Toulouse (see the map) is a city in southwest France on the banks of the Garonne River, half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. With 1,117,000 inhabitants in 2007, the Toulouse metropolitan area is the fifth-largest in France and the fastest growing in Europe.

Toulouse is one of the centres of the European aerospace industry, with the headquarters of Airbus, Galileo positioning system, the SPOT satellite system, and CNES's Toulouse Space Center (CST), the largest space center in Europe.[1] Thales Alenia Space, Europe's largest satellite manufacturer, and EADS Astrium Satellites, EADS's satellite system subsidiary, also have a significant presence in Toulouse. Its world-known university is one of the oldest in Europe (founded in 1229) and, with more than 120,000 students, is the third largest university campus of France after Paris and Lyon.

Toulouse was the capital of the former province of Languedoc (provinces were abolished during the French Revolution).

To See

Toulouse is a small city, and you can reach most interesting places in the downtown area comfortably on foot.

* Basilique Saint Sernin - a church from the 11th Century, partly restored by the famous french architect Viollet-le-Duc.
* Hôtel d'Assézat - one of the most appealing of the many old mansions of the city
* Capitole - the imposing and palatial townhall and theatre, its beautiful facade facing onto the grand Place du Capitole
* Pont-Neuf - despite its name, the only old bridge across the Garonne river; built between 1544 and 1626
* Les Jacobins monastery church, contains Thomas Aquinas' relics.
* City park at the Grand Rond, a bit south-east to the center of the city
* Les Augustins Used to be a monastery church, and is today an art museum
* Les Abattoirs Modern Arts museum, and there is also a nice garden with a nice view on the Garonne

Tours

The tourism information office / Toulouse Tourism Office located in the back side of the Capitolium organizes guided tours of the city. Some of these are in English. Check ahead for their schedule.

There is another possibility if you want to have a private guide for a personnalized tour, visit the website called Toulouse A La Carte.

If you are a group, the service Toulouse Visit provides tour in English and Spanish or French.

If you are an individual you can also take daily excursions departing from Toulouse and that head towards all the major sights of the region: Small villages of the region, Albi, Carcassonne, Lourdes, Canal du Midi... The excursions take place on board 8 seater fully equipped minivans and are taken care of by professional driver guides. Languages include English, Spanish or French. Visit the website OPHORUS

Taxiway the company which offers Airbus factory tours (see below) also offers tours of the La Dépêche du Midi regional newspaper and for the more adventurous the water treatment facility!

A few websites you can check:

The Regional Commitee for Tourism: http://www.tourism.midi-pyrenees.org/ --> the City Hall Website (French Only): http://www.toulouse.fr

Airbus

Airbus offers tours of their facilities; the tour takes about 60 minutes and includes a guide who will tell you some background about the company; the screening of a promotional / historical video, and a look at the A380 production line. Photography is strictly forbidden, and you need to bring a piece of photo identification. Book ahead. Those who have done the tour before 2006 should note that tours now set off from a new purpouse built structure shaped like a cross-section of the A380. The building can sometimes be awkward to find so check the website in advance.

Visit the website of Airbus Visit, the unique company agreed by Airbus to provide tours of the A340, A380 and Concorde.

Cité de l'Espace

The "space city" is another of Toulouse's "aviation" attractions. However you must be aware that it is not exactly a museum but a sort of scientific theme park without rides. There are some replicas of spacecraft and other exhibits, many of the later interactive in some minor way. There's also a small planetarium. The park is suited well to 5-14 year old children, everybody else should probably spare themselves the trip. It's situated fairly outside the city but there's a bus service starting outside the main train station.

* By Public Transport (Bus):

Take bus route no. 37 from the Marengo metro station going to La Plaine. Ask for the Cité de l'espace bus stop.

* Admission Fees: For Adults : 18.5 Euros, for Children: 12 Euros.

Further details available on : http://www.cite-espace.com