Tarn’s Medieval Bastides

Tarn

A large number of well-preserved medieval villages known as Bastides are scattered throughout the Tarn in southern France. From high on rocky hilltops, these timeless places such as Puycelsi, Penne, Castelnau, Bruniquel and Cordes-sur-Ciel have kept watch over the surrounding countryside for centuries. Our self-guided walking holiday explores these wonderful settlements, many classed as some of the prettiest villages in France. Inbetween the villages the quiet Tarncountryside is a mix of rolling fields and vineyards with expansive views, sunny chalk plateaux, ancient oak forests and deep rocky gorges. Your independent circular walking trail not only links some of the prettiest villages in France but also explores the full range of Tarn’s beautiful landscapes, whilst staying in delightful chambre d’hote style guest houses. The Tarn is a hidden gem welcoming only a fraction of the number of toursits that visit the popular hotspots elsewhere in the south of France.

This walking holiday is graded easy – moderate. See more information about walking grades.

Accommodation & Meals

7 nights accommodation in several charming small guest houses with great character in double or twin rooms with own bathrooms (3 star equivalent). Wonderful regional cuisine and wines

Navigation, Walking Notes & Maps

This walking holiday partly follows GR (Grande Randonnee) long distance trails which are well way-marked with red and white markings. There are also a number of signposts along the trail. The walking follows clear paths for its entire duration. The remaining sections follow local trails waymarked in yellow, whilst other sections have no or little markings. Our walking notes are very detailed (more information here) and include intermediate distances for sections of the trail. They also include information about the sites which can be explored along the route. We supply one walking guide per person on this holiday. As well as the detailed walking notes we supply official walking maps produced by the IGN at a scale of 1:25,000. Your trail is highlighted on the maps.

Luggage Transfers

On this walking holiday your main luggage is transferred between guest houses so you only have to carry a day rucksack with picnic lunch (supplied by the guest houses and included in the holiday price), water and spare clothes, waterproofs, camera etc. On this holiday the guest house hosts are generally responsible for transporting your main luggage as well as the transfers between Gaillac and the walking holiday. If you have any specific requests you can ask your hosts during your trip. Please limit the weight of your bags to 20kg. We generally use small guest houses in historic buidlings and some of the rooms are accessible only by stairs.

Travel Info

ransfer between Gaillac train station and your first and last guest house in the Tarn included in your holiday price.

By Train

Eurostar, TGV and then TER French trains allow you to get to Gaillac train station from where you’ll be given a transfer to your guest house in the Tarn near Castlenau. Changes between the Eurostar and TGV are at Lille or Paris. TGV’s run from Paris Austerlitz to Toulouse from where you can change for a train to Gaillac, heading towards Rodez or Albi. For some trains you can also change at Montauban rather than Toulouse and then take a train or bus (run by the train company) to Gaillac.

Flight Options

There are flights from French and UK airports toToulouse. Operators from UK airports include Easyjet from Bristol and Gatwick, Jet2.com from Leeds – Bradford and Manchester, and British Airways from London Heathrow. From the airport, take a shuttle bus to Toulouse train station and from there, a local train to Gaillac. Shuttle bus is found at door B3 on the ground floof and the journey costs about €5.50.

Note: Please check concerning the availability of a holiday before booking any flights. If you need further information or would like to discuss any aspect of your travel arrangements, please contact us, we’re here to help you.

Self Drive from UK

Channel ferry crossings from Dover are provided by a number of operators including P&O Ferr