Basque Country, Carcassonne, the Languedoc & the Dordogne
Discover the delights of the beautiful Basque Country, a region in the western Pyrenees shared by both France and Spain. Our holiday begins with an overnight crossing from Portsmouth or Plymouth to Santander, on board Brittany Ferries’ Pont Aven, whose features including a cocktail piano bar and entertainment area for your enjoyment. Arriving on the Spanish side of the terrain we first visit Guernica, then head for San Sebastián, a stunning resort town on the Bay of Biscay. After that, it’s another day of Basque delights but this time on the French side, taking in Biarritz & St. Jean de Luz. Our tour doesn’t end there, with a few gems thrown in between, this carefully thought-out itinerary also covers the fortified town of Carcassonne and the spectacular setting of Rocamadour, plus much more.
Tour Includes
- 8 or 9 nights hotel with continental breakfast
- 5 evening meals
- Overnight ferry crossing from Portsmouth or Plymouth to Santander with Brittany Ferries in a two-berth en-suite inside cabin (meals at extra cost)
- Regional joining points
11 days from £1,539pp
Travel Options
Outbound &
Inbound Travel
Outbound
Travel
Inbound
Travel
On-Tour
Experiences
Steps to booking your Holiday
-
Tour Details Find a day-by-day breakdown
of the tour -
Select your Departure Browse the available
departure dates -
Checkout Follow our secure checkout
process to book your place
Got a question about
this holiday?
Don’t hesitate to get in touch – our friendly team are ready and waiting to help with any further information you need!
Itinerary
Please choose your preferred 10 or 11 day itinerary
Regional departure by coach or Door-to-Door service, then to Plymouth for the overnight crossing to Santander.
Please note: when you board the ferry at Plymouth you will require a small overnight bag containing any essential items such as medication. This small bag (no larger than a small rucksack) is counted as part of your overall luggage allowance.
Arrival in Santander, then travel to Zarautz for a two-night stay.
Today we enjoy an included excursion, first to Guernica which was infamously bombed by the Nazis during the Spanish Civil War. The haunting museum is well worth a visit (admission at an additional cost).
Later, we head to San Sebastián with its stunning setting on a sweeping, shell-shaped bay. San Sebastián, or Donostia (its Basque name), is renowned for beautiful sandy beaches, and has many excellent seafood and tapas restaurants.
Includes Breakfast
Included Highlights
We begin our day with a journey along the French Basque coast where we make a stop in glamorous Biarritz, a famed playground for the French rich, with a seafront lined with grand buildings. We later continue to the small French resort of St. Jean de Luz, with its sheltered, sandy beaches and pretty old town. We continue on to Carcassonne for a three-night stay.
Includes Breakfast
Includes Dinner
Included Highlights
Spend a full day in the medieval, walled town of Carcassonne, famous for the defences of the medieval city.
The city exists in two parts – the more modern ‘Bastide St Louis’, which contains the Cathedral of St. Michel, and the walled ‘Cité Medieval’ whose fortifications were built over many centuries and featured in the religious wars between the Cathars and Albigenses.
Includes Breakfast
Includes Dinner
Included Highlights
Enjoy time at leisure or join our optional excursion around the Languedoc region. We venture first to the hilltop town of Béziers, once a Roman staging post and now an important wine-growing town. The imposing Cathedral has impressive views over the surrounding countryside, and the Canal du Midi crosses the River Orb by means of an amazing 240-metre long aqueduct.
We continue to Narbonne, which boasts a pretty medieval core, and a fine Gothic cathedral.
Includes Breakfast
Includes Dinner
Optional Excursions
Our optional excursions are a great addition to enhance your holiday experience and are highly recommended.
| 2026 | |
|---|---|
| Béziers & Narbonne | 2026 From £38 |
This optional excursion is available to pre-book or you can book during your tour.
We head to the rose-red town of Albi, birthplace of the artist, Toulouse-Lautrec. See the impressive, 13th-century Palais de la Berbie, now a museum, containing a comprehensive collection of his work.
We continue along the Lot Valley, to the pretty town of Cahors, situated on a loop of the Lot River. The town’s long and sometimes turbulent past is best represented in its architecture, with Gallic, Roman, Moorish and English influences. We continue to Rocamadour for two nights.
Includes Breakfast
Includes Dinner
Included Highlights
Included excursion to the charming town of Sarlat in the Perigord-Noir, a fascinating town with some of the best-preserved medieval buildings in France.
In the afternoon, we return to Rocamadour for time at leisure. Spectacularly perched on a limestone cliff overlooking the gorge of the River Alzou, Rocamadour is an important pilgrimage site for the French, where Saint Amadour was reputed to have lived as a hermit. There are many small chapels, including the Chapelle de Notre Dame with its famous Black Madonna, a 12th-century carved wooden depiction of the Virgin Mary holding baby Jesus.
Includes Breakfast
Includes Dinner
Included Highlights
We journey to the Paris area for an overnight stay. En route we stop in the Remembrance village of Oradour-sur-Glane, scene of a German SS massacre of the villagers. The ruined village has been left exactly as it was during World War 2.
Includes Breakfast
Included Highlights
Return home.
Includes Breakfast
Regional departure by coach or Door-to-Door service, then to Plymouth for the overnight crossing to Santander.
Please note: When you board the ferry at Plymouth, you will require a small overnight bag containing any essential items such as medication. This small bag (no larger than a small rucksack) is counted as part of your overall luggage allowance.
We arrive this evening in Santander and travel to Zarautz for a three-night stay.
Today we enjoy an included excursion, first visiting Guernica, which was infamously bombed by the Nazis during the Spanish Civil War. The haunting museum is well worth a visit (admission at an additional cost).
Later, we head to San Sebastián with its stunning setting on a sweeping, shell-shaped bay. San Sebastián, or Donostia (its Basque name), is renowned for beautiful sandy beaches, and has many excellent seafood and tapas restaurants.
Includes Breakfast
Included Highlights
Another day of Basque delights, but on the French side. We include a full-day tour to Biarritz, Bayonne and St-Jean-de-Luz. Biarritz is a playground for the French rich, with a seafront lined with grand buildings.
We continue to Bayonne, where you can saunter around the narrow streets of the old town, with half-timbered houses painted in traditional Basque colours. Visit the excellent Musée Basque to delve deeper into the culture.
We end the day in the popular French resort of St-Jean-de-Luz, with its sheltered, sandy beaches and pretty old town.
Includes Breakfast
Included Highlights
Our journey takes us east to Pau. Continue to Carcassonne for a three-night stay.
Includes Breakfast
Includes Dinner
Spend a full day in the medieval, walled town of Carcassonne, famous for the defences of the medieval city.
The city exists in two parts – the more modern ‘Bastide St Louis’, which contains the Cathedral of St. Michel, and the walled ‘Cité Medieval’ whose fortifications were built over many centuries and featured in the religious wars between the Cathars and Albigenses. The walled ‘Cité Médieval’, with its cobbled lanes, is a joy to explore with spectacular views towards the Pyrenees from the medieval walls.
Includes Breakfast
Includes Dinner
Included Highlights
Enjoy time at leisure or join our optional excursion around the Languedoc region. We venture first to the hilltop town of Béziers, once a Roman staging post and now an important wine-growing town. The imposing Cathedral has impressive views over the surrounding countryside, and the Canal du Midi crosses the River Orb by means of an amazing 240-metre long aqueduct.
We continue to Narbonne, which boasts a pretty medieval core, and a fine Gothic cathedral.
Includes Breakfast
Includes Dinner
Optional Excursions
Our optional excursions are a great addition to enhance your holiday experience and are highly recommended.
| 2027 | 2028 | |
|---|---|---|
| Béziers & Narbonne | 2027 From £41 | 2028 From £43 |
This optional excursion is available to pre-book or you can book during your tour.
We head to the rose-red town of Albi, birthplace of the artist, Toulouse-Lautrec. See the impressive 13th-century Palais de la Berbie, now a museum, containing a comprehensive collection of his work.
We continue along the Lot Valley, to the pretty town of Cahors, situated on a loop of the Lot River. The town’s long and sometimes turbulent past is best represented in its architecture, with Gallic, Roman, Moorish and English influences. We continue to Rocamadour for a two-night stay.
Includes Breakfast
Includes Dinner
Included Highlights
Included excursion to the charming town of Sarlat in the Perigord-Noir, a fascinating town with some of the best-preserved medieval buildings in France.
In the afternoon, we return to Rocamadour for time at leisure. Spectacularly perched on a limestone cliff overlooking the gorge of the River Alzou, Rocamadour is an important pilgrimage site for the French, where Saint Amadour was reputed to have lived as a hermit. There are many small chapels, including the Chapelle de Notre Dame with its famous Black Madonna, a 12th-century carved wooden depiction of the Virgin Mary holding baby Jesus.
Includes Breakfast
Includes Dinner
Included Highlights
Today we head to the Paris area for an overnight stay. En route, we stop in the Remembrance village of Oradour-sur-Glane, scene of a German SS massacre of the villagers. The ruined village has been left exactly as it was during World War 2.
Includes Breakfast
Included Highlights
Return home.
Includes Breakfast
Got a question about
this holiday?
Don’t hesitate to get in touch – our friendly team are ready and waiting to help with any further information you need!
Accommodation
You will stay for two or three nights at the 3-star Hotel Zarauz in Zarautz, then three nights at the 3-star The Originals Hotel in Carcassonne or similar, followed by two nights at the 2-star Hotel du Lion d’Or in Rocamadour.
Overnight stay in the Paris area will be in a city-style hotel.
On the overnight sailing, accommodation will be in two-berth, en suite cabins.
Hotel du Lion D'or
This family-run hotel is steeped in character and tradition, located in an exceptional setting in the heart of the medieval city of Rocamadour.
Hotel Facilities
Need further information? Fill in our enquiry form and we'll get back to you as soon as we can
General
- English Speaking Staff
- Guest Lounge
- Restaurant
- Lift
- Central Location
Room
- TV
- Hairdryer
- Extra Pillows and Blankets
- Non-Smoking Rooms Available
- Shower and Bath
- Telephone
- Free Wifi
Accessibility
- Fridge Available for Medical Requirements
- Disabled Rooms Available
- Wheelchair Access
Food & Drink
- Vegetarian Meals On Request
- Gluten Free Meals on Request
Service
- Iron at Reception
- Laundry Service
- Dog Friendly (selected rooms)
Hotel
- English Speaking Staff
- Guest Lounge
- Restaurant
- Lift
- WiFi Available
Hotel Zarauz
Located just a 3-minute walk from the beach, the Hotel Zarauz is set in the heart of the Basque Country, just over 9 miles from the city of San Sebastian.
Hotel Facilities
Need further information? Fill in our enquiry form and we'll get back to you as soon as we can
General
- 3 Star
- English Speaking Staff
- Guest Lounge
- Bar
- Restaurant
- Lift
- Central Location
Room
- TV
- Hairdryer
- Fridge
- Non-Smoking Rooms Available
- Bath
- Telephone
- Free Wifi
Service
- Safe Box in Reception
- Room Service Available
- 24 Hour Front Desk
- Iron at Reception
- Laundry Service
Food & Drink
- Vegetarian Meals
- Gluten Free Menu
- Lactose or Dairy Free Menu
- Vegan Menu
Transport
- Bus Stop Nearby
- Train / Tram Nearby
Hotel
- English Speaking Staff
- Guest Lounge
- Bar
- Restaurant
- Lift
- WiFi Available
Travel Options
When it comes to getting you to your destination, Leger Holidays makes it easy with a selection of travel options to choose from.
Silver Service
From the attentive service to the carefully considered features, our Silver Service coaches create an atmosphere that is both friendly and memorable, bringing people together. Experience the difference – refined travel, shared moments, and lasting comfort.
- Designed for Socialising A stylish and spacious rear lounge offers a sophisticated and private place to unwind, where conversation flows easily and friendships are made along the journey.
- Privacy Board An innovative privacy screen creates a calm retreat away from the rest of the coach, giving you the choice to enjoy quiet seclusion while you socialise with fellow passengers.
- Tables with Cup Holders Thoughtfully designed cabinets with secure cup holders mean refreshments are always within easy reach, adding both practicality and polish to your travel experience.
Silver Service Features
Deluxe design
Specially designed, luxurious seats enhanced with leather headrests deliver superior support, blending comfort with a premium finish.
Space to stretch out
Enjoy the luxury of generous legroom that goes far beyond standard coach travel, giving you the freedom to settle in with ease and stretch out fully.
Spacious rear lounge
Designed for socialising, the spacious rear lounge offers a stylish retreat with privacy screens, handy tables and cup holders – perfect for relaxing, chatting and enjoying the journey.
Thoughtful touches that make a difference
A carefully maintained interior climate and soft ambient lighting ensure the coach always feels comfortable, welcoming and perfectly suited for a relaxing journey.
Reviews
4.2 Out of 5 ( 44 Reviews )
Reviews
Quality
4.1 / 5
Value for Money
4.2 / 5
Lee Challenger, 9 months ago
A wonderful tour of Northern Spain and Southern France. We visited some amazing historic places along with coastal resorts. Great food and wine as well.
Verified, collected via Trustpilot
Margaret Le Caplain, 9 months ago
The selection of places to visit was excellent. The tour drivers/ guides were friendly and reliable.
Verified, collected via Trustpilot
Kay Tunney, 9 months ago
Good holiday the drivers were very good and helpful, great fun, enjoyed. Trips were great my only concern was the hotels could have been better. Personally i would pay more for better hotels
Verified, collected via Trustpilot
David Neilson, 9 months ago
The trip was great. Saw plenty and the drivers looked after us well.
Verified, collected via Trustpilot
Elizabeth, 9 months ago
Thought provoking at times, magnificent scenery, interesting places and excellent coach drivers.
Verified, collected via Trustpilot
Mr E Dawson, 9 months ago
A spectacular trip let down somewhat by hotels. Friendly crew,clean coach. Good onboard service. Initial pick up and journey v cramped and uncomfortable. Taxi from drop off to home town v good. Spectacular scenery
Verified, collected via Trustpilot
Departure Dates
Got a question about
this holiday?
Don’t hesitate to get in touch – our friendly team are ready and waiting to help with any further information you need!
