Photo spot in Albi & Cordes-sur-Ciel
The Pont-Vieux and the far bank of the Tarn
An eleventh-century brick bridge still carrying traffic, and the bank beyond it where cathedral, palace and river stack into one frame.
About The Pont-Vieux and the far bank of the Tarn
Get directionsThe Pont-Vieux has crossed the Tarn since about 1035 and is still open to cars and pedestrians, which says something about how it was built. Eight arches of brick on stone piers, low over green water, with the mass of the episcopal city rising behind it — this is the picture that sells Albi, and it is taken from the north bank, near the Moulins Albigeois, not from the bridge itself.
From there the composition stacks: bridge, then the fortified wall of the Berbie, then the palace, then the cathedral tower on top, all in the same red brick with the river carrying the reflection. Late afternoon is the hour — the sun comes round to the west front and everything warms at once. At blue hour the floodlights come on and the reflection doubles the whole town, which is worth staying for.
On the bridge itself, the parapet gives a clean upstream view and the passing traffic is slow but real; stand on the wide pavement, not in the road. The riverside path on both banks is flat, quiet and green in summer, with gabarre boats going by.
After heavy winter rain the Tarn runs high and brown and the reflection is gone; from late spring to autumn it is green and calm.
Best time to shoot
Late afternoon from the north bank; stay for blue hour when the floodlights come on
Tips
Shoot from the north bank near the Moulins Albigeois, not from the bridge. The bridge still carries traffic — stay on the pavement.
Other spots in Albi & Cordes-sur-Ciel
Cathédrale Sainte-Cécile
The largest brick cathedral in the world — a windowless fortress outside, a vault painted blue and gold from end to end inside.
The Berbie palace gardens over the Tarn
Clipped box parterres on the terrace of a fortified bishop's palace, with the river, the Pont-Vieux and the old town laid out below.
Cordes-sur-Ciel
A 1222 bastide on a steep cone of a hill, four rings of gates and one climbing street of carved Gothic merchant houses.
Ready to book?
Our concierge team will hand-pick 2-3 photographers who know The Pont-Vieux and the far bank of the Tarn — free of charge.