Sentier the Cathares, a walking holidady you never forget. 2024
Hiked in 2018
A dream for 10 years, a year of preparation, but the two weeks of walking were way too fast. We have been to this area before, but going from village to village, from the sea to the high mountains is a great experience.
In advance we asked Roelof van Bergtoppers to book and pay for all accommodations, if this was possible with breakfast and dinner. Usually this was with private individuals or a larger gite d’étape and it was an evening of eating and talking. We also slept in dormitories and had to make or find something to eat ourselves.
En route
The route is not busy, but we were soon known to the other groups (all French in our case) on the route. A short chat on the way or in the evening in accommodation to exchange plenty of experiences. Now in June the weather was perfect, we had a few showers, maybe a bit too much wind on 2 days and not too hot. Nature was beautiful with so many flowers and enough water in the streams. We were able to visit most of the castles, usually at the beginning or end of the walking day. The history of the area is most evident there.
Buying some food and / or withdrawing money on the way is quite a challenge and we have selected as much as possible in advance. The route is generally well signposted, but put all maps and the route on the phone to be on the safe side. We walked the south variant of the route in particular to walk the Gorges de Jaime and see the castle of Puivert.
The program:
dag 1: Hike from Port la Nouvelle to Roquefort des Corbieres
dag 2: Hike from Roquefort des Corbieres to Durban Corbieres
dag 3: Hike from Durban Corbieres to Tuchan
dag 4: Hike from Tuchan to Duillac-sous-Peyrepertuse
dag 5: Hike from Duillac-sous-Peyrepertuse to Prugnanes
dag 6: Hike from Prugnanes to Puilaurens
dag 7: Hike from Puilaurens to Quirbajou
dag 8: Hike to Puivert
dag 9: Hike to Espezel
dag 10: Hike to Comus
dag 11: Hike to Montsegur
dag 12: Hike to Roquefixade
dag 13: Hike to Foix
The price
Based on 2 people without luggage transport, a 2 person room where possible, 9 times half board, 2 times Bed & Breakfast and 1 time only the night, you should think about 1300 euros
Based on 2 people including luggage transport, a 2 person room where possible, 10 times half board, 3 times Bed & Breakfast, you should think about 2500 euros
The Sentier
The route is not as difficult as a mountain hike, although in retrospect we have walked almost 10,000 meters. The long stages are also quite tough in the beginning. A good base was the Première Class hotel in Portet-sur-Garonne near Toulouse where the car was allowed to stay for 2 weeks. Early the train to Toulouse Matabiau, the TGV to Narbonne and another train to Port-la-Nouvelle. We arrived at 12:00 and could walk the half stage to Roquefort-de Corbières at our leisure. In Foix the route ends at the train station and from there the train goes directly to Portet.
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