What to do around Toulouse by car?

Close to the Pyrenees and the beautiful landscapes of Ariège, but also, for example, to Aude and its fortified cities, the city of Toulouse is remarkable both for itself and for the visits it offers at your doorstep. Leaving from Toulouse for a day or a weekend guarantees a change of scenery.

Very close to Toulouse

Many cultural or tourist sites are accessible from Toulouse in less than an hour’s drive, making it possible, for example, to take an afternoon excursion.

After a brief stint on the A61 highway, take the N20 and you will reach the foot of the majestic Château de Foix in less than forty-five minutes, one of the jewels of Ariège architecture. In addition to visiting the monument itself, you can explore the departmental museum of Ariège, housed within the fortress walls.

If you are looking for a place more suited to entertaining children around Toulouse, the same travel time will be needed to follow the course of the Garonne via the A64 to the town of Rieux-Volvestre, less than 50km from Toulouse, where a Gallic village has been reconstructed with the greatest possible fidelity.

Nature lovers, finally, will normally take less than half an hour to leave Toulouse and reach Clermont-le-Fort via the Departmental Road 4, where they can tackle the magnificent hiking trail “between Ariège and hills,” which follows the watercourse for nearly a dozen kilometers.

Venturing a bit further from Toulouse

If you can afford to leave Toulouse for a little longer, the A68 highway can take you in just under an hour to the city center of Albi, whose episcopal city has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. A place to discover absolutely, dedicating an entire day to it.

To head instead to the Carcassonne region, less than a hundred kilometers from Toulouse, and its beautiful fortified city, you can plan on a journey of about an hour and a half via the A61. This also gives you the opportunity to enjoy a cassoulet in Castelnaudary along the way.

If you feel like it, you can then continue the journey on the same route to reach the Narbonne coast: small seaside resorts or human-scale ports like Fleury d’Aude, Saint-Pierre-la-Mer, or Gruissan will add, for a day or a weekend, the charm of the sea breeze to your stay around Toulouse.

Book your vehicle on the Europcar page car rental in Toulouse!