One of the pleasures of a stay in Ariège is the opportunity to visit working farms and artisans' workshops. You can watch bee keepers extract golden honey from the hives, see cheese being made or pet angora goats whose wool will be spun and knitted into scarves and sweaters. Small, family businesses producing "produits du terroir", such as croustades (a fruit-filled pastry peculiar to Ariège), foie gras and jams will give you a tour of their facilities.

basketweaving workshops at Les Moulis Artists and artisans from all over Europe have settled in Ariege: weavers, potters, sculptors, woodworkers, jewelry makers, glassblowers, painters and photographers. They join the native artisans practicing crafts that date back centuries, producing sharpening stones, combs and utensils from cow's horn, "sabots", the wooden clogs worn by many Ariégeois until well into this century, or "hypocras", a spiced wine enjoyed since the middle ages. Many of these artists open their studios to visitors and some offer workshops where you can learn the rudiments of their craft. (For example, basketweaving courses at La ferme des Moulis.)

You can also tour larger facilities such as the talc mine at Luzenac, the CNRS underground laboratory at Moulis that studies subterranean life forms, the hydroelectric plant at Ferrières or the Montcalm mineral water bottling plant at Auzat.