Stay
Stay the Night Workshops What’s On in the Ariège Weddings & Celebrations Photoshoots & FilmingThe Château
The Restoration
Under restoration since 2013
The History
The Estate
The Family
Gallery
Press
Plan Your Visit
Contact Manage your bookingSubscribe to our newsletter
Château de Gudanes
2 Route de Beille, Château-Verdun, Ariège 09310, France
A guide only. Every transaction is processed in euro, and your bank sets the rate on the day.
Ariège · Small Groups
The full Gudanes experience, as a small-group retreat.
A few days inside a château under restoration, with every meal and drink, and the château around you. Most of all it is a retreat: the pool, good food and wine, and the château shared with a small group. Every workshop mixes the brocantes, the kitchen and the restoration; the length sets which leads.
A workshop is the full experience: every meal, alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, the activities and the château itself, with excursions and transfers from Toulouse except on the workshops spent at the château.
L'essentiel The full experience, at a glance
How long
Three to seven nights
Three for the brocantes, five for the kitchen, seven for the restoration, and four at the château in autumn and at Noël.
Included
Every meal and drink
Local wine and drinks, the activities and the château itself; the transfers from Toulouse and the excursions on the three-, five- and seven-night workshops.
Who it is for
Anyone curious
No experience needed, and every activity is optional.
Les activités The activities
Every activity is optional. Outdoor activities follow the season and the weather, and the four-night workshops stay at the château.
Une journée A day, from waking
The length sets the emphasis; the château and the table are the same on every one.
4 nights / 5 days
5 December 2026
Spent at the château
The château’s first Noël atelier: four December nights as Gudanes fills with festive warmth. You embroider ornaments inspired by the Salon de Musique, pour candles scented with the château’s original eighteenth-century fragrance recipe, and set champagne jellies in antique copper moulds with the chefs. You go home with a stocking full of château memories.
5 nights / 6 days
25 June 2027
Transfers and excursions included
Five nights in celebration of French cuisine. There are hands-on classes and demonstrations with the château’s chefs, sweet and savoury, some drawn from the château’s own eighteenth-century cookbook. Then come the rituals of the French table: dressed linens, silver and porcelain. It suits first-time cooks and accomplished ones alike.
3 nights / 4 days
3 July 2027
Transfers and excursions included
Three nights for the romance of the French brocante. You wander antique markets, hidden antique shops and vide-greniers across the villages and valleys of the Pyrénées, looking for pieces with character and history. Back at the château there is a cooking class, then dinner and French cinema beneath the stars.
7 nights / 8 days
10 July 2027
Transfers and excursions included
A week of long, golden summer days, balancing exploring with doing nothing at all. There are the valley’s brocantes and antique dealers, French cooking with the chefs, a day on the river or in the mountains, the restoration up close, and films beneath the stars. In between are the pool, the grounds and long dinners.
Prices are charged in euros; other currencies shown are approximate.
Les ateliers The workshop retreats
Why a Retreat
A night here gives you the château for an evening. A workshop retreat gives you the whole experience: the table every day, the run of the château with a small group, and the pace of château life for long enough to feel it.
It is a small group, and it is unhurried: a retreat, not a course. The sessions give the days their shape; the rest is the pool, the grounds, good food and wine, and conversation that runs on long after dinner.
Nobody arrives knowing how, and nobody needs to. The experience is made for curiosity, not expertise.
You are not only a guest here: every retreat is part of how the château comes back to life.
La durée The length
Three to Seven Nights
Every retreat mixes the same three threads; the length decides which one leads.
Three nights
The brocantes at the centre: the antique fairs and the bargaining, with the kitchen and the restoration around them.
See the datesFour nights
A retreat spent at the château, with all three threads in the mix and nothing to plan around.
See the datesFive nights
The kitchen at the centre: cooking classes at the château, and long dinners together.
See the datesSeven nights
The restoration at the centre: the château up close as it comes back to life.
See the datesEntre amis Among friends
The Company and the Château
People who love France, old houses and a good table. Couples, friends travelling together, and those who come alone and leave having met everyone. A retreat for people who would rather live in a place than pass through it.
While a retreat runs, the château is given over to it: no other guests, and no strangers at the next table. For a few days it is your château, and the people around you are the rest of the group.
Every date across the year, in one place. Choose a workshop above to narrow it.
Places are shown live. When a session reads as full, it is full — we do not overbook a château this size.
Noël at Gudanes
€3,200 per person · all meals and drinks
about €800 a night
Book these dates
Cooking in the Cuisine
€3,800 per person · all meals and drinks
about €760 a night
Book these dates
Antique & French Finds
€2,800 per person · all meals and drinks
about €930 a night
Book these dates
Seven Starry Nights
€4,800 per person · all meals and drinks
about €690 a night
Book these datesSide by side
A night's stay gives you a room in the château. A workshop gives you the château: the table, the fairs, the restoration and the valley.
| Stay the NightRoom and breakfast | A WorkshopThe full experience | |
|---|---|---|
| Your room in the château | Included | Included |
| Breakfast | Included | Included |
| Lunch and dinner | Not included | Included Every meal |
| Drinks, alcoholic and non-alcoholic | Not included | Included |
| A tour of the château and its restoration | An extra, €50 per booking | Included |
| The activities: cooking classes, the brocantes, yoga, kayaking, hiking, a barbecue | Not included | Included All optional |
| A formal dinner in the Salon de Musique, by candlelight | Not included | Included |
| Excursions | Booked separately | On the three-, five- and seven-night workshops |
| Transfers from Toulouse | Booked separately | On the three-, five- and seven-night workshops |
| The pool, the tennis court, the gardens | Included | Included |
| The lounge, board games, the terraces, the barbecue area and the grounds | Included | Included |
| Wi-Fi, in a common area of the château | Included | Included |
| Only the group in residence | Not included | Included No other guests while it runs |
| Length | From one night | Three to seven nights |
| Price | Per room, a night | Per person, all meals and drinks |
| See the rooms | See the dates |
En images In pictures
Long tables, candlelight, the kitchen and the valley, with the people who came.
Practical
Rooms
Three bathrooms on the ground floor, shared between the group. Prices are per person, sharing a room
To reserve
10% to reserve; the balance 30 days before. Booking inside 30 days? The whole amount is due then, not a deposit.
The stairs
No lift: every bedroom is reached by stairs. Pack lightly
Children
Eight and over
Heating
An electric blanket and a space heater in every room
Animals
Bruce, a French bulldog, and four cats live here. Tell us of any allergy when you register
Wi-Fi
In a common area of the château
Getting here
Toulouse-Blagnac is an hour and three quarters away
Groups
Groups and institutions can take a whole session for themselves. Ask us.
atelier
a·te·lier · /at(ə)ˈljeɪ/ noun, FrenchBefore You Register
Yes: every meal, and alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks throughout, mostly local.
All meals and drinks, the activities (cooking classes, the brocantes and yoga, with kayaking, hiking and a barbecue on the outings), a formal dinner in the Salon de Musique, a tour of the château, a film night with the projector if you would like one, and laundry and ironing facilities. Excursions and transfers from Toulouse are included too, except on the workshops spent at the château. Every activity is optional.
Yes. Write to us about a room.
Write to us; we can sometimes move you to another date.
Fit enough for the original staircase: there is no lift.
The Journal
What comes out from under the plaster, which room opens next, and when the workshop dates are released. Sent when there is something worth sending.
No more than a few times a year. Unsubscribe in one click.
Each workshop is small, dated, and lived in the château itself.
Monument Historique · Classé A Class I Historic Monument, restored under French heritage law since 2013