With quaint, cobbled streets, pretty squares, lively shops, restaurants, and bars, and art and music museums, there is certainly enough temptation to hang around the town, but there is plenty going on around and about too.

Beware the Oleander shrub, popular in the P-O for its evergreen qualities and delicate flowers and planted in quantity to jazz up roadsides, and gardens.

The well marked route to the tower from the village of Tautavel is an A/R of 3 hours, using the same route up and down. This 4 hour, 8 km walk, with approximately 450 metres of ascent offers an alternative for a day when you would like a bit longer walk and have more time.

If you like visiting ruined châteaux, head north to the valley of the Orbiel. Just twenty minutes from Carcassonne is the village of Lastours. High on a ridge above the village, four separate châteaux stand in a line: Cabaret, Tour Régine, Surdespine and Quertinheux.

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