 If you're looking for an activity holiday in Languedoc, then you're in luck. The Languedoc-Roussillon region is now host to a growing number of painters' weeks, musical weekends, wine-tasting courses and guided walks and tours. A 'pick-of-the-bunch' of what's currently on offer is listed to the right. Just click on any heading to go to its activity holiday page.
An activity holiday paradise
The superb weather and a gorgeous landscape of rolling vine-clad hills and distant mountains, makes Languedoc the perfect place to paint, to walk through or bike across. Rivers abound with fish, waiting to be caught. Vineyards are stocked high with superb wines just waiting to be sampled and learnt about. Castles and abbeys, over a thousand years old, perched on rocky ledges, wait to be explored. Add to that over 300 days of sunshine, clear, fresh air, superb food and access to miles of Mediterranean beaches, and you'll see why the region is fast becoming a favourite for activity holidays of every kind.
Enjoy superb accommodation
Most of the activity holidays and courses listed also offer high-levels of holiday accommodation, usually in the owner's own homes. Some have self-catering gîtes, some offer B&B.
At La Maison Verte, for example, in the buzzy little Languedoc village of Roujan, courses on everything from Renaissance singing to pottery to Jazz, are held every summer, with accommodation offered at 'La Maison' itself.
At the Château de Quarante, for example, the owners offer cooking courses, wine tasting tours and historical guided tours of the region.
Prices for activity holidays tend to include everything - the courses or tours or instruction plus all accommodation and even meals. But make sure to ask the holiday organisers exactly what their prices include and exclude.
Learn from the experts
When researching the activity holidays and courses offered in the region, we were really quite impressed by the depth of talent on offer by those running the holidays. Jackie Devereux, for example, is one of the UK's top water colour painters, and offers courses in the Hérault region of Languedoc. David McEwan, another artist, is officially a 'Master Painter of the World'. At the newly set-up Vinecole wine school, just south of Carcassonne, one of the world's few Masters of Wine, Matthew Stubbs, offers a wide array of wine tasting events and wine courses. At La Maison Verte, Francis Steele, the UK's pre-eminent Renaissance singing expert, runs singing and music courses every summer. And professor of History, David Turner, offers historic tours of the Languedoc region, including tours of the spectacular Cathar castles. |
