Toulouse - Been there, don't remember much - please remind me
 

We've been to Toulouse several years ago and don't remember much about it -
Some things we do remember - Flea market around St. Sernin - very crowded and lots of junk
Jardins de l'opera - Mediocre food
Stayed at the hotel Beaux Arts, but can't even picture it
Had a great dinner somewhere
Anyway, I'd love it if someone could tell me all the good things to see and do in Toulouse, what they liked about the city, and the names of some good restaurants. We will be there for 3 days in mid May, staying at Le Grand Balcon Hotel.

Thank s for any info you can give me.

Hi, I'll try again. What did you like about Toulouse?

It's a real tough town to describe/ like, IMHO.

We tend to overnight there 2 or 3 times a year and we usually stay on the Capitole. It simply depends who's doing the best deal of room rates. there's not a lot to choose between them. I have stayed in the Beaux Arts and liked it too.

The old town is good to mooch around, he river walks are nice, the museums are worth visiting, especially, IMHO the Augustine.

There's a pretty little square near the Capitole called the Place St Georges, which is good for people watching.

I liked Toulouse. What to do? There are tons of museums, but that's up to you as to what kind of museums you like (or any). There were so many I wanted to see but I just couldn't as I was only there a few days. I really like the Old Toulouse museum, but I speak and read French so that could affect that. I just remember having a nice chat with the lady running it (it's very small in an old house) and the curating may be only in French, but I'm not sure. Toulouse has lots of tourists, so many not. I also liked the Augustins and of course, some churches (St Sernins in particular, and the Jacobins cloister).

I just think it's kind of a fun place -- there was a big outdoor concert on the main place when I was there, so that was fun, there were some rather wellknown singers performing for free. There are lots of young people, and it's a pleasant city to walk around. I had some good meals but I don't keep notes about restaurants. I took some day trips elsewhere (Albi and Carcassonne), so only spent about two days in Toulouse itself, probably.

We spent 3 nights there last July. My husband (who is French) went to Engineering school there, so I wanted to see it since I had never been there. It is called the Rose city, for all of beautiful brick buildings in town. The highlights for me were hanging around at the Capitole which is the big main square. Eating is always a highlight and cassoulet is the dish that is probably most renowned in the region.

Christina is right that it is a town where it is helpful if you speak French, because Toulouse is considered an extremely cultural town with a huge amount of plays, movies, etc. Probably connected to the fact that is a big university town (2nd or third largest in France I think) with over 120,000 university students living there. I also read in on of the French newspapers that it always leads the results in the French poll asking "where would you live if you could live in any French city" survey. And that kind of sums it up for me. It is a nice easy to live in city with great train connections, pretty good weather year round, good access to other interesting places like the Pyrenees, Barcelona, etc. I kind of jokingly compared it to Sacramento, which always reminds of a town where there isn't a huge amount to do necessarily but it is well located to do lots of interesting things around it in 2-3 hours distance. Also, because of the young people I think, we found that in Toulouse there are lots of cheap good ethnic food of all kinds in the city, which isn't generally the case in similar cities of the same size in France. We ate at a couple of good places-if you are going let me know and I will hunt down the names :)

I also loved the transport system-it is like a "mini me" of the Paris metro-only 2 lines, one north south the other east west, and you can buy at ticket called a "tribe" ticket (tribu) that up to 6 people can travel on the ticket for up to 24 hours (buses or metro) for something like 5 euros!

So I guess the bottom place is it a great place to live-visiting though will depend on what you like to do and see. Slower pace than the bigger or more well know destinations than Provence for instance but I liked it and will definitely go back.

I was in Toulouse for a few days this past September. I stayed at the Grand Balcon. I liked the cultural environment, the youthful atmosphere, the wide range of restaurants, the lively plazas. You can read about it in the first part of my trip report:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...ng-journey.cfm

I hesitate to mention restaurants, as people have such different tastes and I'm no foodie. But I generally dined around Place Wilson as my hotel was near there -- and I thought the restaurant on the north side, which I believe is right under the Holiday Inn or some hotel like that, was pretty good. Le Bon Vivre a couple doors away on the place is also good (and crowded) and has typical SW cuisine. http://www.lebonvivre.com/

I forgot, I did like the metro system, also, it was very convenient and like a little mini-metro. People were very friendly in Toulouse, also, I thought.

I liked Le Bon Vivre also, and ate there twice during my stay.

Good information. Thanks, everyone. We will be there for two full days and I think there will be plenty to do.

Great trip report, Nikki. It must have been quite a challenge to travel with vertigo.