L’Ariège en Camping-Car : location, advice, areas, routes

Are you going to visit the southwest of France? Here’s our mini-guide to travel to the Ariège in camping-car!

Traveling in the Ariège by camping-car is synonymous with large natural spaces and rhyme with refreshing escapades away from the great boulevards. Approach to the Spain On the Pyrenees chain, Ariège is one of the jewels of the Occitania region.

From Pamiers to Foix in the Toulouse plain to the Pyrenees, Ariège is an ideal destination for a travelling journey. Not known to the general public, land of green and picturesque spaces, the department is full of sites, cities and monuments to visit.

You have rented a motorhome Toulouse or in an Ariegean city (Foix, Pamiers, Mirepoix, Saint-Girons...)? Are you looking for ideas to find out where to go on holiday in France? Here’s a mini-guide to travel to the Ariège in camping-car!

Ideas of itineraries in Ariège en camping-car

The Ariège stretches over nearly 5,000 km2 from the plain of Lauragais at the Haute-Cerdagne. It’s twice as much as Dordogne or Landes . So you can quickly cross the department.

But to visit the Ariège in camping-car, we recommend staying several nights in the same area. Multiplying the steps allows you to have a good overview of the destination, but prevents you from imitating local culture. Here are some ideas of routes to be made in Ariège.

Visit Ariège on a motorhome on a weekend

This route takes as an example a departure from Toulouse for 3 days:

• 1 day : Toulouse, Pamiers, Mirepoix (95 km, 1h20);
• 2nd day : Belesta (fontaine de Fonterstorbes), Montségur (château de Montségur) (40 km, 55 minutes);
• 3rd day : Tarascon-sur-Ariège (parc de la Préhistoire), Niaux, Grotte de Niaux, Foix (70 km, 1h15).

L’Ariège en camping-car sur une semaine

Here is a tour to visit the Ariège on a seven-day motorhome since Toulouse. Visit the villages classified in the department and enjoy the large areas of nature, lakes and Ariegean forests.

Make an incursion in the Study on the way back. To roll in the footsteps of Cathar castles, for example. Or to swim in the Mediterranean Sea if you travel in summer.

• 1 day : Toulouse, Carla-Bayle, Mirepoix, Lac de Montbel, Belesta (160 km, 3h) ;
• 2nd day : Fonterstorbes fountain, Roquefixade Castle, Foix (40 km, 1h) ;
• 3rd day : Montségur, Tarascon-sur-Ariège, Niaux and the cave of Niaux (75 km, 1h30);
• 4th day : Saint-Lizier, Saint-Girons, Massat, Aulus-les-Bains (Cascade d’Ars) (125 km, 2h30);
• 5th day : Bethmale (hiking: lake, Campuls circus, Craberous pass), Seix (hiking in the Mont Valier massif) (100 km, 2h15);
• 6th day : Ax-les-Thermes, Mijanès (hiking on the peak of the Tarbésou or the peak of the Camisette) (135 km, 3h) ;
• 7th day : Orlu and the Orlu Reserve, Appy (view to the summits), Axiat, Lordat, Unac (95 km, 2h15).

This route varies between the unmissable towns and villages of Ariège, the lakes and the Pyrenean peaks and historical sites. But it will make you spend a lot of time on the roads.

If you have more than a week to visit the Ariège in camping-car, you can get out of the department and explore the surroundings.

For example, take advantage of the road to Cathar castles in Aude country ( Carcassonne , Quéribus, Peyrepertuse, Cucugnan, Usson, Aguilar, Saissac, Lastours, Puilaurens, etc.).

Alternatively, you might prefer a route to the sea, with the Corbières massif or the Clape massif, in the Narbonnaise Regional Natural Park in the Mediterranean.

What budget to travel on motorhome in Ariège?

How do I estimate the cost of your trip to Ariège by motorhome? In addition to output prices and food, a number of pre-engineered costs are still required: camping-car rental and fuel. Here are some ideas of the budget to be expected in Ariège, with a rental in Toulouse.

Average budget for 1 weekend

• Rental + motorhome insurance : 107 € per day on average, or 321 € for 3 days;
• Essence : 21 €;
• Parking : up to 10 € per day;
• Total : 375 € approx.

Average budget for 1 week

• Rental + motorhome insurance : 107 € per day on average, or 749 € for 7 days;
• Essence : 75 € approximately;
• Parking : up to 10 € per day;
• Total : 900 € approx.

The department of Ariège has many natural spaces, relatively isolated. You may not have to pay 10 € per day for parking on a camper. Free parking is often found.

Others will be more expensive for a day parking. This forecasting total of expenses is only given as an indication, and also depends on your driving (calm or more sporty) on mountain ranges.

Areas and driving in motorhome in Ariège

Are you curious about how can we travel in Ariège? Here’s the main information to know to travel to Ariège by camping-car.

What documents do you have on board?

• Driver's license (B) if the PTAC of the motorhome does not exceed 3.5 tonnes;
• Grey card of the motorhome;
• Certificate of motorhome insurance;
• The lease agreement signed between the two parties.

Motorway to Ariège : what price for your camper category?

The department of Ariège is only crossed by a single highway: the A66. This section allows you to connect Villefranche-de-Lauragais (Haute-Garonne) to Pamiers via the A61.

The A66 is a toll-paying highway. You will need to pay the price in Class 2 if you are travelling to Ariège on a camping car. Here are some prices including the origin of other cities:

• Toulouse-Pamiers : 8,40 € ;
• Bordeaux Pamiers : 41,30 € ;
• Montpellier-Pamiers : 34,50 € ;
• Marseille-Pamiers : 41,90 € ;
• Lyon-Pamiers : 69 € ;
• Clermont-Ferrand-Pamiers : 57,60 €.

Borrowing the highway networks of south of France in motorhome is therefore relatively expensive!

Other information about driving in Ariège

The Ariège road network is of good quality overall. The main cities are connected by large axes such as the A66 and the N20, from Pamiers to Andorra. You will therefore have no trouble visiting Pamiers, Foix, Tarascon-sur-Ariège, Ax-les-Thermes or Saint-Girons.

On the other hand, apart from the N20, the width of the roads narrows as we approach the Pyrenean massifs.

It is advisable to avoiding secondary routes camping-car, especially winter. Due to the high level of snow, small axes are not necessarily snowed or salted . In the Toulouse plain, the small roads will often offer you the possibility to tighten to the right in order to let the other motorists surpass you.

Camping-car areas in Ariège: where to park?

Are you looking for a place to park for the night in camper? If you like to sleep in the beautiful star (or almost), you can try to park in the middle of nature.

But beware of the wild camping because you could be subject to control, especially in the regional natural park of the Ariegeoise Pyrenees.

To benefit from all the services of the campsite, you will find about twenty tickets for motorhomes throughout Ariège. They are mainly located in the vicinity of the most important municipalities and tourist sites (Foix, Mirepoix, Ax-les-Thermes, etc.).

The good news is that you will find easily free areas , benefiting from quality services (parking, water, electricity, waste water drain, sanitary). When paid, the price of the area rarely exceeds €10 per day. You can therefore easily park in Foix, Mirepoix, Carla-Bayle, Montferrier, Aulus-les-Bains, Seix, etc.

How and where to rent a motorhome France ?

Would you like to explore Ariège in motorhome, but you don’t have a vehicle? Now it is very simple to rent these vehicles between individuals, especially in France. Many platforms allow this type of rental, online, as Yescapa For example.

How does it work?

• At first, you have to choose the motorhome in your city (For example Bordeaux, Nantes, Toulouse, Paris, Montpellier or Marseille).
• Be careful choose unlimited mileage, to check the number of beds available and if travel abroad is possible.
• Do your work online rental request and share your travel information (dates, rental options, mileage, etc.) to the owner.
• If your request is accepted and after payment, you will have access to the owner's contact information to organize a First meeting.
• Day J, present your driver's license and pour bail.
• One. status of premises is executed and a lease is signed between the two parties. You'll have to sign it as soon as you get back, and once done, the tour is played!

What is the best time to travel by motorhome in Ariège?

A part has a continental climate (Pyrenean valleys), characterized by numerous storms and a large thermal amplitude between day and night. The other part takes advantage of the influences of the Mediterranean climate (Ariège, Tarascon, Sault Country). In the south of the department, Ariège has a mountain climate.

In Foix, for example, summers are hot or even hot joints autumns are rainy and spring is mild and stormy. In winter, the climate is very cold and the snow falls abundance . The average maximum temperatures range from 10°C (December, January, February) to 25°C (July-August). The winter has strong frosts and the summer sees temperatures above 35°C regularly.

The best times to travel to Ariège in motorhomes are spreading from April to October , the weather being the most pleasant between June and September.