Should you visit Carcassonne or Beaune?
Which city should you visit? Read on to compare the prices of travel for Carcassonne and Beaune. We’ll break down costs for accommodation, food, transportation and more to help you learn more about these two destinations. Then, you can figure out if either of these two places are accessible based on your travel budget. So, let's dig into it.
Carcassonne
Carcassonne is a hilltop town in southern France. Inhabited since the Neolithic period, Carcassonne is located in the Aude plain between historic trade routes, linking the Atlantic to the Mediterranean sea and the Massif Central to the Pyrenees. The Romans recognized its strategic importance and occupied its hilltop until the demise of the Western Roman Empire and was later taken over in the fifth century by the Visigoths who founded the city. Its desirable location led successive rulers to expand its fortifications until the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659. It is famous for its medieval citadel, La Cite, which has numerous watchtowers and double-walled fortifications. The first walls were built in Gallo-Roman times, with major additions made in the 13th and 14th centuries. With its position on a rocky hilltop, zigzag battlements, stout walls and spiky turrets, the fortified city of Carcassonne looks like something out of a children's storybook when it's seen from afar. A Unesco World Heritage Site since 1997, it's most people's idea of the perfect medieval castle. It attracts over four million visitors every year, peaking in high summer. Time your visit for late in the day (or even better in spring or fall) to truly appreciate the old town's medieval charm.
Beaune
The walled-town of Beaune is located at the center of the Burgundy winemaking region in France. Once the capital of the region and still surrounded by the Cote d’Or vineyards, the cobbled town is just a starting point for food and wine connoisseurs looking to taste their way through the greater countryside of Burgundy.
Which city is cheaper, Beaune or Carcassonne?
These are the overall average travel costs for the two destinations.
The average daily cost (per person) in Carcassonne is €85, while the average daily cost in Beaune is €133. These costs include accommodation (assuming double occupancy, so the traveler is sharing the room), food, transportation, and entertainment. While every person is different, these costs are an average of past travelers in each city. Below is a breakdown of travel costs for Carcassonne and Beaune in more detail.
Accommodation
For a normal double-occupancy room in Carcassonne, €98 is the average cost for a hotel room. Also in Carcassonne, the typical price for a place to stay for one person is €49, such as in a hostel.
Accommodation prices vary by location and style, but travelers pay on average about €132 for a double occupancy room in Beaune.
Food
While meal prices in Carcassonne can vary, the average travelers spends about €31 per day on food. Based on the spending habits of previous travelers, when dining out, an average meal in Carcassonne should cost around €12 per person. Breakfast prices are usually a little cheaper than lunch or dinner. The price of food in sit-down restaurants in Carcassonne is often higher than fast food prices or street food prices.
Food in Beaune costs travelers about €43 per day on average. Restaurants can vary significantly in price, so choose wisely if you're trying to save money. Fast food and street stalls are typically your cheapest options, which sit down restaurants can be significantly more expensive.
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Food
Meals for one day
Carcassonne €31
Beaune €43
Typical Food prices in Beaune
Below are a few samples from actual travelers for food and meal costs in Beaune:
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Fast Food Lunch (for 2)
€9.00
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Cookie
€1.00
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Coffee
€2.80
Local Transportation
To get around in Carcassonne, the average visitor spends €5.71 per day, per person. This includes the costs of taxi rides and private drivers as well as public transportation, which tends to be much more affordable.
The average price of local transportation around Beaune is €33 per person, per day. As this average includes both taxis and public transport, keep in mind that the prices of private drivers and taxis are significantly more expensive than public transportation.
Entertainment
In Carcassonne, the costs for things to do, activities, admission tickets, and other sightseeing expenses are on average €11 per person, per day.
Beaune's costs for entertainment, tickets, attractions, and tours will often cost around €26 per person, per day. This cost can vary widely by the type of activity, however, as this includes admission tickets, day tours, museums, and other things to do.
Tours and Activities in Carcassonne
For Carcassonne, here are a few prices for actual activities, tours, and tickets provided by various companies:
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Castle and Ramparts Skip-the-Line Ticket:
$11
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Cité de Private Guided Tour:
$24
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2-Hour Private Walking Tour:
$35
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Walking guided tour Carcassonne medieval town. Shared tour.:
$60
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2 Hour Private Guided Tour Carcassonne Medieval:
$101
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Half day tour to Lastours. Shared tour from Carcassonne.:
$116
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Wine day tour. Shared tour from Carcassonne.:
$153
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Cité de Carcassonne Guided Walking tour. Private tour.:
$168
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Walking guided tour Carcassonne:
$168
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Day tour : Lastours Castles & Cité de Carcassonne. Shared tour from Carcassonne.:
$184
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Carcassonne Sightseeing Tour:
$202
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Private 2-hour Walking Tour of Carcassone with official tour guide:
$236
Typical Entertainment prices in Beaune
Here are a few typical costs in Beaune for activities, ticket prices, and tours that come from previous visitors:
Tours and Activities in Beaune
Here are a few actual costs in Beaune for available activities, ticket prices, and tours:
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4-Night Burgundy Bike Tour from Beaune:
$1,026
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Burgundy Cote de Beaune Private Day Tour:
$516
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Burgundy Grand Crus Route Day Tour with 10 Wines Tastings in Family Domains:
$209
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Full Day Private Tour with Tasting of 10 Grands Crus - The Best of Burgundy:
$733
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Full-day Private Burgundy Wine Route Tour from Beaune:
$746
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Half-Day Private Tour in Côte de Beaune:
$218
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Multi Day Private Tour of Côte de Nuits and Côte de Beaune:
$734
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One day tour of Beaune & the road of the Grands Crus.Organic & biodynamic wines:
$243
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Private Full Day Tour - Côte de Nuits : Pinot Noir Paradise:
$397
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Private Full Day Tour Côte de Nuits and Côte de Beaune:
$397
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Private Full Day Tour to the Heart of Burgundy:
$454
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Private Tour Full Day Côte de Beaune:
$367
Alcohol
Typically, people visiting Carcassonne spend on average €10 on alcoholic beverages per person, per day.
While the amount that someone spends on alcohol while visiting Beaune may vary from person to person, on average a person spends €38 per day on alcoholic beverages.
Sample the Local Flavors in Carcassonne
Some specific costs for nightlife related activities in Carcassonne:
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Half day wine tour. Shared tour from Carcassonne.:
$102
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Day to the Cité de Carcassonne and wine tasting. Shared tour from Carcassonne:
$184
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Wine Tours and Vineyard Adventures In The Languedoc:
$211
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Shared tour to Lastours, wine tasting, Minerve, Canal du Midi. From Carcassonne:
$246
Sample the Local Flavors in Beaune
Also in Beaune, these are the prices for nightlife and alcohol related activities from various tour providers:
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Beaune Small-Group Half Day Tour with Lunch and Wine Tastings at Family Domain:
$128
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Burgundy Full-Day Tour and Wine Tastings from Beaune:
$174
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Burgundy Bike Tour with Wine Tasting from Beaune:
$219
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Beaune Small-Group Day Tour including Wine Tastings and Lunch:
$229
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Côte de Nuits Wine Tour:
$311
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Wine Tasting Tour Côte D'Or - Private Full Day:
$367
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Full-Day Private Tour: Wine Tasting, with 6 Grands Crus The Best of Burgundy:
$599
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Private Wine Tasting Tour in Cote de Beaune:
$874
When we compare the travel costs of actual travelers between Carcassonne and Beaune, we can see that Beaune is more expensive. And not only is Carcassonne much less expensive, but it is actually a significantly cheaper destination. So, traveling to Carcassonne would let you spend less money overall. Or, you could decide to spend more money in Carcassonne and be able to afford a more luxurious travel style by staying in nicer hotels, eating at more expensive restaurants, taking tours, and experiencing more activities. The same level of travel in Beaune would naturally cost you much more money, so you would probably want to keep your budget a little tighter in Beaune than you might in Carcassonne.
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