Toulouse, Laurence’s recommendations
Allow me to walk you through the authentic spots of my native Toulouse. Follow me and you will never really be a stranger to the pink city!
Book a train ticket
Book a train ticket
Morning stroll through the city
Everything starts with place du Capitole, at the heart of the pink city. Take rue du Taur to enter Saint-Sernin cathedral, the largest well-preserved Romanesque church in Europe. Take rue Saint-Bernard to head onto boulevard de Strasbourg, and the take rue Alsace-Lorraine on your right. Once at place Jean-Jaurès, you pass by the jardin du Donjon du Capitole garden (where you will find the tourist information centre) and cut through the town hall, to see the inside of the building.
The palm tree of the Jacobins
Back at Place du Capitole, take rue Gambetta to get to Jacobins church. On the way, do not miss Ombres Blanches, which is the locals’ favourite bookshop. You must see the “palm tree”: a column forming a star of eleven keystones. It is so impressive that it makes your head spin! Then walk through the little shopping streets of old Toulouse, and take rue des Gestes, and you will come to rue Saint-Rome.
A cultural afternoon
The Augustins Museum is the Fine Arts museum in Toulouse, housed in a 14th century former Augustine convent. Nearby, enter a mansion decorated with a particularly fine collection of paintings by pushing open the doors of the Bemberg Foundation. If you have children with you, head towards the Toulouse Museum, which is really close to the jardin des Plantes botanical garden, and/or the Quai des Savoirs (Knowledge Wharf) to have fun from science.
A night in Toulouse
Toulouse is a university town, so very lively at night... The bars with music, nightclubs, trendy restaurants... There is something for all tastes, all night long!
In the summer do not miss the very lively open-air dance halls that allow you to spend an evening outdoors.
Morning by the water
If you prefer biking, go on the banks of the Canal du Midi. If you prefer to sail, you can have a barge ride on the Canal du Midi. On foot I would recommend that you follow The banks of Garonne from Saint-Pierre to rue de Metz or from the Prairie des Filtres along cours Dillon. You could also discover the modern art expositions at Les Abattoirs.
Then head towards the mills of Le Bazacle, where flour was made from the 12th century onwards until 1886, when the site became one of France’s first hydroelectric plants. These days you can visit Le Bazacle: a museum tour, a large terrace overlooking the Garonne, temporary exhibitions, a photo gallery, a fish passage (where you can watch the salmon swim upstream), or guided tours of the hydroelectric plant that is still in operation. An unusual place, free and open all year, except on Mondays.
An Aerospace Afternoon
Toulouse is the city of aerospace. In the 1920s, Toulouse was the city of aviation pioneers. In 1927 the Aeropostale was created, with big names like Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and Jean Mermoz. And after the war, it was from Toulouse that the planes left for South America.
You can choose to visit the Airbus factory and/or Aeroscopia, the aerospace museum. But if you are with the family, don’t hesitate to go to Cité de l’espace (Space City).