have a nasty sting. Above all, keep your dog well away, or you could be facing a distressing trip to the nearest vet.
Processional caterpillars: possibly the region’s most dangerous creatures
Waymarked walking routes
In Cathar castle country, where green tourism is flourishing, most communes (roughly equivalent to parish councils) have one or more waymarked walks in their territory. Often a notice board in the square of the main village will display these, and publications describing them may be available from the local tourist office or town hall (mairie).
It is becoming common practice for adjacent communes to band together as communautés de communes. Those joint organisations often take responsibility for planning, waymarking and publicising local walking circuits in the area they cover. An example in Cathar castle country is the Communauté de Communes Pays d’Olmes, based in the town of Lavelanet, east of Foix. It has developed a fine network of local waymarked circuits. Sections of those circuits have been incorporated in walks described in the Roquefixade and Montségur sections of this book. Later sections and Appendix 2 contain information about relevant publications covering local walks.
The Fédération Française de la Randonnée Pédestre (FFRP) has also published several Topo-guides for local walks (www.ffrandonnee.fr). These are for PR paths, Promenades Randonnées, which roughly means walks that can be completed in a day or less. Like the FFRP’s series of Topo-guides for GR (Grande Randonnée) long-distance paths, the PR Topo-guides have a uniform format. The maps, illustrations, route descriptions and complementary information are of a high quality.
Local walking circuits are usually waymarked in yellow – as on this signpost above Montségur (Section 9)
Relevant PR Topo-guides are referred to in Appendix 2 and in various walk descriptions. The local walks described in these guidebooks are waymarked with painted yellow rectangles. Most other local walking circuits in Cathar castle country are also now indicated by yellow waymarks (but not always: for instance, a section of the hill walk described in the Montaillou section is indicated by red waymarks).
GR paths carry red and white waymarks. A few – the GR7, GR36 and GR77 – cross Cathar castle country. Regional GRP (Grande Randonnée de Pays) paths carry red and yellow waymarks. There are a few of those in the area too, such as the Tours du Pays d’Olmes, near Roquefixade. The Sentier Cathare carries red and yellow waymarks for much of its route in Ariège, but blue and yellow waymarks in Aude.
It should be noted that where a section of a local walking route (normally indicated by yellow waymarks) coincides with the route of a GR or GRP path, the waymarks of the latter may take priority. The GR/GRP waymarks may thus be the only waymarks along that section of the local circuit.
For each walk there are notes on what kinds of waymarks to look out for, and (where appropriate) on which ones to ignore. For example, you may see waymarks consisting of a triangle and two adjacent discs, indicating the routes of mountain bike circuits. For the most part, they are best ignored.
Local walking circuits are susceptible to modification at any time. Please bear in mind that the routes of some of the walks described may be amended in the future. If in doubt, follow the routes indicated by any new waymarking on the ground.
The walks described in this book
The 16 walk sections describe several walks in Cathar castle country. All the walks follow waymarked and well-maintained routes. They can all be accomplished in a day or less. Several of the walks are circular; some are out-and-back walks, which return to the starting point by the outward route. A couple follow figure-of-eight circuits; one is a linear walk.
Each of the walk sections describes one or two walks. In a few cases, a variant of a walk is also suggested, giving the option of lengthening or shortening that particular walk.
Walks from other books and guides have not been simply copied (although the author is grateful to the French authors of other publications for the ideas and inspiration that they provided). Sometimes a section of one local walking circuit has, for example, been joined with a section of another. Elsewhere, a section of a long-distance path has been combined with part of a local circuit. All the walks have been selected for their quality and interest, for the absence of significant problems in following them on the ground, and have been carefully checked.
The waymarking varies from walk to walk. On the whole, the waymarking symbols used on the ground are self-explanatory. Simple rectangles or discs indicate that you should carry straight on. Symbols that bend or point to the right or left indicate that you are approaching a path turning. A cross usually indicates a route that you should not take.
The routes avoid road walking as much as possible. Where this is unavoidable, the roads concerned usually carry little motor traffic. But don’t be lulled into a false sense of security by the apparent tranquillity of the route. Listen and look out for approaching vehicles.
Each of the walk sections has a focal point. Most are Cathar castles, including the most renowned, such as Peyrepertuse and Quéribus. The walk (or walks) pass by, or are in sight of, the castle. In most cases there will be enough time to complete a walk and visit the castle on the same day. In a few cases it would be tiring and possibly impracticable to do, in which case you must save your castle visit for another day.
The order in which the walk sections are presented broadly follows an anticlockwise circuit around Cathar castle country (see the information box below), beginning in Béziers (where the crusade against the Cathars began) and ending on the summit of the Pech de Bugarach. It is hoped that this sequence will assist anyone who is touring the area. It also follows chronologically the story of how Catharism in Languedoc was crushed in the 13th and early 14th centuries. Each walk section contains a short commentary on the historical associations of the area with the Cathars.
How to use this guide
At the start of each walk section there is a summary of the following walk (or walks) and the area’s terrain. Next comes a look at relevant events in the Cathar story (‘Cathar history’) that relate to the focal point of the section – a Cathar castle or other location.
Foix castle: a famous emblem of Cathar castle country, and the finishing point of the walks in Section 4
You will then find practical information relating to the walk(s), including:
How to get to the starting point(s)
Points concerning navigation (with particular reference to waymarking).
A detailed route description of each walk then follows, starting with:
Estimated distance, altitude, walking time and relevant maps (including any variant).
Following the route description are:
A summary of any variant
A box containing points of interest along or near the route, and advice on how much time to allow for visiting the castle and/or other nearby places of interest and where you can obtain further information.
Please note the following:
Estimated visiting times, distances and altitudes are approximate (apart from a few specific spot heights).
‘Time’ is the estimated time spent while actually walking, including short breaks (for example, to take photographs and recover breath). It doesn’t cover longer periods for lunch, an afternoon siesta, and so on. Figures are based on the pace of a