Why this ride
A 184 km round trip from Carcassonne - roughly 3 h 55 in the saddle. It goes by way of Châteaux de Lastours, Château de Termes and back through Châteaux de Lastours. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Château et remparts de Carcassonne and Château de Termes
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 184 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 55
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Château et remparts de Carcassonne
Carcassonne has two faces. Down by the river Aude sits the ordinary lower town, a grid of streets laid out in the thirteenth century around a market square, and on the hill above rises the Cité, a double ring of walls and fifty-odd towers that looks like the illustration to a children's book about knights. The Cité was inscribed by UNESCO in 1997, and it is one of the most visited monuments in France, with the nearest sizeable roads and everything a rider needs just a kilometre away in the modern town.
Read the complete Château et remparts de Carcassonne write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Château et remparts de Carcassonne is where the day begins. Next is Châteaux de Lastours.
2. Châteaux de Lastours
Four castles perch on a narrow rock ridge above the village of Lastours, in the Montagne Noire north of Carcassonne, and they look so improbable from the viewpoint across the valley that most people stop talking when they see them. The two streams, the Orbiel and the Grésilhou, wrap around the ridge, and the castles, Cabaret, Tour Régine, Surdespine and Quertinheux, stand along its length like beads on a string.
Read the complete Châteaux de Lastours write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Châteaux de Lastours comes up about 19 km into the recorded legs. Next is Château de Termes.
3. Château de Termes
In the summer of 1210, Simon de Montfort, leader of the crusade against the Cathars, brought his army to the remote castle of Termes, in the heart of the Corbières, and laid siege to it. The castle's lord, Raymond de Termes, held out for four months, and the defenders only surrendered when their water supply was contaminated and disease broke out, or so the story goes. The castle became a royal fortress, guarding the border with Aragon, and was eventually dismantled in the seventeenth century. Today, its ruins sprawl over a rocky spur above the village, with remains of walls, towers and a chapel, and the views over the wild hills of the Corbières are tremendous.
Read the complete Château de Termes write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 92 km into the recorded legs you reach Château de Termes. Next is back through Châteaux de Lastours.
4. back through Châteaux de Lastours
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Châteaux de Lastours write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Châteaux de Lastours, late in the day. Next is Château et remparts de Carcassonne.
5. Château et remparts de Carcassonne
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Château et remparts de Carcassonne write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Château et remparts de Carcassonne. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Château et remparts de Carcassonne to Châteaux de Lastours
Château et remparts de Carcassonne → Châteaux de Lastours is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Châteaux de Lastours to Château de Termes
Châteaux de Lastours → Château de Termes is 73 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Château de Termes to back through Châteaux de Lastours
Château de Termes → back through Châteaux de Lastours is 72 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Châteaux de Lastours to Château et remparts de Carcassonne
back through Châteaux de Lastours → Château et remparts de Carcassonne is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.