A centre-based walking holiday to explore Tarn’s wonderful hilltop villages at your own pace. Hundreds of medieval towns known as Bastides are scattered throughout the Midi-Pyrenees .
Accommodation & Meals
You’ll stay in two beautiful guest houses conveniently located for your walks. Chambre d’hote style in historic properties offers an authentic and very comfortable stay. The welcome is warm and generous and the local cuisine and wine is first-rate.
When to Travel
Our centre-based self-guided walking in the Tarn is available from April to June inclusive and in September and October. We do not run this holiday in the height of the summer due to the high temperatures and the difficulty in securing our top choice accommodation. The climate in the Tarn is classed as warm temperate with an oceanic climate with a Mediterranean influence, characterised by hot and fairly dry summers, sunny autumns, mild winters and springs marked by recurrent rainfall. Ideal walking temperatures are experienced up to mid June, after which it can become very hot. Average day time temperatures are 17.5°C for mid April and 21.5°C for mid-May. By Mid June temperatures have reached 25.5°C on average in the afternoon whilst September highs average 25°C. October is still a good month for walking on average with maximum temperatures of 20°C and lower rainfall than those experienced further south and east in the south of France. April can still be fresh with morning temperatures averaging 8°C. The wettest month in the Tarn is May, whilst September is the driest month. The region is slightly sunnier than the national French average.
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 describe the walking trails in great detail (more information here). 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
On this walking holiday, there are no luggage transfers as it is a centre-based holiday. We would recommend that you limit the weight of your bags to 20kg as we generally use small guest houses in historic buildings and some of the rooms are accessible only by stairs.
Travel Info
Self Drive from UK
Channel ferry crossings from Dover are provided by a number of operators including P&O Ferries & DFDS seaways. Crossings are also provided by train with Eurotunnel.
Once in France, the journey from Calais to your first guest house takes about 10-11 hours (excluding long breaks).
Car hire is possible locally in Toulouse and Albi
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.
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. There are car hire companies at the airport or you can travel into the city and hire a car from there. From the airport there are shuttle buses that go to Toulouse train station near the city centre. 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
Extra Nights
Extra nights are possible at each of the guest houses. We can adapt the length of the walking holiday to suit your wishes with enough walks and visits to envisage up to a 10-night stay, or longer if you wish to incorporate rest days. We can also use a third guest house to vary the experience for longer stays. In this case we would book nights at Maison au Puits at the base of Cordes-sur-Ciel. We have also run tailor-made walking holidays combining this holiday with parts of our linear walking trail holiday: Tarn’s Medieval Bastides.
City Breaks
Toulouse: The walking holiday is less than an hour from the city of Toulouse. Toulouse is France’s fourth largest city, located on the banks of the Garonne River. Founded by the Romans it owes its nickname of “Ville Rose” or pink city to the use of brick used in much of its architecture from Antiquity to the present day. It dresses the façades with warming colours, from soft pinks to the most flamboyant oranges. Toulouse counts three UNESCO World Heritage Sites: the Canal du Midi (designated in 1996 and shared with other cities), and the Basilica of St. Sernin, the largest remaining Romanesque building in Europe, designated in 1998 along with the former hospital Hôtel-Dieu Saint-Jacques because of their significance to the Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage trail. We can add on a city break of varying numbers of nights according to your wishes.
Tailor-Made Trips
One of our signature trips – a holiday that combines the best of our expertise in walking holidays and more varied travel experiences – is based around the beautiful Tarn.
Walking Through History: Medieval France Adventure
Welcome to the Tarn, Land of Character. Our signature trip invites you to an authentic discovery in a region with a rich landscape: a mix of rolling fields and vineyards with expansive views, sunny plateaux, ancient oak forests, and deep rocky gorges.
The Tarn is also a terroir of Gastronomy: a land of plenty where truffles, sunny wines, and duck delights make dishes fit for kings.
But above all, the Tarn is a Land of History: castles, majestic abbeys, medieval cities – a testament to France’s history. If you want to uncover the essence of French culture through hiking in stunning landscapes, visiting places filled with stories, and experiencing culinary and craft activities, this trip is for you.
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