cathedral
Basilique Saint-Sernin
The largest Romanesque church in Europe, its octagonal brick tower a landmark on the pilgrim road in Toulouse.
0 km · about 5 min drive
EuropeFranceOccitanie
Toulouse
Occitanie, France · Europe
About Toulouse
Toulouse is worth a stop: 10 minutes from Balma, right by Basilique Saint-Sernin.
Toulouse is in Occitanie, France, with about 510,000 people. You drive on the right here. The nearest town is Balma, about 5 km away.
Toulouse ( too-LOOZ, French: [tuluz] ; Occitan: Tolosa [tuˈluzɔ] ) is a city in Southern France, the prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, 150 kilometres (93 miles) from the Mediterranean Sea, 230 km (143 mi) from the Atlantic Ocean andRead more
680 km (420 mi) from Paris. It is the fourth-largest city in France after Paris, Marseille, and Lyon, with 514,819 inhabitants within its municipal boundaries (2023); its metropolitan area has a population of 1,529,112 inhabitants (2023). Toulouse is the central city of one of the 22 metropolitan councils of France. Between the 2014 and 2020 censuses, its metropolitan area was the third fastest growing among metropolitan areas larger than 500,000 inhabitants in France.
Toulouse is the centre of the European aerospace industry, with the headquarters of Airbus, the SPOT satellite system, ATR and the Aerospace Valley. It hosts the CNES's Toulouse Space Centre (CST) which is the largest national space centre in Europe, but also, on the military side, the newly created NATO space centre of excellence and the French Space Command and Space Academy. Safran, Thales Alenia Space, Airbus Defence and Space, Collins Aerospace and Liebherr-Aerospace also have a significant presence in Toulouse.
The air route between Toulouse–Blagnac and the Parisian airports is the busiest in France, transporting 3.2 million passengers in 2019. According to the rankings of L'Express and Challenges, Toulouse is the most dynamic French city.
Founded by the Romans, the city was the capital of the Visigothic Kingdom in the 5th century and the capital of the province of Languedoc in the Late Middle Ages and early modern period (provinces were abolished during the French Revolution), making it the unofficial capital of the cultural region of Occitania (Southern France). It is now the capital of the administrative region of Occitania, the second largest region in Metropolitan France.
The University of Toulouse is one of the oldest in Europe (founded in 1229). Toulouse is also the home of prestigious higher education schools, notably in the field of aerospace engineering. Together with the university, they have turned Toulouse into the fourth-largest student city in France, with a university population of nearly 140,000 students.
Toulouse has three UNESCO World Heritage Sites: the Canal du Midi was designated in 1996 and shared with other cities. The Basilica of St. Sernin, the largest remaining Romanesque building in Europe, was designated in 1998 along with the former hospital Hôtel-Dieu Saint-Jacques because of their significance to the Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage route. The city's unique architecture, made of pinkish terracotta bricks, has earned Toulouse the nickname La Ville rose ("The Pink city"). In 2023, Toulouse was named a UNESCO City of Music, joining UNESCO's Creative Cities Network.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is there to see near Toulouse?
Within an hour or so of Toulouse: Basilique Saint-Sernin (0 km), Cité de l'Espace (4 km).
Are there any good drives near Toulouse?
The nearest famous roads are Port de la Bonaigua, Coll d'Ordino and Port d'Envalira.
Where is Toulouse?
Toulouse is in Occitanie, France, about 5 km from Balma.
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Quick Information
- Population
- 511,684
- Continent
- Europe
- Country
- France
- Region
- Occitanie
- Timezone
- Europe/Paris
- Coordinates
- 43.6043, 1.4437
Emergency & Services
Essential numbers in France
Carrying a warning triangle and hi-vis vest in your vehicle is mandatory. Motorway emergency phones connect to official breakdown services only.
Full driving guide for FranceTags
Worth the detour from Toulouse
2 notable places within an hour's drive.
museum
Cité de l'Espace
Toulouse's space park with a full-size Ariane 5 rocket and a real Mir station module to walk through.
4 km · about 10 min drive
Driving in France
- Drives on
- the right
- Petrol
- ~€1.85/litre
- Motorway tolls
- ~€10.00/100km
When to drive here
April to October
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