Should you visit Le Mans or Carcassonne?
Which city is more affordable and which is best for your travel style? If you're trying to figure out where to go next, comparing the travel costs between Le Mans and Carcassonne can help you decide which place is right for you.
Le Mans
Le Mans is a city in France, on the Sarthe River. Le Mans is found about 80 kilometers north of Tours, and south of Alencon. To many of course, Le Mans is famous only for a 24 hour racing event once a year. If you are not interested in cars and car racing, it is best to avoid visiting Le Mans in the middle of June. However, Le Mans also has a fantastic old town and is well worth the visit. Known as the Cite Plantagenet, this is where in 1129 Geoffrey Plantagenet married Matilda, daughter of Henry I of England and gave birth to Henry II.
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.
Which city is cheaper, Carcassonne or Le Mans?
These are the overall average travel costs for the two destinations.
The average daily cost (per person) in Le Mans is €66, while the average daily cost in Carcassonne is €85. 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 Le Mans and Carcassonne in more detail.
Accommodation
Double occupancy rooms typically run around €60 in Le Mans For nicer amenities and a premiere location, you can expect to pay a bit more.
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.
Local Transportation
To get around in Le Mans, the average visitor spends €24 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.
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.
Is it cheaper to fly into Le Mans or Carcassonne?
Prices for flights to both Carcassonne and Le Mans change regularly based on dates and travel demand. We suggest you find the best prices for your next trip on Kayak, because you can compare the cost of flights across multiple airlines for your prefered dates.
Food
The average traveler spends about €22 per day in Le Mans for food, but obviously this is dependent on the type of restaurant and the amount of food ordered. To save money you can grab a lighter lunch or dinner, or you can try fast food or street 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.
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Food
Meals for one day
Le Mans €22
Carcassonne €31
Entertainment
In Le Mans, the costs for things to do, activities, admission tickets, and other sightseeing expenses are on average €12 per person, per day.
In Carcassonne, the costs for things to do, activities, admission tickets, and other sightseeing expenses are on average €11 per person, per day.
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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2 Hour Private Guided Tour Carcassonne Medieval:
$101
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Carcassonne Sightseeing Tour:
$202
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Carcassonne walking tour:
$292
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2-Hour Private Walking Tour:
$285
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Cité de Carcassonne Guided Walking tour. Private tour.:
$168
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Day tour : Lastours Castles & Cité de Carcassonne. Shared tour from Carcassonne.:
$184
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Day tour to Albi & Cordes sur Ciel. Shared tour from Carcassonne.:
$299
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Day tour to Mirepoix, Montségur, Foix. Shared tour from Carcassonne.:
$246
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Day tour to Narbonne, Gruissan, Lagrasse. Shared tour from Carcassonne.:
$246
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Day tour:Cucugnan, Quéribus & Peyrepertuse castles. Shared tour from Carcassonne:
$246
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From Sète: Private Tour of the Fortifications at Carcassonne:
$1,021
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Half day tour to Lastours. Shared tour from Carcassonne.:
$116
Alcohol
Alcoholic beverages can often be a significant portion of a traveler's budget, and the costs can vary greatly from person to person. In Le Mans, the average amount that a visitor spends on alcoholic beverages per day is €9.60.
Typically, people visiting Carcassonne spend on average €10 on alcoholic beverages per person, per day.
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
When we compare the travel costs of actual travelers between Le Mans and Carcassonne, we can see that Carcassonne is more expensive. And not only is Le Mans much less expensive, but it is actually a significantly cheaper destination. So, traveling to Le Mans would let you spend less money overall. Or, you could decide to spend more money in Le Mans 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 Carcassonne would naturally cost you much more money, so you would probably want to keep your budget a little tighter in Carcassonne than you might in Le Mans.
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