Toulouse & the Languedoc-Roussillon Region

I like Toulouse a lot. It's a very pretty city good sightseeing options, worth multiple nights. Albi is a good day trip Toulouse; you probably don't need to relocate to spend one or more nights there.

Montpellier is also interesting.

Narbonne is worth some research; I didn't have enough time there to form much of an opinion.

Coastal Sete is worth a walk-around, but I wouldn't have found enough to do there to justify more than a daytrip.

I found the Yellow Train trip into the Pyrenees very interesting for the dramatic scenery. Medieval Villefranche-de-Conflent is highly picturesque but can be very touristy. Even in May, trying to be there on a weekday would probably be smart. I'm sure there must be good walking opportunities along that train line.

Collioure, which is practically in Spain, is a popular seaside destination. I believe some folks may have spent multiple nights there. I prefer larger towns as my bases since I travel by train and bus.

I haven't been to Carcassonne, but I think most folks going to Languedoc-Roussillon would include it in their itineraries.

You'll find all the above places mentioned in previous threads on this forum. I don't have Rick's book on southern France, so I don't know how much coverage he has of this area.

Definitely visit Carcassonne. And be sure to dine on cassoulet there or in Toulouse (or both places!) Check Cahors for pate (and the Point Valentre). Toulouse is well-known for its garlic sausage...I wish I could find some here in So. Calif! Albi is a "rose red" city with a magnificent cathedral and a museum of Toulouse Lautrec's works. Narbonne is a nice beach town from what I read, and many posters here speak well of it.

I would check a guidebook for more suggestions (Rick Steves, Arthur Frommer, the Michelin green guide). You can check one or two out of the library for ideas. You shouldn't need the most up-to-date issue to find out what there is to experience in the region.

Use the search bar above for comments. e.g. type in Toulouse, then filter for forum, then one year or less, or two years of less. You should find quite a few discussions there.

Bordeaux and St.Emilion aren't too far, about 2 1/2 hours by train. Both are wine-centric. Bordeaux has the Cite du Vin (a full morning or afternoon to experience all things wine), the Bassins des Lumieres, a very walkable old center and excellent restaurants. both cities offer lots of winery tours. I would spend three nights there (Arrive mid-day after a morning train from Toulouse, spend that half day and all the next in Bordeaux, then day trip to St. Emilion the next day. See the Bassins de Lumieres any evening.)

You will find 2 weeks to be not enough for all your options. You will have to pick and choose among the many places/things to experience. Good luck choosing!

I spent a week basing out of Toulouse in September, last year. I enjoyed it. On a clear day you want to be on the Pont Neuf bridge early in the morning to catch the light as the sun hits the city. There's a really good museum full of Impressionist art at Foundation Bemburg, and the Airbus museum is very good also. The Gran Rond and royal gardens are nice.

I found having a car made a big difference as that allowed me to get outside the city as visit some of the pate and sausage producing farms. And you definitely need a car if you plan to visit Lascaux. But the public transport in Toulouse itself was great. I bought tram tickets in blocks of 10 and just scanned them every time I took a ride.

If you are into history, you should know there's a Roman Ampitheater in town, but it was closed off when I was there.

The city of Toulouse itself can be visited in 3 days, 2 days if you only visit the historic center quickly.
From Toulouse you can take the train to visit Albi and Carcassonne each in a day trip, but these are basically the only places where you can go without a car.

I'm not sure what you mean by "exploring" but know that the train network will not allow you to explore 90% of what is possible to do and see in the surrounding area, and the bus network is designed for locals and school transport, not for tourist trips. So you will miss for example the "Most Beautiful Villages of France", local markets, scenic spots, etc.

The same goes for any other major city that could be a base like Montpellier. You could visit one or two places nearby but "exploring" requires renting a car.

Just in case, I had this map that I had already posted for someone here, a lover of French cuisine and markets like you, who was traveling between Montpellier and Toulouse but who had rented a car:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1SrAtdgxHVZnob6W3FwLoW4bqrLmZCuU&usp=sharing

This other map has, among other things, some suggestions for walking tours to visit Toulouse

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1Z1sSFFM4Injq9W_WArpkpYN_6SanFjw&usp=sharing

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Thank you for all the input!

Toulouse sounds like it has a lot to offer, including good day trip connections. It should work well as a beginning and ending base.

Our plan is to make a circle within the Languedoc-Roussillon region using the rail lines. We would stay 3-ish nights in each town, enjoy the sights there, take a day trip or two, and then move to the next place. Here's an example of a previous trip we took last August in Bavaria in which we spent 3 nights in each place: Munich - Füssen - Augsburg - Nuremberg - Munich.

We are considering Narbonne and Montpellier as bases. Any other suggestions?

Our time in Collioure ranks among our favorite trips!!

Our trip down those parts by train in July 2018.
Brief stop in Toulouse to change trains. A number of days in Carcassonne. We stayed in the main town not within the fortress. Visited the fortress in the evening, in the early morning and during business hours (to do a tour). Loved it but it was very crowded during business hours.
The main town of Carcassonne was lovely and interesting. We caught a big farmers market and were there for a stage of the Tour de France.
We had restaurant meals in the evening in the town square and drinks at an Irish pub of all things.

From Carcassonne we travelled to Collioure for a few days.
Collioure was very busy but very beautiful. Visited the big Royal Castle (right in town) which was great fun to explore. Climbed the hill to an old windmill and onto the Fort above town, magnificentviews. Explored alleyways and beaches. Our hotel breakfast was at the wonderful Templars bar with it's amazing art collection. I did lots of swimming, sunrise swims in the Mediterranean were pretty special. A mix of accommodation including one night at a nearby harbour sleeping on some dude's small diving boat.

From Collioure to Villefranche de Conflent.
This was our favourite. A tiny fully walled village with a tunnel and a 1000 steps up to a hilltop fort. Fantastic old gates either end of town
Also some fascinating caves within walking distance. We walked through the ramparts.
We didn't think it particularly crowded during the day but it is very small and would get squeezey with a couple of hundred visitors. Prior to 10 am and after about 4 pm we saw almost no one other than a small number of locals on the street.

We caught the wonderful Little Yellow Train from Villefranche de Conflent. We sat in an open topped carriage so had great views throughout the long slow trip through the Pyrenees. A great experience. We disembarked at Latour de Carol and had a few minutes to connect to the Barcelona Toulouse train. The first part of that train trip went through magnificent country.
As we didn't know whether we would make the connection at Latour we had arrived in Toulouse with no accommodation booked. We walked across the road from the station to the desk of the ibis Budget and booked in there.
We only had a brief look around Toulouse that evening and next morning as we had a train to catch and more France to explore.

A lot of good ideas here- another to add is Perpignan, a beautiful city right by the border with Spain. Very pleasant old town to walk around and it includes a big fortified palace you can visit.

Also- in Toulouse definitely take a boat ride on the Canal du Midi- and notice how all the street signs are in Occitane!

Thank you for all the wonderful ideas! :-)

We booked flights in and out of Toulouse. We'll be there a little over two weeks at the beginning of May. I've requested several travel guides from the library. We'll use those resources (along with everyone's responses) to plan an itinerary. So exciting!