Toulouse Travel Answers

Toulouse has good train and plane connections. I'd prefer the train because I hate flying. You should check both and see what fits your budget and your schedule. Sounds like you've already decided on the train; good choice! From Toulouse to Collioure is about a 2.5 hour drive. It's 242 kilometers. There is a train station in Collioure so you could also take a train. You can walk down the hill from the train station right into the historic port village. We often park by the train station so have walked it many times. If you're not familiar with Collioure, look it up here on Virtual Tourist. Just type it into the Search Window above and see what has been written about it. There will be lots of photos, restaurants, things to do and web links to help you decide. We were in France with our oldest daughter once and she said she wanted to see "colorful fishing villages" so we immediately thought of Collioure. At the little harbor, you will see beautiful, brightly painted fishing boats. There are at least three beaches right in town, a large chateau, a very nice art gallery, a lovely church, a windmill, art galleries and artists all over the place. There is an art walk where they have set up metal picture frames and you stand behind and look through them to see the inspiration for a famous painting. It's great fun. The beaches are sand and very pleasant. There are lots of restaurants right on the shore so you can watch the ships and fishing boats. It is just beautiful and would be worth a detour. In Toulouse, don't miss the Place du Capitole, the Basilique St. Sernin and the Musée des Augustins. There are lots of gardens, a canal and the Garonne river with all sorts of waterside restaurants. Enjoy your day in Albi and Carcassonne. That's a great trip.

Here's the Collioure Tourist web site to check. collioure.com/gb/index-gb.ht... I was surprised at how far it is from Albi to Carcassonne. That's going to be a very long day for you. I hope you get enough time at each place. They are both amazing although if I could only choose one, it would be Carcassonne.

I second all Beausoleil has said about Collioure - it is one of our favourite places. But we have never visited in August; we found it quite crowded enough for us one hot and sunny Easter. A friend who used to have a house there told us that it loses some of its charm in August when it can be uncomfortably overcrowded. But if this will be your only opportunity to visit perhaps worth taking that risk. I believe you might have to take the train from Toulouse to Perpignan and change trains there, or take the bus on to Collioure.

The Basilica of Saint Sernin is a must. The story of who St Sernin was and how this place was chosen for the Basilica is a most interesting and important part of Toulouse history. The French web site is : basilique-st-sernin-toulouse... Wikipedia is : en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basili... The main railway station in Toulouse is called Matabiau. This name is derived from "matar" ("the killing") and biau or bœuf ("bull"). So the martyrdom of Saint Sernin (a very early Christian Apostle to the Gauls) is involving a bull with him tied to the bull and being chased and harried out of the centre (now the Place du Capitol) into the countryside lane. Where the rope broke along the present Rue du Taur is where the first burial took place and is today the site of the Église Notre-Dame du Taur. By the way from the street level on Rue du Taur (Taur is of course BULL ) if you look upwards to the highest point of this church you will not see anything grand, however from much further along the street the tower and façade is seen clearly. Later the Basilica was built and the relics moved.

Toulouse the pink city is wonderful and my family's roots are from nearby lavaur. YOu are in cathar country and the Spanish republicans immigrants. Albi is wonderful ,Carcassonne moving, so you will have a good trip already there. You can see the pastels industry and leather at Graulhet , in French here ville-graulhet.fr/CULTURE/Cu... to see an unique trade from the middle ages before your eyes. easy by bus from Toulouse main terminal by the train station matabiau visit Gaillac and Rabastens for history of cathars and wines of great quality. In Toulouse you have the violette boat selling everything made of violets flowers right on the canal du midi near the train station. http://www.lamaisondelaviolette.com/ you can get a boat ride on the canal du midi wonderful experience, http://www.bateaux-toulousains.fr/ the Occitania is wonderful, http://www.toulouse-croisieres.com/ you can walk the banks of the Garonne along the canal du midi and into the city along the remparts starting from pont St Michel almost with the feet in the water! and the beautiful parc Compans-Caffarelli with 7 hectares of design gardens a beautiful Japonese garden and a stunning dragon, worth the walk! See the wonderful place Victor Hugo with its marché, and upper floor restos of the famous cassoulet toulousain, try there the Le Luchebem, wonderful. And of course the more popular touristic venues you can read more in destinations Toulouse here or the tourist office. if time allowed dont missed Gaillac and Lavaur, wonderful churches and monastery now tourist office at Gaillac. Collioure is a small place famous for the painters Picasso, Matisse, Derain, Dufy Chagall, Marquet and others. You can take cruises here too as the Roussillon and a petit train or little train into the vinyards. and then you have the French Riviera a vast area. I do the car here most of the time all over; its the best way to see, but you can combine it with air or train and then try the car close in especially if leaving Toulouse, the scenery and wonderful places along the way are amazing. This is info in English from the official French SNCF train travel company on the Toulouse train station gares-en-mouvement.com/en/fr... the bus terminal main one is next door. hope it helps

Several of the great houses in Toulouse were built thanks to money made in the PASTEL or WOAD industry. In medieval and early Renaissance times this dye was widely used for clothing tapestry and decorations. Well worth reading up about this unique product because it gave Toulouse some fine legacies like Hôtel d'Assézat now a marvellous museum with small cafe for refreshments - a must visit. fondation-bemberg.fr/uk/home... I want to quote from this web site : The years 1500 to 1700 were the Golden Age of Toulouse. Those merchants who had made large fortunes form Pastel (Woad) and become Consuls or "Capitouls" found a new symbol of their power and prestige in building magnificent town houses complete with mediaeval towers, the best examples being those of d'Assézat, de Mansencal, de Bemuy and le Vieux-Raisin.

yes i said pastel from French maybe is woad in English ::) the production died out but still done outside of Toulouse in my wife'ss family area of Lavaur, Graulhet, and the very best example still today is at medieval St-Paul-Cap-de-Joux ,another picturesque town of the area but the car is king here. here is the museum castle in French http://www.pastel-chateau-musee.com/

Yes the word 'pastel' could be misinterpreted as being some kind of art medium hence my use of the word WOAD which is the English name. Another interesting thing in Toulouse. Many street names are shown in two languages. French and Occitant. This is the region where Occitant is still practiced but I believe rarely these days. Maybe up in the country side places a long way from Toulouse amongst older folk. But nice to see the dual signs. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occita...

occitan is back, schools teach it, just finding no modern day uses, the olders folks in my wife's family speaks it. And yes street are in both names like in Brittany ,its a renaissance of old languages which is good. the info is in French or occitan, but these regions still have 60 associations where the language is maintained •Le Limosin (en occitan Lemosin) •L'Auvergne, (Hormis les 2/3 nord du départament de l'Allier.) (en occitan Auvernha) •Midi Pyrénées (en occitan Miègjorn Pirenèus) •Le Languedoc-Roussillon (hormis la majeure partie des Pyrénées-Orientales, de langue catalane),(en occitan Lengadòc Rosselhon) •L'Aquitaine (hormis le tiers ouest des Pyrénées Atlantiques, de langue basque)(en occitan Aquitània ) •Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. (en occitan Provença Aups Còsta d´Azur) •Les départements de l'Ardèche, de la Drôme et le sud de l'Isère en Rhône-Alpes. 24 579 students in Toulouse alone takes the language as of last school year !

Good to learn about the use of this ancient tongue. It is a wonderful part of France. Except the weather can be unkind however the grass would not be so green without those rains. And the cows not so well fed because I always look for the cheese from Lacaune which is over to the east. Simply delicious. cookipedia.co.uk/wiki/images... Toulouse Lautrec is not everybody's idea of a great artist but his distinctive posters advertising the fun palaces in Paris are special and in the museum in Albi there are quite a few examples.

Yes in albi next to the tourist office in the palais de la Berbie. THe area is like my backyard as family makes come back to it, plus business trips to Toulouse. The cheese is not my favorite in France but if you like then see this one when in the area next montagne-haut-languedoc.com/... we have taken over the thread but I think the orig poster will get a better picture of the beautiful area and vast as it is around Tolouse. Cheers

Hi there, I live in Toulouse (la Ville Rose). Very interesting walking tours are offered by the Tourist Office of Toulouse (situated next to Capitol!) Check out their web site: www.toulouse-tourism.com (the inconvenient is that they offer everyday a different theme tour). I also would recommend you another site that talks about the history and tourist attractions of all the south west of France (Toulouse and Colliure included, BTW Colliure is wonderfull!) www.southweststory.com. Please let me know if you need more assistance. In terms of restaurants in the South West of France they eat a lot of magre de canadard, foie gras etc. but also sea food but less then in other places! Next to the Capitol and around Wilson Place there are several good restaurants. Cheers, Carla

Thank you for everyones help!

Dear Carla, I will be in Toulouse from Aug 16th (arriving at 5pm and through Aug 19th early morning. On the morning of the 17th i would like to go to Albi, and on the afternoon of the 18th i would like to visit Carcassone. Is there a way to check whether any walking tours are offered on either afternoon of 17th or morning of the 18th. Westsidestory is a great website, i emailed them already. and the other one is only in French so i couldnt read it. If you can advise anything would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

It is an easy train trip from Toulouse to Carcassonne and you can walk from the Carcassonne train station up to the castle.

Sorry. I just got to see your reply now. Give me few hours and I will get back to you with tours offered by office de tourism.

Hi again, I have checked the tourist office of Toulouse site. The guided tours they offer are usually afternoon ones. Your only afternoon available being August 17th I have found this tour: "Visite Atmosphères toulousaines Après avoir visité la curieuse cathédrale Saint-Etienne, vous déambulez de ruelles en placettes dans le quartier des antiquaires à la découverte de ses demeures cossues. Vendredi 17 août 15:00-17:00 Tarif normal: 9.00 EUR". It is just a basic tour of the center of Toulouse. It costs 9 Euros. If you need more infos let me know. I can call them and ask if there is by any chance a tour in English (or if they have something that I did not find on their site). Let me know. Carla