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Toulouse, France

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Toulouse Local time

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France

Travel to Toulouse

Flying to Toulouse

Airlines offering direct flights to Toulouse from the UK include easyJet, British Airways, bmibaby, Flybe and Jet2.com. It’s usually pretty easy to find cheap flights to Toulouse, although prices do go up during the ski season (December to March). If you’re struggling, consider flying to Carcassonne instead, around an hour’s drive away.

Flight times: 

From London – 2 hours; New York – 9 hours; Los Angeles – 15 hours; Toronto – 10 hours; Sydney – 28 hours.

Travel by road

Summary:

The roads are modern in most parts of southwest France and in Toulouse itself you’ll have no problem. Bear in mind that the roads into the Pyrenees are steep and winding, and that you will definitely need snow chains and/or tyres (and know how to fit them) in winter. A word of warning: French drivers tend not to indicate, and road signs are much closer to the exit than in the UK. You’ll need to have your wits about you.

Traffic drives on the right and the minimum driving age is 18 years old. Speed limits are 130kph (81mph) on motorways (110kph, or 68mph, when raining), 110kph (68mph) on dual carriageways separated by a central reservation, 90kph (56mph) outside built-up areas and 50kph (31mph) in built-up areas. A national driving licence, the car's registration documents, a red warning triangle and a reflective jacket must be carried at all times. Green Cards are not compulsory but may be useful for UK residents bringing their own vehicles into France for a period of less than 90 days.

Autoroutes du Sud de la France (ASF) (tel: 0892 707 001; www.asf.fr) monitor the motorways here and provide traffic updates by telephone.

Emergency breakdown service:

Dépann'Auto 31 (tel: 05 6187 8204).

Routes:

Four motorways converge on Toulouse: the A62 from the north, the A68 from the northeast, the A64 from the southwest and the A61 from the southeast. Toulouse is circled by a ring road, which you will join upon leaving the motorway. The following exits are particularly useful: Pont des Demoiselles (for Gare Matabiau) and exit 30: Ponts Jumeaux (for the city centre).

Driving times:

From Paris – 8 hours; Barcelona - 4 hours; Marseille - 3 hours; Bordeaux - 2 hours.

Coaches:

The coach station in Toulouse is located next to the Gare Matabiau on Boulevard Pierre Semard. Buses travel across the Midi-Pyrénées, as well as to Barcelona, Paris, Andorra la Vella and Bordeaux. See Eurolines (tel: 0892 899 091; www.eurolines.com) for international information.

Travel by rail

Services:

France’s rail network is clean and reliable, although unfortunately the fast trains don’t link up with Toulouse as well as you might hope.
The Gare Matabiau, 64 Boulevard Pierre Semard, is the hub for regional and national rail travel in Toulouse.

Services run to Bordeaux via Agen and Montauban; Montpellier via Carcassonne, Narbonne, Béziers and Sète; and Perpignan via Narbonne, among many other destinations.

For international rail travel, travel via Paris from destinations in North Europe or via Perpignan to reach Toulouse from Spain. Slower, more scenic routes from Barcelona run through LaTour de Carol to connect with Ax-les-Thermes.

Operators:

Societé Nationale des Chemins de Fer (SNCF) (tel: 0892 353 535; www.sncf.fr) is the national rail carrier. TER Midi-Pyrénées (tel: 0891 677 677; www.ter-sncf.com) handles regional journeys and Eurostar (tel: 0843 218 6186, in the UK only; www.eurostar.com) links Toulouse to the UK through the Eurostar service to Paris.

Journey times:

From London – 10 hours (via Paris); Barcelona – 8 hours (via LaTour de Carol); Marseille – 7 hours; Paris – 6 hours; Bordeaux – 2 to 3 hours; Perpignan – 1 hour 40 minutes; Carcassonne – 1 hour.

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