Carcassonne

Fly into Toulouse, the southern French city home to Airbus headquarters, then take the train or drive one hour southeast to Carcassonne, whose walled old city rises above the Aude River like a film set that happens to be real. People have fortified this hilltop for over 2,500 years, but the double ring of walls and 52 towers you see are from the 1200s, when this was France's great frontier fortress of the Middle Ages, facing south toward rival kingdoms. It is the most complete medieval fortified city in Europe, rescued from ruin by a famous 19th century restoration. Every July the city hosts a month of concerts inside the walls, and on July 14 the Bastille Day fireworks draw half a million spectators. May, June, and September are the sweet months, with warm days and thinner crowds than high summer.