Toulouse, France

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Why go now?

La Ville Rose, the rose-red capital of south-west France, is reawakening after the summer slumber. The fourth city in France – after Paris, Marseilles and Lyon – is the centre of Europe's aviation industry, and has a large student population. Yet the heart of Toulouse, straddling the broad Garonne river, is elegant, tranquil and full of history. By next weekend, the city will be back to its usual energetic self, with the added impetus of the Rugby World Cup: Toulouse is the French heartland of the game, and five matches will be played here between 12 and 29 September.

Touch down

By air, the main UK gateway is Gatwick, from which British Airways (0870 850 9850; www.ba.com) and easyJet (0871 244 2366; www.easyJet.com) compete aggressively. Toulouse is also served from Belfast, Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds/Bradford; Bmi baby (0871 224 0224; www. bmibaby.com) and FlyBe (0871 700 0123; www.flybe. com) are the main carriers from provincial airports.

A shuttle bus (00 33 5 34 60 64 00; www.navettevia-toulouse. com) runs every 20 minutes between Blagnac airport and Matabiau station (1), calling at various city-centre points; the return fare is €6 (£4.30).

Rail links from the UK are less than ideal, because Toulouse does not have a dedicated high-speed link from Paris; instead, the fastest services travel along the TGV Atlantique route to Bordeaux, then head inland. The fastest journey time on Eurostar (0870 518 6186; www.eurostar.com) from London Waterloo via Paris is around eight hours, with fares starting at £109 return.

Get your bearings

The ancient part of Toulouse occupies the right bank of the Garonne, at the point where the river's northern trajectory shifts sharply and temporarily to the west. At the centre is the Place du Capitole (2). The Roman road that has served as the main artery for centuries (see Take a Hike) forms the west side of the square. Just to the east, on Square de Gaulle, the tourist office (3) occupies an old round tower made of the city's characteristic pink brick; Toulouse acquired its alluring tones largely due to the absence of local stone. The office (00 33 5 61 11 02 22; www.ot-toulouse.fr) opens 9am-6pm (to 7pm, June-September) from Monday to Friday; on Saturdays (9am-6pm) and Sundays (10am-5pm), it closes for lunch from 12.30pm to 2pm – except on Sundays between June and September when it opens non-stop from 10.30am-5.15pm.

Boulevard d'Alsace-Lorraine, the main north-south commercial street, forms the eastern boundary of the tangle of pedestrianised lanes south of here.

Shadowing the alignment of the Garonne, a broad peripheral boulevard curls around the centre of the city, with the parallel Canal du Midi beyond it – and Matabiau station (1). Across the river, the St-Cyprien quarter is an urban wedge with edge.

Most places of interest are easily walkable, but the two-line Métro provides a smart, efficient alternative for a flat fare of €1.40 (£1) single, €2.50 (£1.80) return. Note that the stop at the main railway station, Matabiau, conceals its identity: it is known on the Métro as Marengo-SNCF.

Check in

A pair of hotels, located in the scruffy streets between the main station and the historic core of the city, celebrate the 20th-century aviation heritage of Toulouse. The top choice is L'Hôtel Mermoz (4) at 50 rue Matabiau (00 33 5 61 63 04 04; www.hotel-mermoz.com), which celebrates the short and heroic life of the French aviator, Jean Mermoz. Its Art Deco style and pale-pink and tangerine tones transport you back to the mid-Thirties, when Mermoz was in his prime. In the 21st century, free Wi-Fi is provided. Rack rate for a double without breakfast is €120 (£86), with breakfast a further €12 (£8.30) per person, but deals are available at weekends.

An aeronautical alternative is La Caravelle (5) at 62 rue Raymond IV (00 33 5 61 62 70 65), which took off in the same year as the French twin-jet – 1962. The plane's the theme, and the rooms are plain – but good value at €85 (£61) per double, excluding breakfast. The economy-class option is the one-star Hôtel Anatole France (6), in the square of the same name (00 33 5 61 23 19 96), which maintains a small-town ambience despite its central location. Doubles cost as little as €27 (£19).

Window shopping

The Marché des Carmes (7) abounds with local produce: bread, fruit, vegetables and poultry (including vast quantities of foie gras de canard). It opens 8am-5pm daily except Sunday. Locals may suggest you buy crystallised violets from a confectioner; the city's link to the flower began when Napoleon's soldiers brought it back from Italy.

Take a hike

Tread the cobbles of Toulouse's north-south axis. Start at the Place des Carmes (7); rue des Filatiers wobbles a little as it heads north, with the street expanding and contracting as you progress along it.

At the triangular Place de la Trinité (8), stand by the fountain in the middle and admire the neo-Classical flourishes of number 57. Just north, Esquirol Metro station was the location for the Roman forum.

The soul of Toulouse resides at the Place du Capitole (2), a vast pedestrianised square with a zodiac planted on the pavement in the centre, rather than a statue. It was completed only in 1851, by which time it had gone through four name changes. Wander inside the Capitole itself to see if you are allowed access (depending on municipal events) to Henry Martin's elaborate depictions of 19th-century Toulouse life.

Rue du Taur provides a sequence of lovely façades (and some tatty shops) as it leads north; pause at the corner of rue du Sé*échal (9) to admire a superb view of curving decrepitude. Then continue to Place St-Sernin (10) and the Basilique de St-Sernin (00 33 5 61 21 80 45), the most celebrated building in the town as well as Europe's largest Romanesque church, completed in 1220. It takes its name from Toulouse's first saint, Sernin, who was dragged through the city streets to his death by a bull around AD240. It opens 10am-6pm daily (Sundays from 2pm), admission free.

Lunch on the run

Place Victor Hugo (11) is occupied by an unattractive car park. But on the first floor of this municipal edifice you will find a row of restaurants – and an astounding number of people eating lunch. You may need to wait a good while to grab a table and order your steak frites.

Cultural afternoon

Allow plenty of time to breathe in the beauty of the Musée des Augustins (12), 21 rue de Metz (00 33 5 61 22 21 82; www.augustins.org). This is one of the first, and the finest, art museums in Toulouse. A 14th-century monastery, appropriated by the revolutionaries in 1793, it is amazingly atmospheric despite its city-centre location. The works match the space for sheer quality: Delacroix (whose Sultan of Morocco is big enough to decorate an Airbus hangar); local hero Debat-Ponsan, with a voluptuous massage scene; and, appropriately, Toulouse-Lautrec's Passing Conquest. It opens 10am-6pm daily, until 9pm Wednesday, closed Mondays, €3 (£2.20).

An aperitif

Toulouse turns its municipal back on the river, which means waterside bars are in short supply. Instead, make for Le Bateau (13), afloat at the Promenade Henri Marti (00 33 5 61 12 29 34), where a glass of rosé vin de pays costs a modest €3 (£2.20).

Dining with the locals

Any restaurant that hosts some of Toulouse's 115,000 students is guaranteed to be good value – but for a cut above the ordinary, make for Le bruit qui court (14) at 11 rue Jean Suau (00 33 5 61 23 68 28), which specialises in the gastronomic riches of Midi – from snail profiteroles to a duck trilogie, rounding off with a carpaccio of pineapple.

Sunday morning: go to church

St-Etienne Cathedral (15) on place St-Etienne is one of the strangest places of worship in Europe – a kind of ecclesiastical version of a "cut and shut" where non-identical structures are bolted together. Builders from the 11th to 20th centuries have imposed their own strong ideas on how the city's cathedral should look, and the result is a whimsical mish-mash of styles; all church architecture is here.

Out to brunch

Beaucoup Café Bar Restaurant (16) at 9 Place du Pont Neuf (00 33 5 61 12 39 29; www.beaucoup.fr) makes the best effort, from noon to 4pm each Sunday. Options on the €16 (£11.50) menu include pancake combo, oeufs brouillées (scrambled eggs) or poulet fumé au thé (chicken smoked with tea).

Take a ride

Even if the locals turn their back on the river, you should not. So take a boat trip on the Garonne. The operator Baladine (00 33 5 61 80 22 26; www.bateaux-toulousains. com) can provides this scenic option from as little as €8 (£5.50), for its shortest cruises lasting 75 minutes; these depart from Quai de la Daurade (17) several times a day; timings change frequently, so check online or ask at the tourist office.

A swim in the park

The biggest and best swimming pool in Europe is just upstream from the city centre on the Ile du Ramier, a green expanse about 20 minutes' walk from the centre in the middle of the river. The open-air Piscine Municipale (18) is the size of a rugby field. The pool (00 33 5 61 22 31 35; www.toulouse.fr) opens 10am-8pm daily, admission €2.45 (£1.80).

Icing on the cake

The Cité de l'Espace (00 33 8 20 37 72 23; www.cite-espace.com) is a massive hi-tech science centre in the suburbs of Toulouse. You can reach it by bus 37 from Jolimont Métro station (from the main station at weekends). Find out about the European space effort (more impressive than you might think) and walk inside a mock-up of the Mir Space Station. A celebration on 4 October will mark the 50th anniversary of the launch of Sputnik 1. It opens 9.30am-5pm in September (to 6pm at weekends), admission €15.50 (£11).

Extra research by Asantha Wijetunge

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