We went to Carcassonne on our trial van trip last year. It wasn’t our best planned pit-stop. We drove away from glorious sunshine in Biarritz and headed into the Pyrenees, blithely ignoring the flashing storm warnings on roadsigns en-route. To be honest my French is a little rusty, and Mr G struggles with anything more than ordering a beer-but neither of us could fail to understand the driving rain, the thunder and sheet lightening when we pulled into Carcassonne. We also couldn’t miss the campsite manager’s severe expression. She told us it was too dangerous to leave the campsite and showed us to a hut should we need to evacuate our van!

All that meant that all we saw of Carcassonne was a waterlogged campsite on a grim trading estate on the very outskirts of the city. We escaped just after dawn, when there was a short break in the storm, having not even seen a glimpse of the historic fortress. Yesterday we tried again. So, here it is, Carcassonne, the sequel.

We’d learned from our mistakes and obsessively checked four different weather apps before heading into the mountains. We also picked a campsite close to the centre, which meant that we could see the magnificent fortified citadel as we approached the site. There was a lovely, leafy walk along the river to get to the city gates.

We’ve seen plenty of castles and walled cities and have a little bit of sightseers’ ennui. It’s fair to say we were sluggish and a bit blasé as we climbed up to the fortress. But Carcassonne is genuinely mind blowing. For a hilltop citadel it’s absolutely enormous, with a labyrinth of squares and narrow cobbled streets, like The Shambles in York or Diagon Alley- but on steroids. 

We walked the ramparts. Those ancient Carcassonnites ( I’m sure that’s wrong but Google wasn’t my friend here) really knew something about security. There’s layer upon protective layer: castle, moats, towers and loads of vantage points for firing arrows, rolling stones or pouring boiling oil. It’s been described as the biggest and best medieval fortress in Europe, and it’s definitely got my vote. Mr G is still staring admiringly over the ramparts, so I think he agrees. 

Quick campsite comment:

We stayed at Camping de la Cite which was perfectly located only a 20 minute yomp to the Porte d’Aude. 

The good bits: This is probably the best city centre camping we’ve had. Great location, helpful staff, spacious pitches with well-established hedges for privacy and a good café for take away coffees and pastries in the morning. €24 including electric.

The bad bits: The wifi was iffy, but to be honest it’s rarely great so we’re pretty numb to that after nine and a half weeks.