On foot
A walking route around the medieval city
The gates, the towers and the Lices — a circuit that uses the free parts of the cité to see both walls properly.
Check dates on Viator ↗Start at the Porte Narbonnaise
The twin-towered east gate, built around 1280 under Philip III, is the cité's main entrance and the obvious start point; the Tour du Trésau, built in the same campaign, stands just beside it.
Walk the Lices before the streets
The grassy corridor between the inner and outer walls is free, flat, and gives you a view of both rings at once — something you don't get once you're inside the narrower streets. The Lices run right round the cité, from the low northern stretch to the higher southern one.
The western side: Tour Pinte and the Porte d'Aude
Tour Pinte, the cité's tallest tower, rises from the Château Comtal on the western flank. Below it, the Porte d'Aude faces the river, with false doorways behind tall arches to confuse attackers. The Tour de la Justice on this same west front was built straight after the siege of 1240, the last attack the cité faced.
South to the Porte Saint-Nazaire, then back east
The south gate's passage bends ninety degrees inside its tower, built so defenders could fire on attackers from two directions; the Basilica of Saint-Nazaire stands just behind it. From there the circuit comes back around the eastern side toward the Porte Narbonnaise again.