Home to lots of eating, drinking, cycling, walking, and sight seeing, the Occitanie region has a little bit of everything.
See this website for more information on whatever tickles your fancy!
Toulouse blends history, gastronomy, sport and high technology into a beautiful riverside city. Settled on the banks of the Garonne River since the Iron Age, the Old Town at its heart is home to many museums and historical religious buildings. The city is famous in France for its "pink color" and referred to as the pink city, because of the light red colored bricks used in the construction of the old town area.
Toulouse is known for its food, including specialities such as the cassoulet and the foie gras that you can sample in many restaurants in the city centre. From joining a slow pace cruise on the Garonne River to attending a rugby match in the city stadium, there’s little chance of you getting bored in Toulouse.
Head for Sainte-Cécile Cathedral next to the Palais de la Berbie: you're in the heart of Albi's episcopal city listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. This architectural group all in orange brick has remained amazingly uniform. It also includes the Saint-Salvi Collegiate Church and its cloister as well as the Pont-Vieux over the Tarn (one of the oldest bridges in France).
Sainte-Cécile Cathedral is a Southern French Gothic masterpiece whose Renaissance decor and spiritual power are captivating.
Set high up on a hill, Carcassonne’s ancient walled city is Disneyworld-perfect. This fairytale collection of drawbridges, towers and atmospheric cobbled streets was reputedly the inspiration for Walt Disney’s The Sleeping Beauty, and it’s a must-see on any trip through this part of southern France. Its medieval core, the cité, was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1997.
www.lonelyplanet.com/france/languedoc-roussillon/carcassonne
This medieval town, perched on the Puech de Mordagne, occupies a superb site dominating the Cérou Valley. It is also known as the "town of a hundred ogive windows", a timeless city, grounded, in Camus' words, "at the frontier of another universe", where the sunlight illuminates the pink and grey hues of the sandstone façades. The best way to make the most of a night in Cordes and its magic is quite simply to sleep in the upper town.
The town originally developed more than 1000 years ago around a benedictine monastery that was constructed here. More recently the fame of Gaillac has been built on the fame of the vineyards that surround the town - Gaillac wines are internationally held in very high regard, and you will have ample opportunity to sample and buy them on a visit to the town and the region.