Pyrenees Guide

The heart of the south and a spicy accent, Perpignan is turned towards Spain and the East, an eye on its past and a smile towards the future. Plane trees and palm trees cohabit along the wide avenues that bathe in the sun. They offer shade to the beauties sculpted by Maillol that are both naked and proud, to be found in the corner of a courtyard or a small square where a marble fountain gently sings.

The lofty splendour of the Palace of the Majorcan Kings dominates the narrow popular streets overflowing with spices, fruit or fish, a thousand different aromas from around the world. History is everywhere from the convents to the museums, from the chapels to the processions. Life is everywhere, in a sardane step, a harmony of jazz, the plucking of an electric guitar or the strumming of a Gypsy on his guitar, an Arabic chant wafting from a window.

In Perpignan it is said that to live in the present is at every instant, to unite both here and there, as well as today and tomorrow.

Ansiguan - This village is located in the Fenouillèdes upstream the artificial lake of Caramary. This charming small village built around its church is especially known for its magnificent Roman aqueduct, pride of the inhabitants. On the place of the village, some metres away from the belvedere, a ...

Estagel - This little town is situated in front of the Fenouilledes, some kilometres of Rivesaltes away on the road to Toulouse via Quillan. This place which looks like a bolt of the valley of Agly and Maury is a village of rural type where life is always calm and full of serenity. It is an excellent point ...

Riversaltes - Riversaltes is standing on the banks of the Agly and surrounded by vineyard covered slopes, not far away from Perpignan. Riversaltes is one of the wine-producing capitals of the region named Roussillon well-known all over the world known because of its natural mild wine. It is not very known ...

Salses le Chateau - In 1258 Salses was the frontier between France and the Realm of Aragon. In 1896 the town was destroyed following Franco-Spanish conflicts. The Spanish built this fortress in 1497. There were many conflicts between France and Spain between 1503 and 1642 when the French finally regained the fort. In ...

Belesta - Belesta was a fortified village in the 14th century and one of the demarcations between France and Spain. Visit Belesta castle-museum: sisplay of finery, dioramas and documents explaining daily life in the Neolithic times, the archaeologists work and contains the oldest prehistoric collective ...

Villeneuve de la Raho - Perched on a hill on Perpignan's doorstep at the foot of the Pyrenees, Villeneuve de la Raho offers various water activities as well as fishing, thanks to its lakes of nearly 200 hectares. They permanently reflect the Canigou Mountain just like mirrors. In the heart of the village, the atypical ...

Bages - A village steeped in Catalan traditions where one can appreciate the quality of life. Visit the Palais d'Art Naif (naive painting gallery) and its ...

Montescot - A small village with agricultural roots. Visit the well known artist Maria Luis in her ...

Corneilla del Vercol - Formely the Roman villa Corneliali. It has a 12th century castle,modified in 19th ...

Theza - This quiet village was formerly the Roman village ...

Baho - In the 10th century, the Count of Cerdagne was its uncontested master before it was taken over by the Saint Michel de Cuxa abbey in the 12th ...

Toulouges - This little town was chosen by the synod in the year 1027 and also the council for a few years, in order to install the "Truce of God". The aim was to limit and to put a stop to feudal conflicts. Today Toulougesis ...

Millas - Millas main interest are the ruins of the fortifications and the Romanesque bell tower of the 15th century church. Nearby, at an altitude of 507m, an ancient signal tower became the Forca Real hermitage in the 12th century. Magnificient ...

Saint Hippolyte - The main interests of Saint Hippolyte are the wine museum, an ancient building with signs of the fortifications of 12th century, a church with a 4th century column and a Roman milestone dating from 4th century (distance of the Via ...