Must see attractions in Languedoc-Roussillon

The extraordinary three-tiered Pont du Gard was once part of a 50km-long system of channels built around 19 BC to transport water from Uzès to Nîmes. The…

Nîmes’ twin-tiered amphitheatre is the best preserved in France. Built around 100 BC, the arena once seated 24,000 spectators and staged gladiatorial…

Founded in 1825 by painter François-Xavier Fabre, this exceptional museum houses one of France’s richest collections of European art. The galleries…

Built on a steep spur of rock, Carcassonne’s rampart-ringed fortress dates back more than two millennia. The fortified town is encircled by two sets of…

Roussillon had its artistic heyday around the turn of the 20th century, when Fauvist and cubist artists flocked here, attracted by the searing colours and…

Signs warning of dinosaurs line the drive up, but this dinosaur park is no gimmick – the biggest cache of dinosaur eggs ever discovered in Europe was…

This fortified château belonged to the House of Crussol, who were the dukes of Uzès for over 1000 years until the French Revolution. The building is a…

The gravity-defying Viaduc de Millau toll bridge hovers 343m above the Tarn valley, making it one of the world’s highest road bridges. At its northern end…

Within the cavern of Aven Armand is the world’s greatest concentration of stalagmites, including a gallery of stone columns known as the Forêt Vierge …

Near the small village of Ste-Eulalie-en-Margeride, 45km north of Mende, this vast 200-hectare nature reserve contains more than 30 free-roaming bison…

Perpignan’s most dominant monument, the Palace of the Kings of Mallorca sprawls over a huge area to the south of the old town. Built in 1276, the castle…

These rock formations must be one of the most striking geological wonders in Occitanie, though they have remained well under the tourist radar. They…

Founded by Cistercian monks in 1093, Fontfroide Abbey became one of southern France’s most powerful ecclesiastical centres during the Middle Ages…

The cave-riddled cliffs above Tautavel, 34km northwest of Perpignan along the D117, have yielded a host of prehistoric finds, most notably a human skull…

Looming 37km south of Florac off the D18 is the prominent peak of Mont Aigoual (1567m). Its lofty 1894-opened observatory is the last remaining mountain…

Perched 728m up on a rocky hill, Quéribus was the site of the Cathars’ last stand in 1255. Its structure is well preserved: the salle du pilier (pillars'…

Opened in mid-2018, this futuristic steel-and-glass structure faces Les Arènes right in the heart of the city. Within, the ambitious archaeological museum…

Dating from the 1st century AD, this extraordinary Roman villa was built on the Via Domitia road linking Italy and Spain. It was occupied for 600 years…

In a lofty location 63km northwest of Perpignan via the D117, turreted Puilaurens is perhaps the most dramatic of the Cathar fortresses. It has the full…

Peyrepertuse is the largest of the Cathar castles, teetering on a sheer spur of rock with a drop of 800m on either side. Several of the original towers…