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Currency: Euro (EUR)
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Located between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic coast, Toulouse is a city of students, a centre of cutting-edge European technology, and the capital of the good life; its taste for celebrations and fine food is attracting a growing number of new inhabitants.
Before the 20th century
In the 12th and 13th centuries the counts of Toulouse supported the Cathars. However, three centuries later, during the Wars of Religion, the city sided with the Catholic League. Many Toulouse merchants grew rich in the 16th and 17th centuries from the woad (blue dye) trade, which collapsed when the Portuguese began importing indigo from India. The Toulouse Parliament ruled Languedoc from 1420 until the 1789 revolution.
Modern history
During WWI, Toulouse became a centre for the manufacture of arms and aircraft. In the 1920s, Antoine de St-Exupéry, author of Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince), and other daring pilots pioneered mail flights to northwestern Africa and South America. After WWII, Toulouse became the nucleus of the country's aerospace industry. Passenger planes built here have included the Caravelle, the Concorde and the Airbus, and local factories also produce the Ariane rocket.
Recent history
In recent years Toulouse has continued to lead the way in European high-technology manufacture. Infrastructure development is ongoing, with a second metro line under construction. Industry-wise, the city is also notable for hosting the assembly plant for the giant Airbus planes.
Toulouse hasn't been immune to the flip side of heavy industry, however. In September 2001 an explosion at the AZF factory killed thirty people and cost the French government and private industry
Top Accommodation
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Basilique St-Sernin
Pl Wilson 
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place du Capitole
Vieux Quartier
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Hôtel d'Assézat
Place des Carmes
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Musée des Augustins
Vieux Quartier
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A Perfect Day
By Nicola Williams
Breakfast is an enchanting pavement terrace affair on place du Capitole, Toulouse's busy-as-a-bee central square. It never ceases to stun with its ever-changing panorama of comings and goings, elegant arcades painted with the city's history and 18th-century city hall, Capitole - which I explore post-PD (petit déj, breakfast). Morning coffee is a great excuse for an atmospheric stroll through the quaint lanes and alleys of the Vieux Quartier (Old Town) to Au Père Louis, a fabulously authentic French café with bags of old-fashioned charm. Lunch, mood depending, is either a raucous affair at a simple stall above covered indoor market Les Halles Victor or a longer, more sedate matter on pretty place St-Georges where it's a toss-up between the best cassoulet in town at Emile or quintessential bistro fare with one of her neighbours. Then I walk across the centuries-old stone of Pont Neuf, over the Garonne River, to explore Left Bank modern art-photography in a 19th-century water tower at Château d'Eau and a contemporary art exhibition in the city's former red-brick abattoir at Les Abattoirs. There's only one spot for an aperitif - the line-up of bars on place St-Pierre or, if there's really no Fermob chair outside left, Café des Artistes around the corner whose bijou terrace faces the sinking sun. From here, it's an easy scoot to place St-Sernin to at least glimpse Toulouse's Romanesque Basilique St-Sernin with its breathtaking eight-sided tower (return next day to explore). I dine by candlelight around a shared table, as if in someone's home, at Chez Navarre, an inventive table d'hôtes in a 16th-century townhouse.
Near both the Pyrenees and the Mediterranean, Toulouse enjoys a mild and sunny climate. Spring is an especially pleasant season. The temperature can top 30°C (85°F) in the summer, when the heat can become oppressive. Autumn is often rainy. It snows infrequently in winter, the temperature rarely falling below freezing.
Average weather
Transport
Getting there and away
Toulouse-Blagnac International Airport is 8km (5mi) northwest of the city centre. There are over 30 flights daily to/from Paris (mainly Orly). There are also daily or almost-daily flights to/from many other cities in France and Europe. There is a shuttle bus to the Toulouse-Blagnac airport every 20 minutes. Allow 20 minutes for the trip to the centre of town.
The modern bus station is just north of the train station, which is in turn about 1km (0.6mi) northeast of the city centre. Bus and train links to other major cities, including Spanish cities, are plentiful.
Getting around
Line A of the Toulouse subway crosses the city from east to west, while a north-south line is scheduled to open in 2007. The urban transport system includes 55 bus lines, 6 of which run at night from to . The Espace Transports at Place Esquirol can provide all information on the public transport system. Parking is fairly plentiful and the vigorous and flexible driving habits of the locals makes traffic move fairly smoothly in the downtown area.
In an excellent, environmentally-friendly initiative, the local bus and metro network Semvat hires out bikes.
fast facts
| Full name | Toulouse |
|---|---|
| Currency | Euro, EUR (€) |
| Population | 800000 |
| Languages |
Corsican (other) Breton (other) Basque (other) Catalan (other) French (official) |
| Time zone(s) | GMT/UTC: +1 |
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