Montségur in the Ariège is south of Toulouse, France’s second city after Paris, and north of Andorra, the tax paradise, at the foothills of the Pyrenees. The nearest airports are Carcassonne, Perpignan and Toulouse.
Most famous for its place in the history of the crusades, being one of the last strongholds of the Cathars and the alleged hiding place of their treasure, it is a beautiful and relaxing place surrounded by stunning countryside.
It is the perfect place for a holiday and discovery of France’s deep south.

The village with its 160 houses still looks as it would have looked one hundred years ago and the whole village is listed.
It is officially one of the great sites of the Pyrenees and has over the centuries attracted the great and the famous, musicians, artists, writers, poets, mystics and seekers.

Montségur, the name of the village and the famous Cathar castle, means the save mountain and has served as a sanctuary for centuries. The place has intrigued people for the events is has witnessed and the secrets it is still keeping. Here the Nazis searched for the Holy Grail, inspiring the Indiana Jones films, the landscape is the backdrop behind the Da Vinci Code novel and the best seller The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail and treasure hunters still come looking for the lost treasure of the Cathars.
There is a special atmosphere that has captured all those who came here and many have decided to stay or come back year after year. It is a place where many ley lines cross and one of the places the French call un haut-lieu d’énergie ou vibratoire cosmo-tellurique – a place of high energy and vibrations since ancient times believed to be very healing.

Today Montségur is popular with nature lovers and walkers. The landscape is wild and beautiful - a landscape straight out of Lord of the Rings - perfect for all those seeking adventure, freedom or simply relaxation. Mountains, dense forests, wild rivers, waterfalls, gorges and caves, one the size of the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, the other so large you can drive through and the longest underground river in Europe are just some of its attractions. To boost this, some of the most famous foothpaths of France, including routes used by smugglers and the passeurs – the resistance fighters in WW II who brought people to safety across the Pyrenees – the Chemin de la Liberté and the Chemin de Bonshommes – the Cathar heretics of the 13^th century cross the area.