The good Aude days

The latest figures from SeLoger show that the average property price across France currently stands at €3,017/m² (combining houses and apartments), while properties in Aude are 30% cheaper, averaging €2,096/m². To get the most from your budget, head inland either north of Carcassonne, where prices are around €1,200/m² or even better, head to southwest Aude, where prices drop to around €800/m². At the other end of the scale, values along the coast are obviously much higher. In Gruissan, for example, you can pay €3,500/m² for a property, but this is still great value for a home by the Mediterranean.

The biggest town in Aude is Narbonne, a Roman town of 55,516 residents, three ports and the Canal de la Robine. The town has architectural traces from the Roman era and the Middle Ages, but its cathedral and Palais-Musée des Archevêques are the most iconic buildings. Beyond the centre, you can enjoy the resort of Narbonne-Plage or the nearby wilderness of salt marshes and lagoons ideal for watersports such as sailing and windsurfing. It’s easy to understand why Narbonne attracts househunters, especially as it’s only a five-hour trip from Paris. In central Narbonne, I found a two-bedroom apartment for €110,000 and a townhouse for around €180,000; an elegant Haussmanian three-bedroom apartment with canal views and a large terrace will cost you around €350,000 and a luxury, three-storey manor house fetches €450,000.

The second-largest town and the capital of this area is Carcassonne, with 46,825 residents and 2.5 million visitors each year. Its utterly photogenic medieval citadel dominates the skyline and is free to explore. With a walled town and stunning basilica, the town is also home to the Canal du Midi waterway, which links Toulouse to the Mediterranean.

It’s possible to find a studio in central Carcassonne for under €70,000 or bigger apartments and townhouses for €150,000 all of which would offer good potential for a rental income throughout the year. If you’re looking for a year-round family home, a budget of €325,000 would buy a three-bedroom, two-bathroom detached property with garage and garden, or a gorgeous three-bedroom maison de maître with a view of the ancient city walls.

A town of pretty terracotta rooftops, Castelnaudary (population 12,187) is located 40km west of Carcassonne on the road to Toulouse. It has a charming port and its lake-like Grand Bassin is a popular mooring spot for those travelling along the Canal du Midi indeed, this town is said to be the birthplace of this epic engineering feat.

You’ll see townhouses here for less than €100,000 but they need renovation; expect to pay €160,000 for one that’s habitable. A budget of €250,000 will net you a family property of five bedrooms, complete with garden and perhaps a pool, while €500,000 puts you in reach of a detached manor with extensive grounds and views of the mountains.

For beach properties, try Narbonne-Plage where a 20m² studio starts at around €80,000, or a two-bedroom apartment is about €115,000. Alternatively, Gruissan Plage is the rather exclusive resort where the movie Betty Blue was filmed. A two-bedroom renovated chalet five minutes’ walk from the beach will cost between €300,000 and €500,000 here.

Countryside areas will maximise your budget: try looking near Cabardès north of Carcassonne, where a two-bedroom property costs less than €75,000. Or head to Quillan and further southwest to find a four-bedroom townhouse for €70,000 and a seven-bedroom townhouse with double garage that comes in at €125,000. If you’re looking to build your own house, €50,000 will buy you a plot of up to 900m² in Limoux, 600m² near Castelnaudary, or even a piece of land on a future housing estate near Carcassonne.

Finally, a word about the weather. Before settling on the location, check how windy it is, as the 300 sunshine days a year are matched by windy days in certain areas, notably the centre of Aude. In the west, you’re more likely to get heavier rain, while in the east it’s a more Mediterranean climate: the choice is yours!

Accessibility is one of Aude’s great selling points, as you can catch a flight from almost anywhere in Europe into Carcassonne or Toulouse (one hour from Carcassonne): in 2025, there are 99 flights a per week from the UK and Ireland. Travelling by train is also easy, with connections from Carcassonne to Paris, which takes about five hours. Even Barcelona is only a couple of hours away by train. By car, Aude is around eight hours from Paris and about the same from Caen or St-Malo.

While salaries in Aude are lower than the national average, so is the cost of property, and many locals feel that the quality of life they enjoy in the department is well worth the lower pay. Aude also has a slightly higher number of retirees than the national average and a slightly higher rate of unemployment (11% compared to 9%).

According to the French statistics institute INSEE, the service industry employs 57% of salaried workers in Aude, and tourism accounts for up to 59% of employment in the region, creating 9,500 jobs and generating €1.2bn a year. Around 60% of businesses registered with the Chamber of Commerce here are sole traders, showing that an entrepreneurial spirit is encouraged, while small businesses are thriving, with an additional 30% of companies having between one and five employees.