How to Plan an English-Speaking French Wine Tour from Barcelona to the Cabardès AOC Near Toulouse and Carcassonne in 10 Easy Steps
Step 1: How to Get to Barcelona
As I mentioned in my last post, my spouse and I are planning a trip to O’Vineyards Winery and B&B near Toulouse and Carcassonne to visit the proprietors, my wine-making in-laws, Liz and Joe. A trip to O’Vineyards Winery and B&B is a perfect get-away in the south of France for English-speaking foodies or wine connoisseurs. My father-in-law, Joe, is an American and an experienced French wine-maker. Joe gives informative tours on the wine-making process in English or “en franglais.” My mother-in-law is a native French citizen and is an excellent fusion-inspired chef. After the wine tour you can sample the wines and some of delicious bites of fusion-inspired street foods while you relax on the gorgeous decks with breathtaking views of the sloping hills of vines from which the wines are derived. Liz does an excellent job of pairing the tastes of her street foods with the various wines made at O’Vineyards Winery. And if you are so-inclined, you can stay the night in the beautiful B&B. The B&B is a modern structure with spacious rooms and comfortable beds. Each room is equipped with a private bath, and breakfast is served each morning.
For our trip to O’Vineyard’s Winery and B&B, my spouse and I are flying into Barcelona and then taking a train to Carcassonne, the walled medieval city that is just south of the quaint village of Villemoustaussou, the home of O’Vineyards Winery and B&B. Carcassonne is just a short trip by car or train from Barcelona, so a visit to O’Vineyards Winery and B&B makes a perfect short excursion for a visitor to Barcelona who would also like to enjoy some time in the Languedoc-Roussillon French wine region in the south of France. Specifically, O’Vineyards Winery is in the Cabardès AOC which forms a portion of the western extent of the Languedoc wine region. O’Vineyards Winery and B&B is about an hour from Toulouse by car and is just minutes from Carcassonne. It is located in the village of Villemoustaussou. My brother-in-law, Ryan, has previously written about how to plan a wine trip near Toulouse, how to plan a wine trip near Carcassonne and things you can do in Carcassonne.
Sloping hills of vines and the Black Mountains offer breathtaking views from the O’Vineyards decks.
Since a trip to Carcassone and the Cabardès AOC makes a perfect excursion for a visitor to Barcelona, I thought I would share with you some of the information that my spouse and I learned while we were planning our trip to O’Vineyards Winery and B&B through Barcelona.
You Can Reach Barcelona by Air
The main airport in Barcelona is El Prat (BCN). BCN is served by several airlines that are popular with English-speaking travelers. These include traditional airlines such as Air Canada, British Airways, American Airlines, Delta, Qantas, and United. The airport is also served by several budget airlines that serve English-speaking cities of origin such Blue Air, EasyJet, Ryan Air and WOW Air. BCN is a full service international airport so it is also served by many other international and budget carriers that may serve your needs if you are connecting to Barcelona from other international cities of origin. Popular English-speaking cities that have direct flights to Barcelona include Liverpool, Los Angeles, Dublin, Manchester, and London. But as I mentioned, it is a full service international airport, so it receives flights from many other international destinations that may better serve your needs. You can find flights by checking one of the many discount conglomerate flight-booking internet sites. Some excellent websites for searching for budget for affordable flights include Skyscanner, Momondo, and Travelfusion. You can also find affordable flights by searching for flights directly on each airline’s website. For more information on the airlines servicing BCN, click here.
For our particular visit to O’Vineyards Winery and B&B we are flying into BCN from Bucharest on low-cost carrier Vueling Airlines.
Bedrooms in the O’Vineyards B&B are spacious, have private baths, and offer views of the sloping hills of vines.
You Can Reach Barcelona by Train
Barcelona Sants Station is Barcelona’s main train station. The Sants station is linked to many important cities such as Paris, Zurich, Milan, and Madrid. International high-speed trains arrive from Paris, Lyon, Toulouse, and Marseille. The train station serves several other national and regional destinations. You can easily purchase train tickets for Europe in advance by visiting the RailEurope website.
Although our main purpose for flying into Barcelona is to make our way to Carcassonne and the O’Vineyards Winery and B&B to visit my in-laws, we do want to take the opportunity to enjoy some time in Barcelona. In my next entry, I will tell you about how we went about choosing a place to stay in Barcelona, and I will also cover easy ways to get from the airport or train station to your hotel.
This is part 1 of a 10 part series on how to take an English-speaking wine holiday in the French wine region near Toulouse and Carcassonne. In this 10 part series we are highlighting how to reach the wine region surrounding Carcassonne from Barcelona.
We introduced this series in an article featured here, and the ten official parts of this series are:
- How to Get to Barcelona (this page)
- How to Select a Place to Stay in Barcelona
- 10 Things to Do in Barcelona
- 10 Foods to Try in Barcelona
- How to Get to Carcassonne from Barcelona
- How to Select a Place to Stay near Carcassonne
Coming soon…
- 10 Things to Do Near Carcassonne
- Wineries to Visit Near Carcassonne
- 10 Foods to Try in the Carcassonne Region
- 10 Souvenirs to Buy to Remember Your Trip to Carcassonne
Come back next time to learn more about planning an English-speaking wine tour from Barcelona to the Cabardès AOC near Toulouse and Carcassonne. Next time we will talk about how to select a place to stay in Barcelona. In the meantime, please explore this site to learn more about O’Vineyards Winery and B&B. Also, do not hesitate to contact my in-laws at the vineyard if you need help planning a visit to the winery.
