Toulouse
France
A city of pink brick on the Garonne, where Airbus builds its planes and a large student population keeps the squares full
Photos by Siddhant Kumar, Jas Rolyn, Paul Melki and Korng Sok on Unsplash
Best time to visit all of France
April to June, and September to October (high summer reaches the mid-thirties)
Climate month by month
The next sixteen daysOpen-Meteo
Average high and low · °C
Rainfall · mm per month
Best months to visit This month · wettest 72mm in May
Where it is
43.60°N, 1.44°E Open in Google Maps
Things to do
A week easily- Book the Airbus tour weeks ahead and bring your passport, which they check
- Eat lunch at one of the restaurants above the Victor Hugo market
- Walk or cycle the Canal du Midi out of town under the plane trees
- Sit at the Prairie des Filtres or the Quai de la Daurade at sunset, when the brick turns the colour of the name
- Take the train to Albi for the cathedral and come back for dinner
Toulouse travel tipsthe general rules
Currency budget France
Mid-rangeEuro, and cards everywhere, contactless included, the metro ticket machines too.
ATMs & cards
Use a bank’s own machine — Crédit Agricole, BNP Paribas, Société Générale, La Banque Postale — and refuse the conversion. The independent machines around the Capitole and the station are the ones to skip.
Avoid these
- Euronet
- standalone machines around the Capitole and the station
Use these instead
- Crédit Agricole
- BNP Paribas
- Société Générale
- La Banque Postale
French bank machines are normally free on their side for foreign cards. Refuse the conversion offer.
Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.
Safety all of France
Reasonably safeA big, busy city, comfortable in the centre by day and evening. Phone-snatching and pickpocketing concentrate around Matabiau station, Arnaud-Bernard and on the metro. The drinking squares get rowdy after midnight at the weekend. Summer heat is the other thing: it is regularly in the mid-thirties in high summer, and the brick holds it at night.
Where to walk, and where to pay attention (7 areas)
Comfortable, including after dark
Worth more attention
- around Matabiau station at night — phone-snatching and pickpocketing, and a rougher feel than the centre
- Arnaud-Bernard late at night — street dealing and the theft that comes with it
- Place Saint-Pierre after midnight at weekends — big student crowds drinking outside
Our own assessment, not a sourced index.
Entry & visa France visa rules
No visa needed
Freedom of movement — no time limit, and no visa. Bring a passport or national ID card.
Other passports
No visa neededup to 90 days
90 days within any 180-day period, counted across the whole Schengen area, not per country. ETIAS, a paid online authorisation, is being introduced for these passports — check the official link for whether it applies to your travel dates.
Visa required in advance€90 (Schengen short-stay visa)
A Schengen short-stay visa is applied for before travel, at the consulate of your main destination.
How to get it: Apply at the consulate or visa centre of the country you will spend most time in, typically 15 working days ahead and no more than six months before travel.
Entry rules change often and depend on your passport, not where you live — the official page above is the authority, and the airline checks before you board.
Health & emergencies all of France
Excellent and cheapRequired to enter
No vaccinations are required for entry from Europe or North America.
Jabs worth having, and what happens if you need a doctor
Worth having
- Routine vaccinations up to date
Getting treated
EU/EEA and Swiss visitors are treated on the same terms as residents with an EHIC or GHIC card; UK visitors use a GHIC. Everyone else pays, and travel insurance is worth having for the repatriation cover rather than the treatment.
Orientation, not medical advice — entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history. Check with a travel clinic four to six weeks before you go.
Food tip
Very goodCassoulet, which three towns claim and Toulouse adds its own sausage to; saucisse de Toulouse grilled on its own; magret and confit from the duck country around. Lunch upstairs at the Victor Hugo market, where the restaurants cook what is sold downstairs, is the city’s best value. Fronton is the local red. Violets come crystallised and in everything else.
Travel tipsNightlife
A university city with tens of thousands of students, so the evening is cheap, outdoors from spring, and later than most of provincial France.
- Place Saint-Pierre — student bars on the river, the crowd out on the square
- Les Carmes — wine bars and restaurants, older and quieter
- Saint-Cyprien — across the river, neighbourhood bars
- Le Bikini — the concert hall, out at the end of metro B
Closing: Bars around 02:00; clubs until about 05:00 or 06:00.
Getting around
Easy- UberWorks here
- BoltWorks here
- G7Works here
- FREE NOWWorks here
G7 the taxi fleet, by app
- Against a taxi
- Much the same. The flat airport rate is a taxi rule and the apps price against it.
Time zone and your working day
Europe/Paris — 6 hours ahead of you
2 hours of overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are — 09:00–11:00 your time, 15:00–17:00 theirs.
No overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are. Working from here means one of you keeps odd hours — their day starts at 03:00 on your clock.
office hours both at once night
Their 09:00–17:00 is 03:00–11:00 on yours.
The difference from the UK, Europe, the US and ten more
Worked out against America/New York, which is where this request looks like it came from.
eSIM
A data eSIM for France, installed before you fly and working the moment you land:
Works here
Works hereRevolutIn the app
Must-see
Travel tipsNearby day trips
Travel tipsSay a few words
French
- HelloBonjourbon-ZHOOR
- PleaseS'il vous plaîtseel voo PLEH
- Thank youMercimer-SEE
- Yes / NoOui / Nonwee / non
4 more phrases
- Excuse meExcusez-moiex-koo-zay MWA
- How much is it?C'est combien ?say com-BYEN
- The bill, pleaseL'addition, s'il vous plaîtla-dee-SYON
- Cheers!Santé !son-TAY
Open with bonjour before anything else. Launching straight into a question without it reads as rude, and explains a lot of reputed French coldness.
Travel tipsReligion
Catholic, and strictly secular
Laïcité is a constitutional principle: religion is kept out of public institutions, and conspicuous religious symbols are banned in state schools. Cover shoulders in cathedrals.
Travel tipsDo's and don'ts
Do
- Say bonjour before anything else, every single time you enter a shop
- Keep your voice down in restaurants and on public transport
- Keep both hands visible on the table while eating, wrists on the edge
- Dress a notch smarter than you would at home — it changes how you are treated
Don't
- Do not ask for a doggy bag or substitutions; the dish arrives as the kitchen intends
- Do not start with English without at least attempting bonjour, parlez-vous anglais
- Do not tip more than rounding up — service is included by law
- Do not eat while walking; it reads as slightly uncivilised
Where to stay in Toulouse
No Holistay rentals in Toulouse yet — the platform is just opening up. Every listing here will have a video tour and the option to negotiate the nightly price directly with the host.
In the meantime, here is Toulouse on the sites that do have the inventory — each search is already filled in:
- Booking.com hotels, guesthouses and apartments — the widest coverage almost everywhere
- Airbnb whole homes and apartments, and the better option for a week or more
How to get there
Fly into Toulouse–Blagnac TLS
30 minfrom the airport· 7 km as the crow flies
25–45 min on the airport shuttle bus, depending on traffic; the airport tram has been out of service for rebuilding.
Google Flights · Rome2Rio for the trains, buses and ferries as well as the flights
