The Plana Trail

In Occitan, “Plana” means flat; here it refers to the flat hill. This footpath allows you to explore Moussan and its hills, with the magnificent view from the Plana, which offers a vista over much of the region from Narbonne to Béziers, with the Montagne Noire and the Alaric in the background. It also allows you to discover the pre-Romanesque Chapel of Saint-Laurent.

Details

748036
Creation:
Last update:
Last review:
  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 4.94 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 1h 40 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Easy

  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 83 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 73 m

  • ▲
    Highest point: 115 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 43 m
  • ⚐ Country: France
  • ⚐ City: Moussan (11120)
  • ⚑
    Start/End: N 43.232301° / E 2.950583°
  • ❏
    IGN map(s): Ref. 2545OT
  • Hour-by-hour weather

Photos

Description of the walk

(S/E) Start from the car park of the Jean Pierre Pépy hall on Boulevard des Remparts and head towards Cuxac-d'Aude. Turn right up Rue des Soldats and go straight on at the junction with Route de Narbonne.

(1) At the wine cooperative, continue straight on. At the second speed bump, turn left between the houses. In the housing estate, continue straight on and follow the path running alongside a concrete block wall; 50 metres after this, turn right onto the dirt track to begin the climb up the hill to the viewpoint.

(2) At the orientation table, take the dirt track behind the wooden table to head down the hill on the right. Continue until you reach a clearing on the right with a large rock (marker) and begin the descent to the tarmac road. Walk up it for 50 metres and take the vineyard path on the right to reach the chapel.

(3) Once you have passed the chapel, cross the D69 and follow the dirt track between the vineyards uphill, then take the second track on the right. Follow the track to the tarmac road, walk down it for 100 metres and turn left onto the dirt track that crosses the vineyards. Turn right and continue straight on until you reach the foot of the hill where the road becomes tarmac again

(4) Head downhill to the left along the path towards the village, passing a few housing estates. Turn left, walk past the café and, at the junction, go straight on towards the old village.

(5) At the church, go up, then turn right and immediately left onto Rue Haute. Follow this street to the War Memorial, then turn left and, at the grocery shop, turn left to reach the car park (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 45 m - Salle Jean Pierre Pépy car park
  2. 1 : km 0.43 - alt. 49 m - Cooperative Cellar
  3. 2 : km 1.24 - alt. 115 m - Orientation board, Viewpoint
  4. 3 : km 2.07 - alt. 68 m - Saint-Laurent Chapel
  5. 4 : km 3.52 - alt. 66 m - Path on the left towards the village
  6. 5 : km 4.56 - alt. 48 m - Moussan Church
  7. S/E : km 4.94 - alt. 46 m - Salle Jean Pierre Pépy car park

Worth a visit

(2) La Bade
In Occitan, ‘badar’ means to admire. La Bade is generally a place offering a beautiful view, as is the case from the summit of the Plana.
Here, as in many other villages in Languedoc, the term is also linked to a place used for keeping watch over the village.

(3) The Chapel of Saint-Laurent
The chapel stands near the site of the ancient Gallo-Roman villa Trencianum (whose remains provided the building stones). During the Carolingian period, the site was still occupied by a villa.
The chapel was built between the 6th and 9th centuries to serve as a church for this estate, unless it was due to the presence of a miraculous spring, the Fount rougnouso (‘Font rougnouse’ in French), which was reputed to cure skin diseases (rougnous = scabby in Occitan).
The chapel fell under the jurisdiction of the chapter of the Cathedral of Saint-Just-et-Saint-Pasteur in Narbonne.
It became a place of pilgrimage and a stopping point for pilgrims and monks between the Cistercian farm of Fontcalvy (Ouveillan) and Fontfroide Abbey.
A hermit’s dwelling is attached to the chapel: the remains of the hermitage probably date from the 17th century, a period when the chapel underwent repairs. The last hermit left at the start of the 20th century and the chapel, abandoned, began to fall into disrepair.

(5) The parish church
The nave has a broken barrel vault with three transverse arches. The semi-circular engaged pillars, which support the springing of the transverse arches, are crowned with capitals.
At the triumphal arch, they are decorated with lanceolate leaves or palmettes. In the nave, the decoration consists of human figures amidst vine leaves or olive branches (a man wearing a cap, women’s faces wearing a headdress with a chin strap). This decoration is characteristic of the second half of the 13th century

Reviews and comments

4 / 5
Based on 9 reviews

Reliability of the description
4 / 5
Ease of following the route
4.2 / 5
Route interest
3.7 / 5
User 27676575

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 02, 2026
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

When there’s a strong wind blowing from Carcassonne, the path is well sheltered. A very pleasant walk

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User 28052577

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Nov 11, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : No

As is often the case with hikes that start in the centre of a village, it was difficult to find the starting point. The description gives the name of the hall, but it is not indicated anywhere. So we wandered around for 15 minutes before finding it (after asking a local resident for directions...).
But after that, the route itself was no problem. Two points of interest: the orientation table and the chapel. And at this time of year, the magnificent colours of the vineyards.

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Jay Jay A.
Jay Jay A.

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 08, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : No

A lovely little walk I went on with my two children, aged 3 and 6. The first part was nice, the second part not so much.

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b-attitude11
b-attitude11

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : May 01, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : Yes

A pleasant walk with a lovely view.

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valerie mlrbdlms
valerie mlrbdlms

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 26, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Highlights: the view from the top of the hill, the few oyster fossils along the way, and the chapel.
It’s a shame it’s closed!
The route is a bit confusing. The path is lost between the chapel and the return to the village of Moussan (near the vineyards).

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sylviequeval
sylviequeval

Overall rating : 3.3 / 5

Date of your route : Nov 28, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

Despite the vagueness of the description, it’s impossible to get lost. But it would be helpful to be more specific at the end of point 1) (leaving the village and climbing up to the orientation table) and also in point 3), as there are plenty of paths—but as we all know, they all lead to… Moussan.
A lovely walk

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gazok54
gazok54 ★

Thank you, Olivier Duchesnay
Please do let us know if you’ve spotted any errors in the description

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olivier duchesnay
olivier duchesnay

Overall rating : 3 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 27, 2018
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing

A moderate hike. I reckon the person who mapped this route has a bit of a grudge against left and right directions, but never mind. Personally, I was expecting better; I’m a bit disappointed.

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laulau23
laulau23

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Nov 19, 2017
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

A nice little walk. No complaints...

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gazok54
gazok54 ★

Thank you, and well spotted, Régis Tarbourie. The error has been corrected.

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TARBOURIECH Régis
TARBOURIECH Régis

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 03, 2017
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

A lovely walk, very easy, even the short flight of steps leading up to the information panel, from where there is a stunning 360° view; there’s a pretty little chapel on the way down. There was then some confusion (a misreading or a mistake in finding the way?) at the third point in the description: after the chapel and the dirt track, the ‘second path’ we took was not on the left but on the right (?). A very pleasant time all the same.

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