Tips for Toulouse

You should spend some time researching the excellent French tourist office websites which exist for every region, département and city in France and for every town and village that attracts tourists. The Toulouse tourist office website will have all the info a tourist needs to plan their visit in that city:

https://www.toulouse-visit.com/

Toulouse is in the Occitanie region:

https://www.visit-occitanie.com/en/

And in the Haute-Garonne département:

https://www.hautegaronnetourism.com/

Aurillac is in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region:

https://www.inauvergnerhonealpes.com/en/

And in the Cantal département:

https://www.salers-tourisme.fr/en

Toulouse is a very attractive pink-brick city with a bunch of interesting sights. These are some possibilities I gathered before a 2017 trip to that area:

• Themed walking tours offered by the tourist office. (However, I find French cities often run English-language tours only on weekends.)

• 18C Capitole: World’s most elegant town hall. Free to visit as of 2017 but sometimes closes for official functions and weddings.

• Basilique St-Sernin: Largest Romanesque church in Europe, 11th-13th century.

• Les Jacobins Gothic church, 29 rue Pargaminieres: Major masterpiece of Gothic art; one of finest examples of palm-tree vaulting.

• Fondation Bember, Hotel d’Assezat, place Assezat: Exceptional art collection.

• Espace d’Art Moderne et Contemporain

• Musée des Augustins: one of Europe’s finest collections of Romanesque sculpture and religious paintings, displayed in a former convent (Gothic).

• Musée Paul Dupuy, 13 rue de la Pleau: Medieval applied arts in 17th-century mansion.

• Musée St-Raymond: Archaeological museum whose collections of sculpture and Gallo-Roman artifacts are second only to those at the Louvre.

• Chateau d’Eau: water tower now with photography exhibitions.

• Marche Victor Hugo: Large covered market (restaurants upstairs) surrounded by food and antique shops.

• Place Arnaud Bernin, near St. Sernin: North African quarter

• These streets/squares have nice/historic architecture: Place de la Daurade, Rue des Changes, Rue Ninau, Rue Ozenne and Rue de la Dalbade. St. Cyprien is the chichi quarter.

• Hotel Bernuy on Rue Gambetta: fine mansion whose courtyard can be visited.

Albi is also worth a visit. It works as a side trip from Toulouse. For me the major sights were the excellent Musee Toulouse-Lautrec, the Cathedrale Ste-Cecile (beautifully carved interior) and the Eglise S-Salvy (Romanesque with 13C cloister).

Warning: Both Toulouse and Albi can be shockingly hot in the summer. Be sure your lodgings have good air conditioning, and think about doing your outdoor sightseeing early and late if you don't get lucky with the weather.

We really really liked Toulouse, great walking town. We stayed at the Ibis on Place du Capitole, good price, fantastic location. Mystique and acraven have given really good info. Albi and Cordes sur Ciel are good day trips.

acraven has made you a complete list of things to do and see in Toulouse and Albi.
Almost everything is located in the historic center and it goes without saying that you won't need a car as long as you stay in Toulouse.

I confirm that the heat in summer in the region can be unbearable during the day. We have regularly above 105F in the day (up to 112F) and temperatures that do not drop below 80F during the night.

I also recommend the Victor Hugo market, it's one of the most beautiful in France. It's a covered market in a building open every day until 1 p.m. except Mondays. And of course I highly recommend the market restaurants which are located on the first floor and accessible from inside the market.

They are only open at lunchtime. Go to the market around 11 a.m. and go up to the 1st floor to see the menus of the 4 or 5 restaurants lined up, and book for lunch in the one that suits you

To get an idea watch from 1.25 in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rmAj47WRwY

If you don't feel like walking there are also pleasant boat trips on the Canal du Midi such as (among others) this one: https://goo.gl/maps/bXQfSvCnREitTskd7

The advantage is that you are most of the time in the shade of the trees along the canal.

The medieval city of Carcasonne is also located about an hour from Toulouse. You can go there by train or by car.

Cordes sur Ciel is a place where you can stop on the way to Aurillac if you leave Toulouse early enough and take the small roads instead of the A20 motorway (much more pleasant and picturesque), , Rick Steves not knowing everything , you will also pass through Villefranche-de-Rouergue which is located just after Cordes sur Ciel

https://en.bastides-gorges-aveyron.fr/impregner/villages-caractere/villefranche-de-rouergue/

Yummy, JoLui.

August us the wrong time of year for cassoulet, but grilled Toulouse sausage with a side of ratatouille is Mmm 😋.

It is true that whether in summer or in winter, a cassoulet at noon is more conducive to a siesta than to visiting Toulouse museums :))