Week break in Girona & Carcassonne

Have booked cheap Ryanair to Girona(late arrival) early Dec. and return from Carcassonne 7 days later,hopefully still with mrs. dub. Propose to spend 3/4 nights in Girona then journey on by bus or train to Carcassonne. Have read earlier posts on AAM. But has anyone actually made this journey between the two cities. Interested also in views as to hotels in both. If anyone knows this area would it be better to take in a third city. We are interested in a relaxed easy going break, saunter around and take in the local atmosphere. Any suggestions appreciated. Will check out Tripadvisor but always nice to hear from genuine AAM travellers. Many thanks.

I have visited both and they are quite small. I was in Carcasonne a fortnight ago, there is a small town square and a fort. We arrived at 11am and left at 5pm. The centre of Girona along the river is very pretty and the jewish quarter is interesting to explore but again it can be seen in a day.

I would both as a base for travelling to bigger cities such as Barcelona and Toulouse if you haven't already been there.

Would also recommend a trip into Barcelona from Girona, I think its 45mins/1hr by bus. From there I think you may be able to get train to Carcassonne, check on www.sncf.com for train details. I've gotten a bus from Girona airport to Perpignan train station (its called frog bus www.frogbus.com), where you can get a train to Carcassonne. Carcassonne is a lovely city, you could spend two leisurely days wandering around, then perhaps hire a car to explore the surrounding areas?

Just to let you know it could be bitterly (unlike any cold Ireland has!!!) as we were in Carcassonnecouple of years back in Jan, be sure to pack ski like jackets/gloves etc.
Things will be really quiet lots closed down for winter but it is a beautiful place, would def recommend another city to pass the week unless you fancy couple of days skiing in the mountains

Don't know Girona but know Carcassonne very well. Great place to stay is The Chateau de Cavanac. It is 10 mins from airport & 10 mins. from Le Cite. Oozing with character & even if you don't stay there just make sure you have dinner there but need to book as even in Winter the restaurant is full (mainly locals). If you doubt me just check comments on the trip advisor site.

this site is great for european train timetables, it's the german rail service but page is in english
http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en?rt=1&
i think you should definitely head to barcelona and/or toulouse

we were in Girona a few years ago, I feel 3 nights would be plenty it was a nice place. We stayed in hotel peninsular which was reasonable and central. I hope this is of some help. Enjoy

Have had a few weekend breaks in Girona which I think has a lot of character as it has a lovely old town on one side of river and newer area on the other. Its very lively as its a university town, there are plenty of restaurants, shopping, and nightlife too. As previous poster have stayed in Peninsular Hotel which is a typical modern hotel. Have also stayed in Hotel Historic (a small hotel in renovated old buildings) which is in the old part of town beside Cathedral and in walking distance of everything. Think you could easily spend 2 or 3 days here. There is also a Salvalor Dali museum north of here in Figueres (this is where he was born). Have not visited but plan to - think it would make an interesting day out.

Hi I just googled frogbus on google.ie to see how many references there are to it in Ireland - you may be interested to know that this company was founded by Irish people living near Perpignan

cath frogbus said:

Hi I just googled frogbus on google.ie to see how many references there are to it in Ireland - you may be interested to know that this company was founded by Irish people living near Perpignan

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The website is confusing. If I want to travel from Girona Airport to Argeles sur Mer the website suggests that there are only Saturday transfers?

Does the bus actually stop in Argeles sur Mer on it's way to Perpignon? The website seems to suggest that it is an express between Girona Airport and Perpignon with no stops in between?

Hi - thanks for the feedback - The Argeles transfer was a summer only transfer that only took place on Saturdays - it ended last week. (I will take it down!)
The bus goes from GRO to Perpignan train station stopping once at Le Boulou from where we arrange taxis for people wishing to go to the coast. There are onward connections from Perpignan by train to the rest of France.