Toulouse advice

[Steve V]

We are flying to Toulouse at the end of February. We ahave five days to have a drive around, we were thinking of heading out towards Montpelier (sp) and then creating a loop back to Toulouse. The area is new to me so I'm open to suggestions.

Thanks
Steve

 

[THE DOCTOR]

Hi Steve, I've spent many a month in Toulouse working so I could offer a bit of advice.

Toulouse itself is a sh1th0le full of tramps, dogsh1t & prostitutes. Be carefull at nightime.

At the weekends we used to get out of there in our hire cars & head for Andorra.

Other nearby 'nice drives' were Carcasonne, Lourdes, Bossost.

 

[Hustler]

.......Toulouse itself is a sh1th0le full of tramps, dogsh1t & prostitutes. Be carefull at nightime.....

...which is sadly true although I wasn't aware of the prostitutes but then I was with Mrs.H. on each visit.
And we've just discovered recently that the reason the tramps have dogs with them is because there are no dog pounds in France so the police leave the tramps alone as arresting them gives them problems with the dogs.
I've no idea why they have to have such big dogs though.
It was disgusting, in fact we've labelled Toulouse as the dogshit capital of France.
The architecture is very good though.
Sorry cannot advise on places to visit as we've always gone there on the train.

 

[MMC]

Nip down to Montpellier - fab place. The ultra-modern area leading down to the river, called Antigone, is well worth seeing.

Haven't been back for a while, so all my restaurant advice would be well out of date

 

[Wapping]

We are flying to Toulouse at the end of February. We ahave five days to have a drive around, we were thinking of heading out towards Montpelier (sp) and then creating a loop back to Toulouse. The area is new to me so I'm open to suggestions.

Thanks
Steve

You are not far out at all with your plan.

http://www.viamichelin.com/viamiche...ddress=&strMerged=toulouse&x=43&y=19&ie=UTF-8

Hit town 1 from the drop-down list on the right. Zoom in and out / scroll the map about.

Get yourself a 1:200,000 Michelin map and look for the yellow D roads, with a green border. These are the scenic roads.

The Michelin Green Guide book for the area will have all the things to see, along with suggested routes, times taken to drive etc. etc. You can borrow one from a library, buy one and / or copy down the hot-spots.

 

[D6]

Nip down to Montpellier - fab place. The ultra-modern area leading down to the river, called Antigone, is well worth seeing.

Haven't been back for a while, so all my restaurant advice would be well out of date

Antigone is as he says, well worth it

 

[(RIP) Shenzi]

I live between Toulouse and Montpellier, when your visit is nearer we can check the weather and look at the options. Do you have a Garmin GPS?

Bob

We are flying to Toulouse at the end of February. We ahave five days to have a drive around, we were thinking of heading out towards Montpelier (sp) and then creating a loop back to Toulouse. The area is new to me so I'm open to suggestions.

Thanks
Steve

 

[Steve V]

Many thanks for the replies and I have Garmin Bob. It sounds as though Toulouse is only worth a passing visit which I will defo keep in mind.

 

[John Armstrong]

Carcassone is worth a days visit. Mirepoix to the south is nice, Montsegur worth a visit as are a number of other Cathar castles like Chateau de Peyrepertuse. La Grotte de Bedeilhac is interesting too, a cave the Germans used to store aircraft in in WW2.

 

[PyreneesRider]

Many thanks for the replies and I have Garmin Bob. It sounds as though Toulouse is only worth a passing visit which I will defo keep in mind.

In and out is good. You can get to Barcelona in 5 hours and the Dali Museum in Figueres in 3-4.

the bridge at millau is 2 hours away
albi montauban and the tarn valley are all very pretty - as is Pau

there are several prehistoric sites - Gargas is south of st gaudens - aurignac has some good ones it depends on your interest.

 

[Steve V]

Thanks for the options we will need to sit down and fine tune our route, just hope the weather holds out.

 

[karmakoma]

We've got a little house between Toulouse and Béziers in the Montagne Noir - tis indeed a nice area. Given the weather recently I'd keep a close eye on your route and its altitude. It's pretty amazing around there how a few hundred metres up means snow chains start to become rather necessary. If the weather's no good, I'd go with a trip down the Aude valley to Carcassone [a must!] and then on up the coast road to Montpellier. If the weather's nice you could loop back over the mountains to Albi before heading back to Toulouse.

My mate over there says that the snow's been pretty fierce so far - nothing new there then

Have a good trip!

 

[(RIP) Shenzi]

Hope the weather picks up for you Steve, we haven't had snow but it is still bloody cold and mainly wet!
As has already been mentioned the weather will dictate the places you can visit, the Millau bridge will almost certainly be OK. http://www.leviaducdemillau.com/webcam.html
When it gets a little nearer I will check on the weather for you and send you some waypoints. Will you have access to the net in Toulouse?

Bob

 

[Steve V]

Hope the weather picks up for you Steve, we haven't had snow but it is still bloody cold and mainly wet!
As has already been mentioned the weather will dictate the places you can visit, the Millau bridge will almost certainly be OK. http://www.leviaducdemillau.com/webcam.html
When it gets a little nearer I will check on the weather for you and send you some waypoints. Will you have access to the net in Toulouse?

Bob

I should have tinternet Bob as I will be taking the laptop and hooking up to wireless, we fly out on the 20th so hopefully the weather may have settled a little (he says in complete denial)

Steve

 

[(RIP) Shenzi]

I should have tinternet Bob as I will be taking the laptop and hooking up to wireless, we fly out on the 20th so hopefully the weather may have settled a little (he says in complete denial)

Steve

Even at best you won't be sunbathing Steve so you will need to look at places where the weather doesn't matter. Pyreneesrider has a great idea with the Dali museum but at 260klm I reckon it will be under 3 hours for you. As karmakoma suggests Carcassonne is a must. Send me your email address and I will send you some waypoints.

Bob

 

[Steve V]

Many thanks Bob... [email protected]

 

[mrsroynie]

I wouldn't, frankly, bother with Carcassonne. The 'medieval' city looks intriguing from the autoroute, but is disappointing in reality. Saved from demolition in the Victorian era, and extensively reconstructed, it has about as much soul as Disneyland.

If you were thinking of heading in the direction of Montpellier, I would recommend a couple of days in Avignon. As ancient walled cities go, this is the real deal and it has something for everyone: bars, restaurants, shopping, live music, the Palais des Papes, Pont St. Benoit (altogether now, "Sur le pont d'Avignon ...").

I first visited Avignon in May 07, alone, when picking up my 1200GS from having its fuel pump controller replaced. In October, I went back with my OH and some American friends. Everyone loved it.

Not far away you also have picturesque hilltop villages like Roussillion, the Vaucluse wine region and, for warmer months, lavendar fields and olive groves.