Albi and Sainte-Cecile Cathedral

Albi glows brick-red above the River Tarn, and its cathedral of Sainte-Cecile explains the colour at fortress scale: begun in 1282 and built almost entirely of local brick, it ranks among the largest brick buildings on earth - a windowless-looking cliff of a church outside, and inside one continuous painted ceiling, a monumental Last Judgement mural and a lacework Gothic rood screen that stops conversation. The bishops' palace beside it, the Palais de la Berbie, now holds the world's most important collection of Toulouse-Lautrec, the painter born in this very town, with formal gardens dropping toward the river. Old bridges - the Pont Vieux has crossed the Tarn since the 11th century - stitch the red districts together, and the whole episcopal ensemble carries UNESCO World Heritage status, earned in 2010. Albi delivers a first-rank art city at a fraction of the crowd.

What you actually see

• Sainte-Cecile's painted interior - the vaulted ceiling and Last Judgement mural.
• The rood screen - flamboyant Gothic stone carving at its most extreme.
• The Toulouse-Lautrec museum - the painter's own city, his deepest collection.
• The Tarn bridges - the Pont Vieux and the brick skyline from the far bank.

When to go

April to October gives terrace weather and long light on the brick; summer evenings turn the whole city copper. Winter is quiet and the cathedral interior loses nothing to the season.

Honest expectations

The cathedral nave is free but the painted choir enclosure charges separately and is worth it - budget both. Albi sits an hour from Toulouse and rewards a full day more than a rushed half; midsummer afternoons cook the brick streets, so plan the museum for the heat. The Berbie gardens close earlier than the museum.

Nearby

Cordes-sur-Ciel's hilltop village, the Tarn gorges upstream and Toulouse down the line.