnaise (free entry),
• to go directly to visit the Château de Comtal (entrance fee, see skip-the-line castle + ramparts ticket),
• then visit the ramparts (entrance included in the castle's skip-the-line ticket),
• and finish with the free visit of Cité de Carcassonne (medieval town) following my walking tour (see below).

Map of the City of Carcassonne

Ask for the tourist plan directly at theOffice of Tourism which is inside the city.

Otherwise, here is the plan of the city of Carcassonne that there is in this brochure which you can download:

1. Saint-Martial Bastion, Calvary Garden Bastion, Montmorency
2. Chapel of the Carmelites from the XNUMXth, XNUMXth and XNUMXth centuries
3. Saint-Vincent church and its bell tower (14th and 15th century)
4. The Fountain of Neptune
5. Hotel Roux d'Alzonne (from 16^rd the 18^rd century)
6. Les Halles (17-19^rd century)
7. House of Memories and the Joë Bousquet bedroom (XNUMXth – XNUMXth century)
8. Museum of Fine Arts (XNUMXth – XNUMXth century)
9. Hôtel de Rolland (XNUMXth century)
10. Saint-Michel Cathedral (XNUMXth-XNUMXth century)
11. The Jacobins portal (18th century)
12. Chapel of Our Lady of Health (XNUMXth-XNUMXth century)
13. The Old Bridge (XNUMXth century)
14. The Royal Manufacture (14th century)
15. The Castle (XNUMXth and XNUMXth century) and the ramparts
16. The Saint-Nazaire basilica (XIth-XIVth-XIXth century)
17. The lists (XNUMXth century) and outer rampart
18. The Aude gate (14th century)
19. Saint-Gimer church (19th century)
20. City Theater and its Festival
21. School Museum
22. Inquisition Museum
23. The Big and the Little Well
24. The Narbonnaise Gate + the Drawbridge (13th century)
25. Treasure Museum of Notre Dame de l'Abbaye
26. Cultural Center of Combatant Memory
27. Tour du Trésau and remains of the Gallo-Roman rampart

How to visit the City of Carcassonne?

Because you don't come to Carcassonne just to visit the Château Comtal, here are the stages of my tour that allow you to visit the other unmissable sites of the medieval city:

• Bust of Dame Carcas
• Porte Narbonnaise and its drawbridge
• Count's Castle
• Aude Gate
• Maison hantée
• Inquisition Museum
• Grand Well Square
• Basilica of Saint-Nazaire
• Small Well

Itinerary map to visit the City of Carcassonne

To help you, here is the Google Maps map of my circuit which allows you to visit the tourist sites inside the Cité de Carcassonne on foot.

By clicking on "More options", you can switch to pedestrian GPS mode.

Stages of the Cité de Carcassonne tourist circuit

Here is some historical information on the essential visits to the Cité de Carcassonne:

Bust of Dame Carcas

The Bust of Dame Carcas is the statue facing the entrance to the city. If you want to know the legend, click on this link sound that quickly tells you the false story of Dame Carcas.

In truth, this statue represents a woman of Saracen origin of whom we do not know much but who symbolizes the resistance of the city.

Porte Narbonnaise and its drawbridge

The Narbonnaise gate with its two beautiful towers is the main entrance to the City of Carcassonne which is done by crossing its Drawbridge. It is said to have been built around 1280. It was much later, in 1860, that Viollet-le-Duc reconstructed the battlements and the slate roof and built the drawbridge.

Count's Castle

This fortress was built in the 12th century by the Trencavels, Viscounts of Carcassonne.

It includes the Romanesque chapel of the bastion, the matacans (galleries from which projectiles and other weapons were thrown to repel enemies) and the barbican (main entrance to the defensive enclosure above the moat). You will also discover the inner ramparts of the City, the Cours d'Honneur and the Cours du Midi, the hoardings, the walkway and the dungeon. Your ticket also allows you to visit a lapidary museum and an exhibition on the history of the medieval city and its restoration.

Maison hantée

If you like to scare yourself, here is a fun attraction: The haunted house of Carcassonne. It is located very close to the Château Comtal, in an old house with around fifteen rooms fitted out to surprise you…

Great Well of Carcassonne

It is the oldest well in the medieval city, which has 22 in total. Its two large columns are in the Renaissance style, while its outline dates from the 14th century.

The legend says that the Visigoths, who were afraid of the arrival of Atilla, hid in this well the treasure of the Temple of Solomon.

Inquisition Museum

Much more serious, in the Museum of the Inquisition, you will discover the history of the Cathar era, the judgments, the executions and the tortures made to the presumed Cathars who were accused of witchcraft and treated as heretics.

Aude Gate

Located near the Château Comtal, this gate faces the Aude river, whose name it bears. It is the second gateway to the City of Carcassonne. With its medieval style, it served as a backdrop for film scenes (Les Visiteurs, Robin des Bois, Prince of Thieves, Le Corniaud).

Basilica of Saint-Nazaire

A former cathedral, the Saint Nazaire basilica is the “Jewel of the City”. Romanesque and Gothic in style, its stained glass windows are reputed to be among the most beautiful in Occitania.

Small Well of Carcassonne

After the Big Well, here is the little one! It is a well from the 14th century, dug into the rock at a depth of 21 meters.

How to visit the ramparts of Carcassonne?

The ramparts of Carcassonne measure 3 kilometers and have 2 fortified enclosures, 4 gates, 52 towers and barbicans. You can visit them by 2 interior circuits (with your castle + ramparts ticket):

• The northern Gallo-Roman rampart and its round towers with a view of the Montagne Noire (exit via the Porte Narbonnaise);
• The western medieval rampart: Square tower of the bishop, Tower of the Inquisition, restorations by Viollet-le-Duc with a view of the Saint Nazaire basilica, the theater and the Pyrenees (exit by Saint-Nazaire tower).

But you can also go around the city by the low lists (outer rampart which dates from the 13th century). The lower rails connect the Château Comtal to the Tour du Trésau.

Between the two ramparts, you can walk to discover the different characters of military architecture, with beautiful viewpoints.

Map of the ramparts of Carcassonne

The educational site of the Center des Monuments Nationaux has published a brochure very useful. We find there in particular the plan of the ramparts of Carcassonne:

Visit Carcassonne – The Old Bridge

To end your day of visit, I recommend that you leave the medieval city to go to the Pont Vieux. It is the bridge that connects the city to the lower town. It is above all the best spot to take beautiful photos of the City as a whole.

History of the City of Carcassonne

Carcassonne has origins that go back to the Gallo-Roman period which I will not develop here. Indeed, it is the medieval city that interests us! To discover it, I invite you to click on the article of theOffice of Tourism who summed it up nicely.

Where to stay to visit Carcassonne?

Here is a very nice hotel with an ideal location in the heart of the medieval city. This is probably the best hotel for visiting the medieval city and enjoying its charm and unique atmosphere.