Languedoc and Catalan Roussillon

Your trip begins at Camon, the walled village nicknamed Little Carcassonne. Walk along the ramparts and take a look at the fortified priory and the Maison haute. Settle in for the evening here, perhaps with a glass of Pays Cathares IGP wine.

The day opens at Lagrasse, a village that grew around its abbey beside the Orbieu. Cross the Pont-Vieux, stroll to the covered market hall, and pause for a glass of Corbières wine from the hills around. Then on to Minerve.

Minerve stands on a rock fortress between two canyons, and you cross the single bridge to reach it. Walk to the Candela tower and the natural rock tunnels on the Cesse, and remember the Cathars at the dove memorial. Stay the night here or nearby, with a glass of Minervois wine.

Olargues is wrapped by the Jaur, at the foot of the Monts de l'Espinouse. Cross the Pont du Diable, climb to the old bell tower, formerly the keep of the castle, then cycle the former railway line through the valley. Stay the night here, and if you can, try the Marron d'Olargues.

Prats-de-Mollo-la-Preste is a Catalan town within walls, beside the Tech and beneath the Canigou. Reach Fort Lagarde by its covered walkway, built by Vauban to hold the border. Every February, the town stages the Fête de l'ours. Stay the night here and listen to the river.

Castelnou is the first stop of the day, in the stony hills of the Aspres. Climb to the castle on its limestone outcrop, then look in at Sainte-Marie du Mercadal, the Romanesque church in the old village below. Then on to Évol.

Évol is a small schist hamlet with stone-slab roofs, high above the valley. See the surviving tower of the castle and the old church of Saint-André, and look in at the small room devoted to the novelist Ludovic Massé, born here. Next, on to Villefranche-de-Conflent.

Arriving at Villefranche-de-Conflent, you pass into a walled town squeezed between river and mountain. Climb the stairway through the rock to Fort Libéria, built by Vauban, and walk the compact streets inside the walls. Stay the night here; the Yellow Train leaves from the station.

Your last stop is Eus, climbing a rocky spur above the Conflent. Follow the cobbled lanes to the summit and the church of Saint-Vincent-d'En-Haut, and in spring look out over the peach trees in blossom. Then the road runs on to Perpignan.