Carcassonne- itinery / area advice.

Hey all,

We%26#39;re currently planning our summer holidays and have decided to fly from Dublin to Carcassonne for 9 nights. Myself and partner are going with our mums and our daughter aged 2.

Hopefully 2 nights will be spent in Lourdes in the middle of the trip with 3 nights in Carcassone and also possibly the last night night there and three nights we%26#39;re thinking somewhere along the coast.

So my questions,

1. Is there a train direct to Lourdes?

2. Is there anything suitable in Carcassone for a child? She%26#39;s generally happy just in our company but a park / playground would be a plus. Would she be welcomed generally?

3. Can someone recommend a beach area with lots to do other than the beach nearby accessable by public transport that you could spend a couple of nights in.

Also any other advice is much much appreciated.

Kind regards,

Sinead

|||

1. There is no direct train to Lourdes, you have to change in Toulouse.

Departure Carcassonne : 8.21 am

Toulouse : 9.12 am

Departure Toulouse : 10.11 am

Arrival Lourdes : 12.12 pm

See www.sncf.com for detailed timetable

2. There are public gardens, an Australian theme park, a large playground area and beach around the Cavayère lake, a falconry show, etc....... Why would not a child be welcome?

3. The nearest ocean beaches would be Narbonne-Plage or Gruissan and you would have to take a train and a bus to get there.

|||

Just in case you are tempted by the thought of a beach trip from Carcassonne, it is around 80km.

|||

Wow all that sounds great, certainly enough to keep her occupied anyway.

The two trains to Lourdes wouldnt bother me. I wouldnt mind a trek to get to a beach area if we were to stay a few nights, could you recommend a nice coastal area in particular?

Also could you recommend a nice child friendly hotel? Preferably with big enough rooms and a bar. Thanks in advance.

|||

At this point - i.e. the very end of May - it is rather a question of where you%26#39;ll find rooms available at such a short notice.

I suggest you look at a map of the coastline near Narbonne (the closest to Carcassonne) and search for hotels reachable by public transport - which is the case for Narbonne Plage, Gruissan, La Franqui, Port la Nouvelle.

All the beaches in the area are sandy.