The town of Foix is dominated by the castle which towers over it and offers superb views of the surrounding countryside.
The town itself is quite charming although, aside from the castle, there aren't any particular sights to be seen. Each Friday morning the town hosts a very lively market which takes up the majority of the parking spots near the centre.
The castle is very accessible with no great climb required to reach it as is often the case for castles in the region. Construction started around 987AD with various additions over the centuries since then. As with seemingly all castles in the area, it was besieged by Simon de Montfort (who seems to have made a career out of besieging!). The most recent addition was the round tower in the 15th century.
As from the 14th century, the Counts preferred to spend time in the Governors's Palace in preference to the much less comfortable castle. However, it continued to host grand receptions in the succeeding centuries.
The two 11th century square towers were used as prisons for the four hundred years leading up to 1862.
Today the castle houses the Ariège départemental museum with sections on prehistory, Gallo-Roman and mediaeval archaeology.
The town hosts various large-scale historical shows in the Summer including artisan markets, street events, the September fete and fireworks.
The nearest airports are Carcassonne (CCF) served mainly by Ryanair and Toulouse (TLS) served by major and discount airlines.
Foix train station is quite a bit away from the town itself.
