City Review: Toulouse, France

Andorra la Vella: check. Carcassonne: check. Next on the agenda was Toulouse, France. Matt had never been to France before, and I’d only been to Paris and Lyon, so Toulouse was totally new for both of us.

As with many of the places we went on our European road trip, we didn’t know what to expect because we don’t typically research places too much before we arrive. But we loved Toulouse, and Matt even said it was his favorite city we visited on the whole trip! So… keep reading to learn what it’s like to visit Toulouse, France.

About Toulouse

While I may not have known anything about Toulouse, that doesn’t mean it’s not a major city. In fact, with a population of nearly half a million people, Toulouse is the fourth-largest city in France after Paris, Marseille, and Lyon. Interestingly, Toulouse is also the center of the European airspace industry, a fact that I’m just now learning but does make sense considering the existence of the Toulouse Space Center on the outskirts of town.

Toulouse is a very walkable city that doesn’t feel too big, but also doesn’t feel too small. Being able to walk everywhere is a huge benefit, especially for travelers who are visiting without a car. Even though we had a car, we ended up just parking at our hotel and walking everywhere the entire time we were there.

But there’s one thing that really made Toulouse stand out to us — how beautiful it is! Toulouse is known as “La Ville Rose,” or the pink city. That’s because of the pink-colored terracotta bricks that are used in the architecture of so many buildings. That, along with the great weather we had, meant that the city was super photogenic the whole time we were there.

How Many Days Do You Need in Toulouse?

Two full days is probably plenty for you to see Toulouse’s highlights, but if you’re able to stay longer, you can definitely stay busy.

If you have three days or more, you may want to consider a day trip from Toulouse to Carcassonne or Toulouse to Albi. Sometimes. when you’re visiting a city for the first time, it can be interesting to get out and see what life is like outside the city limits. Plus, both Carcassonne and Albi are super impressive.

Things to Do in Toulouse

While it’s easy to get lost wandering amongst the beautiful pink buildings, Toulouse offers plenty of interesting things to do and see. First, you can’t miss the Place du Capitole, which kind of reminded me of the big plazas I would so often see in Spain. But this one is — just like everything else — pink!

The Basilica of Saint-Sernin is an iconic part of the city skyline with its tiered bell tower. It’s free to go inside (if I remember right), or you can just admire the view from outside. One of the best photo ops in Toulouse is looking toward the basilica’s bell tower while walking down Rue du Taur, a pedestrian street with lots of shops and restaurants.

Not far from the basilica, you’ll find the Jardin Japonais Pierre Baudis, or the Japanese Garden, which was a charming little park with water and greenspace that could almost make you forget you’re in a city for a little bit.

And speaking of water, one of Toulouse’s most unique features is the Canal du Midi, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Canal, which was built between 1667 and 1694, stretches from a lagoon south of Marseille (Étang de Thau) to Toulouse — 150 miles (240 km) long! It was designed to connect the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic Ocean, and Toulouse is essential to that plan, as the Canal technically ends in Toulouse. From there, it meets up with the River Garonne, which continues to the Atlantic.

The Garonne cuts through Toulouse, but it’s easy to walk across one of the many bridges to the other bank. Pont Saint-Pierre will give you a great view of Hôpital La Grave, another of the city’s icons. The modern art museum, Les Abattoirs, is just behind it.

There are lots of museums in Toulouse, but Les Abattoirs was the only one we visited. We were lucky enough to be there when an exhibit by French-American artist Niki de Saint Phalle was passing through. Turns out I have a new favorite artist!

Find more things to do in Toulouse.

How Expensive is Toulouse?

Unsurprisingly, the majority of typical restaurants in Toulouse, France, served French cuisine. French cuisine isn’t necessarily known for being cheap, right? Overall, we found restaurants a bit more expensive than many places in Spain. A big part of this was the fact that a glass of wine was like €4-5 instead of €2. We drink a lot of wine, so that definitely added up. And most menu items were just a few euros more expensive than in Spain, so that added up, too.

Plus the fact that they would pretty much always bring you bread to the table, and the bread in France is SO MUCH softer and tastier than it is in Spain, so you always want to eat it. And then that’s a few extra euros every time. So yeah, I’d say dinner in Toulouse would cost more like €40-50 for two people. (Which really isn’t too bad. It’s just more than we typically pay in Spain.)

Where We Ate

Knowing things were a little more expensive than we were used to, we worked hard to find places that were highly-rated but also within our budget. Here were the standouts:

Au Gascon: We ate here for dinner right after we arrived in Toulouse, and it was a great choice! The food was traditional French and very delicious, the waiters were friendly and helpful, and the price was reasonable.

Au Gascon
9 Rue des Jacobins
31000 Toulouse, France

Cacou: This was a coffee shop/cafe close to our hotel. It was super cozy and had amazing breakfast! I had French toast and it was both beautiful and yummy.

Cacou
20 Rue Maury
31000 Toulouse, France

Cafe Fika: When we were looking for a good spot for lunch that wouldn’t break the bank, we came across Cafe Fika on Rue du Taur. I’m a sucker for Swedish meatballs, so we stopped in. The waitress was super friendly and told us she learned English from watching Friends.

Cafe Fika
49 Rue du Taur
31000 Toulouse, France

Museau Musette: For our last dinner in Toulouse, we decided to stick close to our hotel and splurge a little bit for dinner right on the Canal du Midi. I don’t remember everything we ate, but it was all really good, and the vibes felt really fancy even though it still wasn’t that expensive.

Museau Musette
88 Boulevard Pierre Semard
31500 Toulouse, France

A note about eating in France (that we noticed in both Toulouse and Bordeaux) — when you’re finished with your meal and ready to pay, there’s no need to flag down a waiter. Instead, it’s more common that you head to the bar, ask for your check, and pay there.

Where We Stayed

Like most of the places we stayed during this trip, we used our Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card to book our hotel in Toulouse using a combination of money and points, making it cheaper. We stayed at the Adagio Aparthotel – Las Ramblas, on the east side of the city, really close to the Canal du Midi.

It wasn’t in the “center center” of Toulouse, but it was on the outer center, and it still had an awesome location. Since we could walk everywhere, it was worth it to save a little money being a bit farther out. Plus, our room had a balcony facing the city which gave us a great view — especially at sunset.

The Adagio Aparthotel was a great place to stay because it was so spacious inside. It also saved us money on parking, because the hotel has a 50% off deal with the nearby parking garage, which was very much appreciated! And the woman who worked at the front desk was so friendly and told us all about things to do in Toulouse when we first arrived. I would definitely stay at the Adagio Aparthotel – Las Ramblas again and I recommend it to anyone visiting Toulouse.

Final Thoughts

We loved our visit to Toulouse and it made a great stop as part of our road trip through Spain, France, and Andorra. It may not get as much attention as Paris or other cities in France, but the wealth of things to do, combined with its colorful architecture, make it worth a visit.

 

Are you thinking about visiting Toulouse? What else do you want to know? Let me know in the comments!

-Cathy

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Originally Published on March 7, 2023.