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MINI-BREAK ADVENTURE TOUR
"Discover the Pyrénées" Mini-Break Our mini-breaks are both relaxing and exhilarating, if you have a few days or more to spare why not spend them in the South of France in the magnificent Pyrénées? The mini-break comes with a choice of exciting day tours ranging from exploring the mountain and forest trails by Landrover, or a trip to the Mediterranean, to visiting a medieval city, some of the many caves or Cathar châteaux in the area, or perhaps some duty free shopping in the Principality of Andorra. The Pyrénées are stunning no matter which time of the year you visit, so our mini-breaks are available throughout the year, just fly into our local airport of Carcassonne (or Toulouse / Perpignan for an additional charge) where our Landrover collects you.... with the low cost airlines, getting here couldn't be more simple or cheaper... a flight from the UK to Carcassonne takes around 1hr 45mins and can be astoundingly inexpensive if you book early. (see our links page for airline details). ADDITIONAL DAYS - This is a 3 night, 2 day mini-break, but as there is so much to see and do in the area, you could easily extend it by one or more days. These day(s) could be spent, horse riding, rafting, canoeing, cycling, skiing, karting or hiking so why not make your mini-break into an "activity break" - email us for more information on these options... maybe you have something special you would like to do...just ask.
The Mini-break is based on: 3 nights hotel accommodation with breakfast 2 day trips: (choose any combination or two the same) Landrover forest and mountain day tour including picnic lunch - 2 different routes Day visit to the magnificent Medieval City at Carcassonne where you are left to explore at your leisure Day visit to Andorra for duty free shopping (via Ax-les-thermes) where you are left to explore at your leisure Day tour to Collioure on the Mediterranean Coast where you are left to explore at your leisure Day tour of one or two of the famous local Cathar Châteaux (see the choice below) Day visit to one or two of the truly spectacular local caves / underground river (see the choice below) Transport to and from airport Each day our Landrover will take you exploring the mountain and forest trails of the Midi-Pyrénées or to see some of the attractions and places of interest in the area. The hotel for this mini-break is in the tiny medieval city of Mirepoix - The city is the perfect base for exploring the Midi-Pyrénées. It is famous for it's superb Monday morning market and is one of our own favourite place to visit; it brims with medieval character, history and an ambiance all of its own. It is a petite bastide town which has a central square with a covered market hall; the square is surrounded by 500-600 year old buildings with wooden arches topped with magnificent half-timbered houses jutting out over ground-floor arcades. With its many craft shops to visit and pavement cafés it's a pleasant place to sit, relax, take it all in and watch the world go by. For mini-break costs please see our prices page Mini-Break Day Trip Options (below)
Landrover Forest and Mountain Tour
Medieval City of Carcassonne
The Medieval City of Carcassonne is very popular as a second day mini-break destination and for good reason.... It is like something out of a film, in fact it has been used as a location for many films over the years, including Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and more recently for Lady Godiva. It is Frances second most popular tourist attraction after Paris and the largest medieval city in Europe with its walls still intact. It was once a Visigothic city, sister city to Rennes-le-Château, and later a Cathar stronghold. Today it is a World Heritage Site. What it must have looked like in its hey day standing alone on its strategically sited windswept hilltop above the Aude River is hard to imagine, but when you visit - imagine you will. It was more or less abandoned when its position was no longer militarily useful and fell into serious disrepair until it was restored to the original medieval fortified town that it was. It has high double walls stretching for over 1 km, 52 towers, a castle and basilica. Its narrow streets are lined with small shops and cafes, but it is a real city with residents still living within its ancient walls. If you visit South West France you must visit Carcassonne.
Andorra (via Ax-les-Thermes)
Collioure on the Mediterranean Coast
Cathar Châteaux & Castles Between them the Ariège and Aude regions of south west France are brimming with Cathar Châteaux and Castles, the history of which is astonishing to say the least; the area has been more recently highlighted by the best selling novels - Dan Brown's "Da Vinci Code" and Kate Mosse's "Labyrinth". It is possible to visit two of these historic châteaux in one day depending on which you choose - contact us for more details. Château des Comptes de Foix - at the summit of its rocky outcrop the château dominates the town with a triple tiara of towers;the primitive castle with two square towers and crenellated ramparts appeared at the beginning of the 13th century and its round tower completed the fortifications in the 15th century. From here the Counts of Foix protected the Cathars and fought for their independence against the northern French invaders in the Albigensian Crusade. Since 1930, the chateau has been the home of the collection of the Musée Departémental d'Ariège. There are artifacts dating from prehistoric times, Gallo-Roman remains and if you have a penchant for swords and all things medieval, best of all, is the fabulous collection of armour and weapons. Château de Roquefixade - a Cathar citadel built in the 13th century on an eyrie above the village of Roquefixade, its walls blend in with the rocky outcroppings around it. Although the château escaped destruction during the crusades, the village of Roquefixade was destroyed by Guy de Montfort and then reconstructed a little later by order of the King. However on 28th October 1632 the King Louis XIII signed a decree to order the demolition of certain châteaux one of which was Roquefixade - it was completed in 1633. The views from the chateau are spectacular of les massifs de l'Arize, des Trois-Seigneurs et du Saint Barthélémy and the Château de Montségur can be seen in the distance. Château de Montségur - The château perched at the top of a limestone crag (pog in Occitan) at an altitude of 1208m is arguably the most significant monument to the Cathar religious sect. The Cathars believed in a natural, humble lifestyle and criticized the Catholic church relentlessly. It is in the Montségur castle ruins that hundreds of Cathars held off Crusaders for months. When they were finally conquered, they were given the choice to renounce their religion or walk into the flames. 225 chose a fiery death and were herded into a specially made pen in the early morning of 16th March 1244. Speculation has continued ever since about whether Cathar treasure is hidden on the site though excavations, on show in the village's small archaeological museum, have not revealed it yet! Rennes-le-Château - From its hilltop position this ancient village has spectacular views over the Aude and Sals Valleys . Said to have been invaded by Visigoths and then Templars, it has become world famous in the last few years following the publication of a series of books dealing with a mystery concerning the sudden wealth of village priest, Béranger Saunière. Where did he find the money to build himself the grand Villa Bethania, the curious neo-gothic Tour Magdala and restore and lavishly decorate the almost derelict village church? Did he discover treasure hidden by the Knights Templar or Cathars fleeing from Montségur, or was it just from robbing ancient graves...... Château de Puivert - Of all the Cathar Châteaux Puivert built around 1310, is one of the best preserved. With its 35 meters high keep in which four splendid rooms are superimposed, its 6 towers incorporated in its enclosure wall, this castle dominates the old glacial lake of Puivert below. To the west of the château stand the remains of the old chateau conquered in 1210 by Simon de Monfort. You can climb to the top of the donjon (keep) from where you can see the Quercorb plain to north and the peak of Bugarach to the east. To the west you can just see Montségur with the Pyrénées behind it. The pall of black smoke rising from Montségur on the morning of 16 March 1244 would have been clearly visible from here. In the nearby village of Puivert you can visit the "musée du Quercorb". Château de Lagarde - the castle is an imposing medieval building. The construction started with the building of a first square tower in 1063-1065 by Ramire 1st of Navarre, King of Aragon and Count of Barcelona. Then between 1176 and 1180 the Castle enlarged to 4 square towers, a drawbridge and ditch. It was eventually passed onto the family of Guy de Lévis. At the apogee of its splendor it was nicknamed the "Le petit Versailles du Languedoc". Its majestic ruins hint at its glorious past. Château de Puilaurens - The château here had belonged to the Abbey of Saint-Michel de Cuxa before it was acquired by the King of Aragon in 1162. As Aragonese property it was outside the territory ravaged by the Crusaders during the Cathar wars, so like Queribus it therefore provided a refuge for those fleeing from the invading forces. Those who took refuge there included both Cathars and faidits , that is to say those who had forfeited their property because of their opposition to the invaders. Some points of interest include the heavily defended steep zig-zagging approach path, remnants of a barbican, meutriers (murder holes), and a spectacular donjon (keep). Most impressive of all in the south-west tower (the White Lady's Tower) is a speaking-tube, built into the stonework and allowing people to communicate from one floor to another. The château is one of the best preserved reminders of the Cathar period in the area . Château de Usson - Upstream from the village of Axat in the Aude Gorge, carved out of the foothills of the Pyrénées, is the little known Château of Usson. It dates from the eleventh century (perhaps earlier) and during the Cathar period marked the eastern boundary of the territories of the Counts of Foix. In the twelfth century this was the capital of the Donezan region. Before the Défilé was cut through the mountains to link Quillan to Axat, this was an inaccessible outpost providing succor for faidits and other persecuted Cathars. Towards the end of the wars against the Cathars this was one of the last sanctuaries, providing support for Montségur. The seigneurs of Usson, Bernard d'Alion and Arnaud d'Usson sent arms and supplies to their besieged comrades there. On 15th March 1244, the day before 225 Cathar Parfaits were burned alive at Montségur, four other Parfaits left the castle there for Usson, where the Cathar treasure had been evacuated a few months earlier. What this treasure was, and what happened to it, no-one knows. Not far away is the Château of Donezan, where Cathars were still holding out eleven years after the fall of Montségur.
Caves & Grottos The Ariège has more caves than any départment in France, including 13 that were decorated in prehistoric times. Some of these vast cathedral like grottos can take hours to walk through and one our Landrover is able to drive through. It is possible to visit two caves in the one day depending on which caves you choose - contact us for more details. Subterranean River de Labouiche - When was the last time you took a boat trip underground? Well this is exactly what you will do on Europe's longest subterranean river open to the public. There are two waterfalls, several levels of galleries, streams and sinkholes and many stalactites and stalagmites to see as the robust little boats navigate their way along the river. Quite astounding! Grotte du Mas d'Azil & Museum - the river Arize takes a shortcut through the hillside and has created a massive cave, which is so big that a fairly large road winds its way right through the yawning 214ft mouth of the grotte. Within this cave were found signs of life going back tens of thousands of years and the finds here gave the name Azilian to an entire prehistoric culture. The first human inhabitants settled here in 30,000BC and every possible band of Pyrenean fugitives from Moors, Cathars and Protestants took refuge here at some point. There are two levels open to the public and when we visited we were given a slide show and commentary. Grotte de Bédeilhac - is known as the typical large Pyrenean stalactite cave with a kilometer-long gallery and is famous for its formations and Paleolithic art, its huge entrance portal made it a good shelter for humans in the middle and late Magdalénien. www.grotte-de-bedeilhac.org Grotte de Lombrives - the biggest cave in Europe open to the public, has many stalactite and stalagmite formations and it's said to have subterranean links to the grotte de Niaux. It has upper galleries, 150ft up, accessible only by ladders and an underground lake. www.cathares.org/lombrives.html Grotte de Niaux - is one of the few cave systems whose paintings are still open to the public. A winding road leads up to its spectacular gaping mouth, marked by a porch. At the end of an 800 meter-run of galleries is the 'salon noir' with its walls covered in paintings and drawings. Early booking is essential for this cave as numbers of visitors are limited each day. www.showcaves.com/english/fr/show caves/Niaux.html Grotte de la Vache - the smallest cave in the Ariège-Pyrénées but the richest one in archaeological remains; more than 1 million artifacts and animal bones, fire-places, flint tools, weapons for hunting and fishing, spear points, and harpoons made of reindeer antlers have been discovered here, some of which can be seen in the site-exhibition. www.grotte-de-la-vache.org
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