This was part of a longer walk that we did in 2004.
The Piste Verte or the Voie Verte du Haut Languedoc is 59 kms long, from Mons-la-Trivalle (4.5 kms before Olargues) to Mazamet. We found it by accident just after leaving Olargues, having made up our minds to endure a highway-bash through the gap in the mountains of Languedoc to Mazamet. This seemed a lesser evil than taking the uninhabited upland GR track, for which we were totally ill-equipped, as we carried no cooking gear at all.
Stumbling onto the Piste Verte transformed the expected grim highway-bash into a delightful three-day stroll, punctuated by interesting excursions to the villages whose stations still stand beside the track, with plenty of pauses in cafés and restaurants – just the sort of pedestrianism that we like best.
The département of Hérault intends to restore the remaining section of the old railway line, so that walkers will be able to go all the way from Bédarieux to Mazamet on it. The progress of this work may be checked on the Voie Verte website
Getting to Olargues
There is an autocar (bus) service from Bédarieux to Olargues via Mons la Trivalle. Bédarieux has a railway station, so you can get there from almost anywhere in France.
Our route for this walk
You can also get a full screen view of this map in Google Earth and take a virtual flight along our route.
Day 1: Olargues to Saint-Pons-de-Thomières
Day 2: Saint-Pons-de-Thomieres to Labastide-Rouairoux
Day 3: Labastide-Rouairoux to Mazamet
Back to railway walks
View this walk in a more extensive map (which also has a scale)