Domaine La Taillade de Montségur

Anyone into history will probably be keen to get to Château de Montségur (15 minutes’ drive). Grab a pair of walking boots for the trek up to this 13th-century Cathar castle atop a rocky outcrop; it’s steep but worth it for the far-reaching views over the Ariège hills to the Pyrenees. If you’d like to see some artefacts excavated at the ruined castle, you’ll find cannonballs and pottery fragments in the small museum in Montségur town hall (also 15 minutes). Experienced mountain bikers can follow the challenging Green Line circuit (eight hours by bike) departing from Mirepoix (40 minutes’ drive, check out its medieval centre while you’re there), while hikers get lucky too with scrambles up to Pic du Midi from Roquefeuil (25 minutes), and testing jaunts through the Gorges du Touyre, starting in Belloc (half an hour). If the kids need a day off from all that activity, make for Prehistoric Park (45 minutes) to see dioramas of the bison, mammoths and lions that once roamed the Pyrenees. Alternatively, you can all tour Lombrives Cave (also 45 minutes) to spot the limestone formations and subterranean lake.