Toulouse took me by surprise. As someone who’s not so fussed on city breaks these days, I didn’t expect to like France’s fourth-largest city as much as I did. So why did we land on Toulouse for a short break away?
Honestly, I just wanted a croissant–fix. Although Edinburgh is home to some excellent French bakeries*, it’s not quite the same. We found ourselves browsing Skyscanner a few weeks before the school holidays, looking for (but not expecting to find) cheap flights to France. Toulouse fit the bill: direct flights from Edinburgh that didn’t break the bank, and plenty of scope for day trips to the surrounding area. (Being able to fit everything you need into the free bag allowance is key to keeping costs down. Challenge accepted. Rosie and Laurence 1, Ryanair 0.)
We split our five-day trip between exploring Toulouse (on the first and last day) and the surrounding region (in the middle three). Most of our time in Toulouse was spent eating (Toulouse was excellent on the food front), visiting assorted churches, basilicas and chapels, and exploring the city’s green spaces.
Day 1
We landed late on Saturday night, meaning our first full day in Toulouse was a Sunday. Laurence’s pre-trip research led us to Boulangerie St. Aubin for our first taste of Toulouse’s food scene. I had a chocolatine (I don’t know why this corner of France calls a pain au chocolat a chocolatine, but I wasn’t going to run the risk of offending the locals), while Laurence had a pain aux raisins.
Marché St. Aubin is only open on Sundays, so this was top of our list. Despite the near-constant drizzle, there were lots of people doing their shopping. We enjoyed browsing the different stalls: there was everything from meat and fish to cheese, vegetables, bao buns and pâtisserie. Local markets like this just don’t exist in quite the same way in the UK.
We then meandered along the Canal du Midi towards Jardin Compans-Caffarelli. The centrepiece is the Jardin japonais Pierre-Baudis: a beautifully landscaped Japanese garden, complete with a pond, small red footbridge and tea pavilion (above and below).
The Jardin japonais Pierre-Baudis was incredibly peaceful, and a highlight of Toulouse for me. We were lucky as our visit (unintentionally) coincided with the cherry blossoms in bloom.
We swung by L’Oiseau Vert to warm up (their chocolat viennois was the perfect pick-me-up), before continuing towards Marché Cristal in search of a rotisserie chicken. We joined the queue for Le Paradis Rôti – which lived up to its name – and took our paper bag of chicken legs and roast potatoes to a bench overlooking Basilique St. Sernin. If you’re prepared to forgo cutlery, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better value lunch: our Sunday roast in a bag came in at 10,54€.
Basilique St. Sernin, considered a masterpiece of Romanesque architecture, was our next stop. With all the chandeliers inside, it was remarkably tricky to capture any decent photos (not that that stopped me from trying). While the nave was light and bright, the frescoed walls and ceilings of the transept and the chancel felt a bit dingy in comparison.
The Chapelle des Carmélites was just a short walk away. We couldn’t wander around, as a rehearsal of some kind was in progress that afternoon, but visitors were able to admire the impressive painted ceiling from the entrance.
We followed Rue du Taur towards the vast Place du Capitole. There’s a lot you can see for free in Toulouse – and that includes the Capitole de Toulouse, which looks majestic in daylight and even more impressive when it’s illuminated after dark. Expect a queue, as there are security checks before you can enter the city hall. We were fortunate that the queue was short and moved quickly.
We crossed the courtyard and made our way up the stairs (above) to the first floor. Visitors can explore three rooms on the first floor, each of which is adorned with paintings by artists from Toulouse (in frames, on walls and even on ceilings) and a lot of gold leaf. The first of the three (below) features the Allegories of Love by Toulouse-born painter Paul Gervais, which are said to depict love at 20, 40 and 60 years of age.
The Salle Henri Martin, lined with large canvasses by Henri Martin (below), links the Salle Paul Gervais with the Salle des Illustres.
The Salle des Illustres (below) celebrates the history of Toulouse (in the paintings and frescoed ceilings), from the First Crusade to the turn of the 20th century, and its famous faces (various busts line the walls).
We still had a good couple of hours before sites would close for the day, so we pottered over to the Couvent des Jacobins. You can visit the church (below) for free, but an entry fee applies if you wish to explore the cloisters (in April 2025 an adult ticket cost 5€).
When I said ‘deux adultes, s’il vous plait,’ the woman on the till couldn’t believe that Laurence didn’t qualify for the student rate. In what has to be a first for us, we had to insist he definitely wasn’t a student. I’m glad we decided to visit the cloisters, as it was incredibly peaceful.
Our ticket also gave us access to the different rooms off the cloisters, including the Chapelle St. Antonin with its faded (but beautiful) frescoed ceiling (below) and the large refectory, complete with an exhibition about the Jacobins.
We were getting a bit peckish, so we swung by La Belle Liègoise to keep us going until tea. After much deliberation, we shared a Nutella, banana and coconut waffle. It wasn’t quite as good as those I remember having in Belgium, but it did the trick.
Laurence’s pre-trip food research led us to Molette, a small restaurant by the Garonne. If you don’t have a reservation, I would recommend arriving when the restaurant opens. They only had two tables outside available, but fortunately there was no sign of rain and it was fairly mild. This was easily the best meal we had in Toulouse (thank you Reddit). Laurence had the cochon de montagne confit (a pork dish with potatoes), while I had the mijoté de paleron de bœuf (a beef stew).
As someone who is more inclined towards a main and a dessert than a starter and a main, a little part of me dies inside when I find myself full after a main and don’t have room for my favourite part of any meal: dessert. Here, the portions are just right. We both opted for the profiterole, which was divine.
We rounded off the evening with a wander along the Garonne, and a return visit to Place du Capitole to see the Capitole de Toulouse lit up (below).
