• Toulouse has 18 golf courses, 79 sports grounds, 160 public parks or gardens, and at least ten museums. Phew! Try getting through that lot in a weekend.
• Toulouse is the centre of the European aerospace industry. The gargantuan Toulouse Space Centre covers 50 acres near the historic site of Montaudran.
• More entertaining is the Cité de l’espace, a theme park based on space exploration located on the eastern outskirts of town. Among the 250 exhibits is a planetarium – sure to be a big hit with kids. Toulouse is one of the greenest cities in Europe, offering free travel on electric shuttle buses and has over 200 km of cycle track scattered through the city. A hydroelectric power station, built next to the Bazacle, a dam-like structure on the River Garonne provides much of the power for the city.
• The Canal du Midi begins at the Béarnais Lock in Toulouse. The water to the west of Seuil de Naurouze flows into the Atlantic via the Canal de Garonne while the water east of this point flows into the Mediterranean. Book a boat trip for a unique perspective of the city.
• To discover more about the history of Toulouse, call in at the Musée de Vieux Toulouse. It’s also a very reasonably priced hotel.
• Several of the city’s ‘hotels’, such as the Hôtel d’Assézat, are, in fact, old palaces, or Renaissance ‘hôtel particuliers’. Many feature galleries and other works of arts. With just 14 rooms, you mightn’t be able to rent a room at the Hôtel d’Assézat, but you can enjoy a meal on the terrace.
• The Musee des Augustins is Toulouse’s fine art museum. The collection of paintings and sculptures dates back to the middle ages and are housed in a building that was once an Augustinian convent - hence the name. It currently contains more than 4,000 works of art.
• The Basilica of St Sernin is the largest Romanesque church in Europe and was constructed in the shape of a crucifix. It’s worth visiting to see the huge Cavaillé-Coll organ built in 1888.
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• Next to Pont-Neuf, you’ll discover a 19th-century water tower known as the Château d’eau. The structure was converted to a photography museum by Jean Dieuzaide in 1974 and is one of the oldest places dedicated to photography anywhere in the world.
• If you’re into opera or ballet, under no circumstances miss a trip to the Théâtre du Capitole, located in the impressive administrative centre of the city.
• Try Toulouse’s signature dish for lunch - a bean and pork stew known as ‘cassoulet Toulousain’. For starters, ask for garbure, a soup made from chicken and cabbage. Incidentally, Toulouse geese are the breed used most often for the production of foie gras.
• Toulouse is also known as ‘la ville rose’ or the ‘pink rose’. This is due to the extensive use of red brick throughout the city that tends to reflect a pink hue on its surroundings.

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