THE Languedoc & the Pyrenees

• Appreciate the Roman legacy, from amphitheatres in Nîmes and Arles to the extraordinary Pont du Gard

• See the Middle Ages from a new perspective: the papal centre of Avignon, Cathar heretics in Carcassonne, and the remote mountain hermitages of the Pyrenees

• Discover regional French towns and cities that are refreshingly far from mass tourism, including elegant Montpellier, Narbonne’s Gothic spires and medieval Béziers above the River Orb

• Follow the trail of modern art, with Vincent van Gogh in Arles, Matisse in Collioure and Dalí’s Catalan inventiveness

• Enjoy distinct food cultures, from the wines of sun-drenched Languedoc to seafood specialties and a Franco-Iberian peasant cuisine in the Pyrenees

TUESDAY 28 SEPTEMBER 2027 – ARRIVAL (D)
We meet in the lobby of our hotel in Nîmes at 6.00pm today, for an orientation stroll and opportunity to get to know one another. Later, we enjoy dinner in a local restaurant. Overnight Nîmes. Please note that no arrival transfers are included in the price of the tour: there are regular TGV trains (ca 3-hr journey) from Paris Gare de Lyon to Nîmes Centre TGV station. (Nîmes Pont-du-Gard is not the correct TGV station for central Nîmes!) We recommend that you consider arriving one day earlier into Nîmes if you would like to explore sites that lie beyond our tour themes, such as the Musée Beaux-Arts and Musée de la Romanité. Overnight Nîmes.

WEDNESDAY 29 SEPTEMBER 2027 – IN NÎMES (B)
Nîmes was a significant Celtic settlement and later become one of the most significant cities of Roman Gaul. After a talk in the hotel, we take a guided walking tour of Nîmes, discovering the magnificent remains of empire, from the celebrated arena to the Maison Carrée, a first-century temple dedicated to the adopted heirs of Emperor Augustus and one of the best preserved Roman temples in existence. Over lunch at leisure there is time to soak up the town’s atmosphere, that of a pleasant and relaxed regional capital. In the afternoon, we travel a short distance outside of Nîmes to admire another important work of the Roman era, the Pont du Gard. This aqueduct crosses the River Gardon, and was erected in the first century to carry water to Nîmes over a distance of 50km. After time to admire this impressive monument, we return to Nîmes for an evening at leisure. Overnight Nîmes.

THURSDAY 30 SEPTEMBER 2027 – THE POPES IN AVIGNON (B)
In 1309, it seemed increasingly unsafe for the popes to exercise their spiritual and political leadership in the city of Rome. As a consequence, and as part of regional power plays between Italy and Rome, Gregory XI abandoned Rome and came to Avignon to hold his court. For almost 70 years, the papacy was based here in what the Italian poet Petrarch called a “Babylonian captivity” and what is often referred to as the Western Schism. Today we explore the magnificent medieval monuments that the popes created, on a guided walking tour of Avignon that includes the Palace of the Popes, with its huge banqueting halls and medieval frescoes, and the Pont-Saint-Bénézet across the mighty Rhône. After lunch at leisure, we continue to the Musée du Petit Palais, housed in an elegant ecclesiastical palace alongside the Palais des Papes. Its collection paintings bear witness to the fertile collaborations of southern French and central Italian artists, like Simone Martini, while the popes were in Avignon. Returning to Nîmes, the evening is at leisure. Overnight Nîmes.

FRIDAY 01 OCTOBER 2027 – ART & ARCHITECTURE IN ARLES (B)
From February 1888, Vincent van Gogh spent fifteen months in Arles, seeking the bright light and vibrant colours of a southern landscape and, together with his one-time friend Paul Gauguin, changing the face of modern art forever, as a result of his time here. Today we spend a full day in Arles, in order to appreciate its influence. Meeting our local guide, we have a walking tour that takes in some of this pretty town’s most impressive Roman monuments, including the well-preserved arena of the first century. Temporary exhibition schedules pending, we may also call in at the Fondation Vincent van Gogh, which tracks the artist’s time in the town through reproductions of famous works, including the Café Terrace at Night that shows the nearby Place du Forum. Each temporary exhibition mounted by the Foundation includes one original work by van Gogh. After lunch at leisure, we continue to Saint-Trophime cathedral and cloister, where a series of Romanesque sculptures on the portal and monastery capitals remind us of the significant role that Arles played during the early Christian era. The evening is at leisure. Overnight Nîmes.

SATURDAY 02 OCTOBER 2027 – TO NARBONNE, VIA MONTPELLIER (B, D)
We check out of our hotel today and travel towards Narbonne, calling in at Montpellier on our way. A vibrant city, it has a growing student population and has – since the tenth century at least – been an important centre for trade and learning in southern France. On a walking tour with a local guide, we uncover some of the city’s most emblematic medieval sites, which include the fourteenth-century Gothic cathedral of Saint-Pierre and a well-preserved Jewish purification bath, or mikveh, in the former Jewish quarter. Lunch is at leisure before we continue to Narbonne and check into our hotel. We enjoy a group dinner this evening. Overnight Narbonne.

SUNDAY 03 OCTOBER 2027 – NARBONNE, FROM ROME TO THE MIDDLE AGES (B, L)
Narbo Martius was founded by the Romans in the second century BCE and it has long been one of the most important cities in the Occitan region, a cultural distinction that covers much of southern France and the coast alongside the Pyrenees. As we discover on our guided walking tour of Narbonne, it has always been a well-connected place, thanks to the Via Domitia, Roman Gaul’s first road, the Canal de Robine and of course the Mediterranean, only 15km to the east. The delta landscape favoured saltworks, a currency of the Roman and medieval eras, and the treasury of its fine thirteenth-century cathedral boasts carved ivories, illuminated manuscripts and liturgical objects in gold and silver that bear witness to the medieval city’s wealth. Lunch today is in a historic restaurant, before the option to join your tour leader on a visit to the Norman Foster-designed Narbo Via Museum, which showcases Roman antiquities. You might otherwise enjoy an afternoon at leisure, before we meet for a talk in the hotel. Overnight Narbonne.

MONDAY 04 OCTOBER 2027 – BÉZIERS & THE FONSERANES LOCKS (B)
The river systems of southern France guaranteed the movement of commodities from the north to the Mediterranean, even before the arrival of the Romans, and since the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, significant works of hydraulic engineering have improved on the natural waterways with a series of canals. We commence the day’s excursion at the Fonseranes Locks, a seventeenth-century lock system, in the design of a staircase, that could lift or lower boats more than 20m over a 300m stretch of canal. This extraordinary site is now UNESCO World Heritage listed. We continue our stroll alongside the River Orb’s canal until we reach the pretty town of Béziers. Already strategic in Greek and Roman times, it gained a tragic prominence in the Albigensian Crusade, as the site of the first major Cathar massacre in 1209. The sect was deemed heretical by the Church. We take a walking tour that includes a visit to the cathedral, burned down during the massacre of the Cathars and subsequently rebuilt in the fifteenth century. Lunch is at leisure today. Returning to Narbonne, the evening is at leisure. Overnight Narbonne.

TUESDAY 05 OCTOBER 2027 – THE CATHARS IN CARCASSONNE (B, L)
We continue our explorations of sites associated with a bloody chapter of the medieval Church, that of the war that it waged against heretics during the Albigensian Crusade. Carcassonne is indelibly associated with these events, the fortified town was besieged by Simon de Montfort and his troops in August 1209, with the city’s water supply cut off and its citizens later expelled. The town fell into ruin and its modern re-emergence is thanks to the fascinating and somewhat controversial nation-building project of architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc. There is time to admire the impressive rebuilding of the town’s fortifications and of the medieval citadel, before we continue into the surrounding Languedoc wine region for a tour of a winery, lunch and a tasting. We also call in at the Abbey of Fontfroide, a picturesque eleventh-century Cistercian monastery that is today privately owned. Returning to Narbonne, the evening is at leisure. Overnight Narbonne.

WEDNESDAY 06 OCTOBER 2027 – PERPIGNAN (B, D)
We check out today and travel to Perpignan, on the Languedoc Roussillon plain, roughly 25km from both the highest peaks of the Eastern Pyrenees and the modern Spanish border. Perpignan’s geographical position meant that it was ruled in succession by a number of regional powers, as we discover on a guided walking tour. The thirteenth-century capital of the kings of Majorca, whose territory across the Balearic Islands allowed them to control the trade of commodities like Iberian minerals, is reflected in the distinctive red brick design of the Castillet gate and Palace of the Kings, while the fourteenth-century Loge de Mer documents the arrival of the Crown of Aragon, a major medieval Mediterranean maritime power. There is time for lunch at leisure before our guided introduction to the Musée Hyacinthe Rigaud, celebrating the local painter whose magnificent portraits of the Sun King brought him fame. We continue to our hotel in Collioure and enjoy dinner together. Overnight Collioure.

THURSDAY 07 OCTOBER 2027 – THE PYRENEES & LE TRAIN ROUGE (B, L)
The Pyrenees are one of Europe’s most important mountain ranges, offering a natural border between France and Spain and historically forcing the sites we visit in this region to look to the Mediterranean for their fortunes, rather than to the remote and rocky mountain peaks. Today we appreciate this magnificent landscape on the Train Rouge, a historic railway that follows a century-old track into the Agly Valley across viaducts and through tunnels and gorges. Arriving in the village of Axat, we enjoy a simple lunch together before meeting our coach again to travel deeper into the mountains. The Abbey of Saint-Michel-de-Cuxa was a major Benedictine institution of the tenth and eleventh centuries, its Romanesque architecture, sculpture and frescoes of an extraordinary quality. When it fell into modern disrepair, a number of its artefacts were sold to great American collectors, and one of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Cloisters in northern Manhattan was brought to its present location from the abbey in the Pyrenees, under the patronage of John D. Rockefeller. After our visit, we return to Collioure for an evening at leisure. Overnight Collioure.

FRIDAY 08 OCTOBER 2027 – SEASIDE IN COLLIOURE & THE BANYULS WINE DISTRICT (B, L)
In 1905, Henri Matisse and his family arrived in the fishing village of Collioure, drawn there by fellow artist Paul Signac’s descriptions of its inexpensive charms. Together, they would create key modern artworks that chart a transition from the innovations of Pointillism and Divisionism to the exuberance of the Fauves, or “wild beasts”, and it was the lights and colour of this village that so inspired the artists. After a talk in the hotel, we take the scenic tourist train out of Collioure and into the hills above, gaining an extraordinary view over the town, before we meet our coach to travel to the nearby Banyuls wine region. The local terroir favours Grenache wines, and the district’s fortified wines enjoy two appellations. We visit a winery for a tour, tasting and lunch, before returning to Collioure. The evening is at leisure. Overnight Collioure.

SATURDAY 09 OCTOBER 2027 – DALÍ & SURREALISM IN FIGUERES (B)
The borderlands between France and Spain have produced great transitions in modern art, in particular. Salvador Dalí was born in Figueres, in Catalonia, and the Dalí Theatre-Museum in his hometown is now considered the world’s largest Surrealist object. With a large collection of Dalí’s work and the artist’s crypt located humbly beneath the stage of the theatre, it is an architectural representation of this larger-than-life character of the modern art world. On a guided walking tour, we encounter Figueres’ other architectural landmarks, including the Romanesque cathedral where the artist was baptised, before lunch at leisure. In the afternoon, we take a tour of the Castell de Sant Ferran by inflatable boat, its massive eighteenth-century fortifications underpinned by a series of cisterns to ensure self-sufficiency. Returning to Collioure, the evening is at leisure. Overnight Collioure.

SUNDAY 10 OCTOBER 2027 – MODERN ART IN CADAQUÉS (B, L)
The small fishing villages of Catalonia’s Costa Brava are extraordinarily evocative, with their cobblestone alleyways, Mediterranean views and whitewashed buildings. Today we visit Cadaqués and Portlligat, two villages associated with Dalí and his muse Gala. We commence with a visit to the Dalí House Museum, with time to wander in the artist’s pleasant olive grove, before we continue to Cadaqués, where his family holidayed during his childhood. Here we enjoy lunch in the scenic village, before time at leisure to explore its narrow streets. We return to Collioure for an evening at leisure. Overnight Collioure.

MONDAY 11 OCTOBER 2027 – TO BARCELONA, VIA GIRONA (B, D)
We check out today and leave France for Spain and Barcelona, calling in at Girona. In the Middle Ages, it was a border outpost of the Franks, later becoming a centre of Jewish learning and a trading depot for the Counts of Barcelona and the Crown of Aragon. On our guided walking tour, we encounter some of the most important sites of the Barri Vell or Old City, including the Jewish Quarter and the enormous Gothic cathedral. Lunch is at leisure before we continue to Barcelona. After checking in to our hotel, we enjoy dinner together. Overnight Barcelona.

TUESDAY 12 OCTOBER 2027 – MEDIEVAL CENTRES OF POWER (B, D)
We conclude our journey with some of the most important manifestations of Mediterranean medieval power: the influential style of the Romanesque and Gothic art and architecture produced in the Languedoc, Occitan and Catalan regions. This is the focus of our introduction to the collections of MNAC, the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya. This collection of fine and decorative art is housed in the nineteenth-century Palau Nacional on the Montjuïc hill overlooking Barcelona. The building was constructed for the 1929 International Exposition and today boasts a massive range of artworks of outstanding value, including Romanesque frescoes detached from remote monasteries in the Pyrenees to fifteenth-century Catalan Gothic masterpieces, canvases by El Greco, Velázquez, Rubens and Picasso, and furniture designed by Antoni Gaudí. After our focused visit together, there is time to continue your explorations of the museum independently, including lunch in the café. Returning to the historic centre, there is the option to join a two-hour walking tour of the Barri Gòtic or Gothic Quarter. Alternatively, you might like to undertake a little shopping or continue your exploration of art on Montjuïc at the Fundació Joan Miró. We meet up this evening for our farewell meal, an opportunity to share our impressions of the cultural riches of the Languedoc and Pyrenees regions. Overnight Barcelona.

WEDNESDAY 13 OCTOBER 2027 – DEPARTURE (B)
Our tour concludes after breakfast in the hotel. Please note that no departure transfers to Barcelona airport are included in the tour price. We recommend that you consider adding additional nights to your stay in Barcelona, to admire the near-completion of the Sagrada Família or to book a visit to the Picasso Museum. Contact us if you would like to receive assistance from our travel partners with any aspect of your travel arrangements.

Appart’City 4* Nîmes Arènes, 4 nights

https://www.appartcity.com/en/destinations/france/occitania/nimes/nimes-arenes

A well-located hotel in a refurbished Haussmann-era building. Our Standard Studio rooms are an average of 20-22sqm and include a kitchenette and sitting area.

Île du Gua Suites 4* Narbonne, 4 nights

https://www.iledugua.fr/#

A stylish and modern property in a quiet canal-side location just outside the historic centre. Our rooms are Comfort Suites and average 27sqm in size.

Hotel Relais des Trois Mas 4* Collioure, 5 nights

https://www.relaisdestroismas.com/?lang=en

Boasting a panoramic location on the seaside, this hotel has a Michelin-starred restaurant and a swimming pool that is usually open in October.

Hotel h10 Urquinaona Plaza 4* Barcelona, 2 nights

https://www.h10hotels.com/en/barcelona-hotels/h10-urquinaona-plaza

This elegant hotel has an excellent location and our Urquinaona-category rooms average 18sqm, a standard size for the historic centre of this city.

NB: hotels of a similar standard may be substituted.

• 15 nights’ accommodation at 4* hotels

• All breakfasts and 10 lunches or dinners, with drinks

• All ground transport, guided tours and entrance fees to sites as mentioned in the itinerary, and tipping

• Please note that no arrival or departure transfers are included in the cost of the tour

• Talks by and expertise of an Australian tour leader throughout, including talks in the hotels

• Assistance of a tour manager throughout

A $1,500pp deposit is required at the time of booking to hold your place on tour.

A second deposit of $2,000 is due on 31 May 2027.

We will invoice you for final payment for the tour, due on 15 July 2027.

When you book on one of tours, we ask you to accept our terms and conditions. You can read our terms and conditions here.