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Toulouse Garonne Boat Tour

Hello,
My husband, son, and I will be traveling to Toulouse in July. The riverfront area of Toulouse looks awesome. I see there are several water tours on the Canal Garonne, the Canal Midi, and on the river through Toulouse. Has anyone done any of those water tours? If you have, what are the sights to be seen on each of the tours and which company is the best?

Second, what are some must-sees and must-dos in Toulouse?

Thank you,
Mary Jane

Posted by
28081 posts

I didn't take a boat trip, but I see I have that on my list of things I hoped to do during my 2017 visit. Here are some other things on my list; as you can see, there are lots of good options in Toulouse:

  • Themed walking tours offered by the tourist office. (However, I find French cities often run English-language tours only on weekends.)
  • This info may no longer be current, but there used to be a major flea market on the 1st Fri-Sat-Sun of the month at Alles Jules Guesde. There was also a Saturday flea market at Compans Caffarelli - Pierre Baudis, Boulevard Lascrosse. I didn't have the time to check out either one.
  • 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.
Posted by
2327 posts

About cruises on the Garonne.

These cruises are only a short trip on the Garonne in the part that crosses "la ville rose", I did not use these cruises
It will surely not be the cruise of your life but it allows you to spend an hour or two on the river for a few euros

More interesting and pleasant excursions could be those on the Canal du Midi such as:

https://catefifi.com/

or:

https://www.peniche-surcouf.com/

(for this one the departure is located 25 km from Toulouse)

In addition to the list indicated by acraven which is very complete and in a completely different style
I would add a newcomer to Toulouse "La Halle de la Machine" which might interest you.
It's not easy to describe, let's say it's like an amusement park but nothing to do with Walt Disney

http://www.halledelamachine.fr/en/1203-2/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqxunDdNpxc

I imagine that you did not come to Toulouse to see factories but know that you can also visit Airbus factories

https://www.manatour.fr/en/airbus

About the restaurants located above the Victor Hugo market, I go there from time to time and I recommend them, for example 'Le Magret' (the others are very good too)

https://restaurant-lemagret.fr/

Note that the restaurants are only open for lunch.
Visit the market in the morning, around 10:00 a.m. / 11:00 a.m.
If you want to reserve a table for lunch, go upstairs before 11:00 a.m. by taking the stairs that lead to the restaurants (it is inside the market)