Home › Carcassonne › On a budget
Carcassonne on a budget: how to do it well
Short answer
Yes: walking La Cité, its Lices and the Canal du Midi is free, and the lower town has good-value lunch menus. A realistic minimum is about €75 a day per person sharing a room — around €35 for a bed, €25 for food, €10 for sights and €3 for transport.
A realistic daily budget
| Budget | Mid-range | Comfort | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bed (per person, sharing) | €35 | €60 | €150 |
| Food & drink | €25 | €45 | €80 |
| Sights & tickets | €10 | €20 | €35 |
| Local transport | €3 | €15 | €35 |
| Per person, per day | €73 | €140 | €300 |
Approximate 2026 prices, two people sharing a room. From our Carcassonne day-cost table.
Free things to do
- Walking the streets of La Cité and the Lices between the walls
- The Basilica of Saint-Nazaire inside La Cité
- The Pont Vieux and the view of the floodlit walls at night
- Place Carnot and the market on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday mornings
- The Canal du Midi towpath from the station
- The Musée des Beaux-Arts in the lower town (check opening days)
Cheap eats
- Lunch formule in the Bastide — about €15–22 for two or three courses
- Cassoulet, shared as a big lunch — about €18–25
- Market picnic from Place Carnot — under €10
- Glass of local Corbières or Minervois — about €4–7
- Bakery sandwich or quiche — a few euros
Where to sleep for less
Budget travellers stay in the lower town near the station or in the Bastide, where simple hotels cost about €60–95 a night for a double. There is a youth hostel inside La Cité; check current prices and availability.
Getting around cheaply
Walk between the Bastide and La Cité (about 20–25 minutes over the Pont Vieux). Take the shuttle bus from the airport (about 4 km). For the Cathar castles, share a hire car or join a minibus tour.
A sample budget day
- Morning: coffee and croissant in the Bastide (about €4), then the free walk up to La Cité and the Lices
- Lunch: formule in the lower town (about €16)
- Afternoon: free Basilica of Saint-Nazaire and a walk along the Canal du Midi
- Evening: picnic or simple dinner and the floodlit walls from the Pont Vieux (about €12)
- Total: about €75 including a shared room (about €35)
More ways to save
- Make lunch your main meal; evening à la carte costs more.
- Visit in May, June, September or October for lower rates and cooler weather.
- Choose one paid sight — the Château Comtal or one Cathar castle — and keep the rest free.
- Buy wine from a cellar in the Corbières or Minervois rather than a shop inside La Cité.
- Swim at the Lac de la Cavayère in summer instead of paying for a hotel pool.
- Use the train for Toulouse and Narbonne instead of hiring a car for the whole stay.
Some links on this page are partner links. If you book through them TonyPlan earns a small commission — the price you pay is exactly the same.
Common questions
Can you visit Carcassonne on a budget?
Yes. La Cité, the Lices, the basilica and the canal towpath are free. Plan on about €75 a day.
Is entry to La Cité free?
Yes. You can walk into La Cité at any hour. You only pay for the Château Comtal and ramparts.
How do I get from Carcassonne airport to town cheaply?
Take the shuttle bus timed to flights. The airport is about 4 km from the centre.