I am planning a 2 week trip to Bordeaux and Dordogne next spring and I have a question about where to stay in the Toulouse area.

We plan to start in Bordeaux and finish in Toulouse. We will have a rented car and plan to spend 3 nights in the Toulouse area. We want to visit Toulouse as well as do some day trips in the surrounding area. If we didn't have a car, we would stay in Toulouse center, however, I know that we don't want to be in the city center with a car.

So my question is where else in the area can we stay? Are there any nice towns to stay in near Toulouse so that we can visit the city easily and enjoy the city's attractions and restaurants? Or perhaps there is there an area on the periphery of Toulouse which would be suitable?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

There are several hotels in Toulouse where you can park the car in their garage. The Mermoz is one of them. Easy access in & out to surrounding areas, and the Mermoz is an easy 10 min walk to the center of Toulouse - where you don't want to take your car.

Outside of Toulouse is Albi - but it has some traffic problems too - but not as bad as Toulouse. Cordes & St Antonin Noble Val are two small villages where you can find accommodations (lots of neat hotels n the countryside around St Antonin). I'm not a fan of Caussade or Montauban.

If this was my trip - I would stay in Toulouse - one of my 3 favorite cities in France (others are Paris & Dijon).

Stu Dudley

Toulouse is very lively at night, and I would prefer to stay in town than outside it.

Thanks Stu. I will check the Mermoz.

As for Albi,we will be visiting it on the way to Toulouse.

Moissac is another possibility.

Driving in and out of Toulouse is not a trivial thing.

If you stay at the Mermoz, it is just down the street from the train station - which is obviously well sign posted. We've driven in & out several times with no confusion - but get a pretty good map with one-way streets indicated. I use the map in the Michelin Red Guide.

Stu Dudley

If you are ending in Toulouse, why would you keep the car? It's quite easy to get to the Airport by bus (navette from the Train station and other stops) or by taxi.

Driving in and out of Toulouse is not difficult if you have ever driven in Europe. We are always surprised at how easy it is to get into the city - like many European cities it is quite contained.

There isn't too much problem with having a car in Toulouse either - you just have to plan a little. Another hotel with parking is the Mercure Wilson - smaller than the Mercure St Georges (which sits over a massive parking garage) Other hotels, like the IBIS centre, are near public underground lots, and they usually send their customers there. We've done this in a number of places.

We love Toulouse, and there's lots to see - even just walking around is always interesting. There is great shopping, great sitting in cafes watching everyone else. It's a city with a very young and lively population.

3 days? Stay in Toulouse. If you really don't want to my pick would be Albi.

I have tried so hard to find somewhere nice within half an hour of the city, and there are places that are OK, but no-where really good. A place I was always going to try but haven't got round to is St Lys, but for the life of me I can't find the name of the hotel. It's been closed once, full once and the town square was dug up and it looked awful the third time when we tried. It's not the ghastly concrete place on the outskirts. It's a lovely old building with a garden in the centre

Carlux - We are used to driving in Europe.

We want to keep the car because one day we want to do a day trip to the west, perhaps to visit the roquefort caves. Otherwise, we would return the car and get to the airport by other means.

Hi Sheila!! Nice to ehar from you!

I meant nice to "hear" from you.

As Dorothy said in the Wizard of Oz - "There's no place like home."

I checked at home with my daughter, the rocket scientist. She was at the aerospace conference in Toulouse back in May and stayed in a nice 3 star hotel, about 10 minutes (so she says)from the center and which has ITS OWN PARKING.

The hotel is called Brienne. Here is the website:
http://www.hoteldebrienne.com/GB/accueil_GB.html

It's located on Boulevard du Maréchal Leclerc. Perhaps someone who is familiar with Toulouse can tell me if this is a decent location.

ttt

Well, it's not a bad location, but I wouldn't call it a good location. It would be a long walk to the main square, La Capitole.

I would still prefer the Mercure Wilson, which is a great location, right in the centre of things.

Carlux:

I know that the location of the Mercure is far better, and I'm sure there are nearby parking garages or lots. I am only concerned about driving in the center of Toulouse. I'm not sure that it's worth the effort. I'm from NYC (the NJ part) and I know about driving in big cities. If the center of Toulouse is like the center of Paris, then I would prefer to be on the periphery and walk, take a taxi or take public transport into the center. On at least one day, we want to do a day trip outside the city.
So, what's it like driving in the center of Toulouse?

Toulouse is NOT AT ALL like Paris. It is a small city. You come in off the autoroute (Peripherique Exterieure), follow signs for Centre Ville, and in about 10 minutes you're downturn. Mostly on reasonably wide streets. I too wouldn't want to drive much around Paris, as I live in a small village, but even I have driven in and out of Toulouse with no problem.

For those who, like me, wondered about Interior and Exterior Peripherique, it just refers to inside or outside of the road. As you are driving on the right going around a city with other drivers between you and the city, you will be on the outside of the road, and on the Peripherique Exterieure. Those on the inside lanes, closer to the city, are therefore on the Peripherique Interieure.

The other option of course is to do your day trips before you get to Toulouse,leave the car, and wander around the city on foot without worrying about the car.

I agree with you, Carlux. Unfortunately, one day trip is to the east and one is to the west, and Toulouse is right in the middle. We hate one-nighters, so the best thing is to stay in Toulouse for 3 nights, and then fly home.

In Europe, we use a GPS and getting to wherever we are going is usually not the problem. The problem, as I see it, is just the hassle of driving and parking in the center of European cities.

In any case, I have put the Hotel Mercure Wilson on my short list for Toulouse! Thanks!

Carlux, I have been driving in and out of Toulouse for 8 years now, and I never understood the difference between the interieure and the exterieure peripheriques.

Thank you!

We are going to the Dordogne and Lot regions next week. Our last day will be spent driving down from the Dordogne and spending the day in Toulouse as we leave from that airport at 7AM the next morning (ugh).

How is parking in Toulouse?

There are a number of large underground parking lots. Some examples:
Capitole
St Georges
Esquirol
Carmes