Tips on traveling to Midi-Pyrénées
One of the first tips for traveling to Midi-Pyrénées What we can give you is that the best way to prepare a route through Midi-Pyrenees, it is best to have a car, as it is the best way to get around the area. When leaving from a town near Girona, we have chosen to take our own car, if not another option would be to rent a car once you are in the area.
If you can't get here in your own car, the nearest airport, with the best deals, is Toulouse. From here you can rent a car and start touring some of the most beautiful villages of Midi-Pyrénées.
Remember that in order not to pay commissions and always have the current change we recommend you use the N26 card to pay and the Bnext and Revolut cards to get money at the ATMs. They are the ones we use, They are free and will save you a lot.
You can find more information in this article about the best cards to travel without commissions.
Another way to get to Midi-Pyrénées It is by train. You can reach Toulouse by high-speed train, for example from Barcelona in about 3 hours. We leave you the link with the other possible cities of origin //t.co/vMSAsAA7fK
The roads in this area of France are very good, so you will not have trouble traveling. The times coincide a lot with those you can find on Google Maps, so you can trust the times used in the journeys if you look at them through this application.
One of the great topics of France is that it is an expensive country. It is indeed something more expensive than Spain, but far from it is an unaffordable country. To give an example, the first day we were in Albi, before starting a route through the villages of Midi-Pyrenees, we stopped for breakfast at a bakery. 2 great pastries plus two coffees for 4.60 euros. Considering these prices, we can say that it is not worth coming with the trunk loaded with provisions, or at least this type of food. In terms of lunch / dinner, it is true that it is a bit more expensive to the menus we usually see, but you can find a lot at about 15-20 euros, which include 2 dishes plus desserts and coffees.
At the time of tour the villages of Midi-Pyrénées, we recommend that apart from carrying some reviews (such as those of this blog 😉), you dedicate yourself to go through them without further ado. It is the best way to meet them. Think that most are very small, so surely you will go through the same places several times, without the possibility of missing anything.
Albi is a little bigger and here we recommend that you take a slightly more defined itinerary, because although the historic center is not too large, it covers enough to miss an important point.
In Saint-Cirq-Lapopie we recommend that you leave the car in the lower or upper part, one of the routes you do on the road. The views from here are stunning.
Amazing views of Saint-Cirque-Lapopie
Perhaps because of the dates that we have been, in October out of season, we have not found too many souvenir shops, so if you see something somewhere you like, do not leave it for later.
In Rocamadour we expected to find many stores and really only found the "typical"souvenir shops, except for an impressive art gallery, but where prices were equally impressive.
If you are lucky enough to be in Najac first thing in the morning, when you go on the road in the direction of Saint-Cirq-Lapopie, keep an eye on the left side of the road. If you are lucky and there is a foggy day, you will have stunning views of the town between mists.
Najac in the morning mist
If there is something important in any trip, it is to make it safe. For that nothing better than doing it with good travel insurance.
We always travel insured with Mondo, with whom we carry a totally adequate insurance to the needs that we will have on the trip.
The hiring process is very easy and intuitive and also, just for being a reader of Street Travelers, you have a 5% discount.
Restaurants in Midi-Pyrénées
Another of the tips for traveling to Midi-Pyrénées What we will give you is respective to the food / drink. In France if you ask for natural water at any meal they will bring you, if they have not done so before, a jug with tap water. It is free and good, so if you do not want to spend a lot on your meals or do not drink soda or alcohol, tap water is a perfect option to accompany the meal.
In Cordes-sur-Ciel you have a restaurant,L 'hotel du vieux cordes le bistrot,highly recommended on Tripadvisor and in different forums. It is located in the upper part of town, right next to the central square. We warn you that the view from outside makes you doubt a little, but not for bad, if not the other way around. It is also a hotel, so as soon as you cross the reception, we can see exquisitely decorated rooms that welcome you with a menu of 35 euros per person, which includes 2 dishes plus dessert, or one of 25 euros, which includes a dish More dessert.
We prefer the second menu, since we saw that the dishes were large, in which we decided to order a cassoulet and a duck breast, more desserts, water and coke and two coffees for 60 euros.
Cassoulet in Cordes-sur-Ciel
Duck breast in Cordes-sur-Ciel
In Rocamadour, in L'Hospitalet, we decided on Au Panoramique, right at the entrance of the village, in front of a small public parking lot, a highly recommended restaurant, where we ordered a couple of menus, one with salad and canard confit and another with foie and salmon, more desserts with tap water and two coffees for 50 euros.
Eating at Au Panoramique
And of course we cannot close this post without thanking each and every one of those who have helped us with the itinerary, giving us advice, opening our eyes to different options and recommending places. You can imagine what you have helped us to discover new places (some of us have not been able to include them in this trip, but we have them all written down to meet them soon). Again, thank you very much!!
