Where to Stay
- Hôtel de l’Opéra. This converted 17th-century convent is Toulouse’s smartest tourist address. Crammed with antiques, the hotel has windows dressed with silk drapes, walls with rich floral fabric and a bar done out in blue and gold. Some of the bedrooms have views of the place du Capitole.
- Hôtel des Beaux Arts. This 18th-century villa has a great location on the Garonne. Soundproofing shelters guests from the buzzing riverside life and rooms have a generous amount of modern art.
Eating & Drinking
- Fazoul, 2 rue Tolosane. Located in one of the city’s prettiest pink-brick residential areas, this rustic eatery is good for a traditional Toulousian cassoulet.
- Le Sept, 7 place St Sernin.
- Hidden in a building so trellis-laden it could be mistaken for a tree, this is Toulouse’s best venue for a dinner à deux. Sit next to pastel-blue shuttered windows and feed one another rich morsels from the extensive menu of foie gras.
- J’Go (6 Place Victor Hugo, 31000 Toulouse – +33 (0)5 61 23 02 03) is simultaneously a wine bar, restaurant and delicatessen known for its authenticity and passion for dishes from south-western France with a lively modern twist, local produce and short circuits. You can also nibble tapas while sipping a glass of wine on its two large terraces opening onto one of the town’s most attractive squares.
- Wander through the Victor Hugo market for an on the go bite to eat
- N.5 Wine Bar – Small place with great selection of wines, friendly staff and the food was amazing
- Pêcheurs de Sable – a budget-friendly white wine with a basil leaf while sitting on a riverside picnic bench (open seasonally)
- Café des Artistes to enjoy the sunset over the Garonne at the
- Catch some live music at The Petit London
Seeing & Doing
- Take a walk of the pink city starting at the 18th-century brick and marble town hall in the place du Capitole and head south along rue St-Rome, one of the city’s buzzing shopping streets, then left on to rue Peyras towards the Musée des Augustins, home to the city’s fine arts museum. Just off rue de Metz, heading east, put your head into the grand courtyard of the Fondation Bemberg, an art gallery housed in the Hôtel d’Assézât. Walk over the Pont Neuf to end up at the Château d’Eau, a major photography gallery, set inside the Garonne’s beautiful old water tower.
- Les Abattoirs, a museum of modern and contemporary art that houses an extensive collection. Gaze on a Picasso or Duchamp without tightly knit tourists obscuring the view.
- Check out the vintage market outside of Basilica of St. Sernin on Saturday mornings.
- Head to the Pont-Jumeaux, where you’ll find a succession of gems – the Basilica of Notre-Dame de la Daurade, the old wheat mills now converted into a cultural center, the Saint-Pierre and Saint-Michel locks. The whole area has a profusion of little cafés and terraces where you can laze around alongside the water
- The Hôtel d’Assézat, a 16th-century palace, is known as the most beautiful Renaissance mansion house in Toulouse, a house museum of a wealthy Argentine philanthropist
- Musée des Augustins is a must
- The huge Clément Ader aircraft factory to the west of the city can be visited for a surprisingly compelling 90-minute tour that includes a coach trip around the Airbus site and a look at the production line that gave birth to Concorde. The tour costs £6, and must be booked at least two days before through Taxiway (0033 561 180601, www.taxiway.fr). Valid photo ID is required.
- Take a short train ride to Albi, the birthplace of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and home to the largest collection of his art at the Musée Toulouse-Lautrec. Or visit the ancient city of Carcassonne on the way to the Mediterranean