Adult
Ages 26+
€18
- Château Comtal entry
- Full 1.2 km ramparts walk
- Skip-the-line priority queue
Walk the ramparts of the most-complete medieval city in Europe
Cité de Carcassonne skip-the-line — Château Comtal and 1,200 metres of double walls above the Aude. The cité itself is free to wander; the castle and ramparts aren't.
See ticket options- UNESCO World Heritage Site, 1997
- 52 towers Double ring of medieval walls
- 1,200 m Ramparts walkable today
- 3 M / yr visitors to the cité
Choose your ticket
Reduced (EU 18–25)
EU citizens, 18–25
€15
- Château Comtal entry
- Full ramparts walk
- Skip-the-line priority queue
- Bring EU ID at entry
Family
2 adults + up to 3 under-18s
€36 €32 Save €4
- Château + ramparts for the whole family
- Under-18s free at the gate — we handle the paperwork
- Skip-the-line for all
Château + audio guide
Adult + 7-language audio tour
€25
- Everything in the adult ticket
- Audio guide in EN/FR/DE/ES/IT/NL/ZH
- Covers the castle, ramparts, and medieval city
- 2-hour guided loop you walk at your own pace
Manchester, UK
“We turned up at 2pm on a July Saturday — castle queue was 40 minutes. Walked past it with the skip-the-line tickets. First thing worth paying for on a 3-week France trip.”
Kyoto, Japan
“Rampart walk is the thing. The Château exhibition is decent but the walk along the inner walls with the Aude below is what you remember. Audio guide was worth the extra 7 euros.”
Dublin, Ireland
“Came with three teenagers. None of them were excited. All three of them climbed every tower. The Viollet-le-Duc restoration story got them.”
- Refund if we can't deliver Full money back if your slot can't be secured
- Real humans, not bots English-speaking concierge, not AI
- Pay in your local currency Same price at checkout · no FX surprise
- No hidden fees Total shown upfront · what you see is what you pay
About Cité de Carcassonne
Carcassonne was first walled by the Romans in the 3rd century, expanded by the Visigoths, then turned into the French crown's southern fortress after the Albigensian Crusade took it from the Trencavels in 1209. By the 17th century it had lost its strategic value and was falling to ruin.
In the 1850s the architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc rebuilt the conical roofs, the crenellations, and the outer walls — so the cité you see today is partly 13th-century and partly the most famous 19th-century medieval restoration in Europe. It's the reason the place looks the way fairytales think castles look.
The cité itself — the cobbled lanes, the Basilique St-Nazaire, the shops and restaurants inside — is free to wander. What you pay for is the Château Comtal and the ramparts walk above, run by the French national monuments service (CMN). The view from the tower battlements across the lower town and the vineyard plain is the reason people come.
Practical information
- Opening hours
- Apr–Sep: daily 10:00 – 18:30 (last entry 17:45). Oct–Mar: daily 09:30 – 17:00 (last entry 16:15). Closed 1 Jan, 1 May, 1 Nov, 11 Nov, 25 Dec.
- Address
- 1 Rue Viollet-le-Duc, 11000 Carcassonne, France
- Getting there from Toulouse
- Direct train Toulouse–Carcassonne (50 min, every hour). From the station to the cité: Bus line 4 to 'Cité' or a 25-minute walk uphill.
- Getting there from Paris
- TGV Paris Montparnasse to Toulouse (4h15m) then connect. Cheaper: LyriaSud overnight + morning transfer.
- Time needed
- Allow 1.5–2 hours for the Château + ramparts. Add 1–2 hours for wandering the cité (free). Lunch inside the walls is the classic — book ahead in July–August.
- Summer queues
- July–August 11:00–15:00 is the crush. Morning (10:00 open) or late afternoon (after 16:00) are calmest. Skip-the-line is worth 45–60 minutes on peak days.
- Accessibility
- The cité's cobbled streets are uneven. The Château Comtal has steep stairs to the ramparts — there is no lift. The ground-floor exhibition rooms are accessible. Contact us if mobility is a concern.
- Photography
- Permitted everywhere. The best shot is from the Pont Vieux across the Aude at blue hour — the whole cité lights up.
- Dress
- Walking shoes (cobbles + steep stairs). Layers — the stone walls stay cool even in July.
About our service
Cité de Carcassonne Tickets acts as a facilitator to assist international visitors in purchasing skip-the-line tickets directly from the Centre des monuments nationaux (CMN), the official operator of the Château Comtal and ramparts. We do not resell tickets — we provide a personalised booking and English-language support service. Our concierge service fee is included in the displayed price. For those who prefer to purchase directly, the official ticket site is remparts-carcassonne.fr.
Frequently asked
What's included in the skip-the-line ticket?
Priority entry to the Château Comtal (the castle inside the cité), access to the full 1.2 km ramparts walk, and the interior exhibitions. The cité's streets, shops, and the Basilique St-Nazaire are free to wander without a ticket — you only pay for the castle and ramparts.
When's the queue worst?
July–August 11:00–15:00 is the worst. Peak-day castle queues hit 45–60 minutes without a pre-booked ticket. Morning (10:00 open) and late afternoon (after 16:00) are calmer. Skip-the-line cuts any queue to under 5 minutes.
How long does a visit take?
Allow 1.5–2 hours for the Château + ramparts at a steady pace. Add another 1–2 hours if you want to wander the cité's streets, visit the Basilique St-Nazaire, and have lunch inside the walls. Most visitors spend 4 hours total.
Are the cité streets paid entry?
No. The cité — the inner walled city with its cobbled streets, shops, restaurants, and the Basilique St-Nazaire — is free to enter and wander. What you pay for is the Château Comtal (the castle) and the ramparts walk above, which is the UNESCO-worthy bit.
Can I change my date or time?
Two situations trigger a full refund: (a) we cannot secure your chosen slot, or (b) the monument closes. Outside those, tickets are non-transferable and non-refundable. If you need to change, email us 48h+ ahead and we'll try, but peak-summer slots rarely have availability.
Is it suitable for children?
Yes — kids 6+ tend to love climbing the towers and walking the ramparts. Under-18s are free at the gate (EU policy); the family tier bundles the paperwork so you skip-the-line together. Strollers struggle on the cobbles; a carrier works better.
Is photography allowed?
Yes, everywhere. No tripods inside the castle exhibitions. Drones prohibited without a CMN permit. The classic postcard shot is from the Pont Vieux across the Aude at blue hour.
What's your refund policy?
Two situations trigger a full refund: (a) we cannot secure your chosen slot, or (b) the monument closes. Outside those, tickets are non-transferable and non-refundable — same policy as the official CMN site. See our refund policy page for detail.