Carcassonne in 4 days

Three kilometres of walls, 52 towers and two rings of ramparts, as much the work of Viollet-le-Duc from 1853 as of the 13th century.

Cross the wooden bridge over the dry moat, then walk the ramparts from tower to tower above the plain and the rooftops.

A flat walk on gravel and grass between the two rings of walls, passing under the Bishop's Tower, the only building that spans the path.

Twenty minutes is enough: the Tree of Life and Tree of Jesse windows, tomb effigies in the floor and one of the region's oldest organs.

An early 14th-century stone bridge over the Aude, pedestrian-only since 1990, with the best view of the fortress on its hill above the river.

A street grid centred on Place Carnot and its Neptune fountain; peek into old merchants' courtyards and end at the free Fine Arts museum.

Watch a boat work through the lock beside the basin, gates closing and water dropping, then rest on a shaded bench among the hire boats.

A man-made lake in the hills under seven kilometres from the centre, with three beaches, shaded picnic spots, a treetop course and a six-kilometre loop.