Route Le Bayle in Villelongue-d’Aude

Start from the car park by the cemetery at the village entrance.

Signposted: Yellow Circle.

(S/E) Head uphill towards the village centre, turn left past the town hall and the post office, and continue along the road towards La Bézole.

(1) Turn right at the third street (Rue des Bordes, then Chemin de Coumeillo), at the last house on the left as you leave the village. Follow the path straight ahead, ignoring the one on the left.
Walk up the path, which is partly gravel and partly tarmac, keeping straight on and ignoring the paths on either side until you reach the top of the hill.
Pass to the left of a shed. Behind a hedge, the path branches off to the left and descends to a hairpin bend to the right.

(2) Turn left and walk alongside a field on your right until you reach the woodland.

(3) At the crossroads, turn left and head uphill to the next crossroads.

(4) Continue to the left, heading uphill through the woodland and past a vineyard. Ignore the junctions and head downhill towards a mobile phone mast on your right, then a wind turbine.

(5) Turn left, then right towards the village centre, passing an old mill.

(1) Retrace your steps along the route you took on the way out until you reach the car park near the cemetery at the entrance to the village (S/E).

Bring water and a hat in hot weather.

The circular village walk, the Sainte-Barbe route.
Hiking information board at the start.