Toulouse

The Garonne plain has clay and no building stone, so Toulouse was built in brick, and the colour it fires to gives the city its name, la ville rose, shifting from pink to orange as the light moves. Saint-Sernin, begun about 1080 on the pilgrimage road to Compostela, is the largest surviving Romanesque church in Europe, with a five-tier octagonal tower. The Jacobins church holds a single column fanning into twenty-two ribs, called the palm tree. Toulouse built the Caravelle and Concorde and remains the centre of European aerospace, with Airbus assembly lines on the edge of the city.

What you actually see

• Saint-Sernin - the largest Romanesque church in Europe with its brick tower.
• The Jacobins palm - a single column fanning into twenty-two vault ribs.
• The pink brick city - facades changing colour through the day.
• The aerospace works - Airbus lines and the Aeroscopia museum on the outskirts.

When to go

April to June and September to October; July and August are very hot on the plain. Airbus factory tours need booking well ahead with identity documents.

Honest expectations

Factory tours require advance booking and photo ID, and sell out. Summer heat is heavy. The city centre is large and the main sights are spread out.

Nearby

The Cite de l'Espace is on the eastern edge; the Canal du Midi starts here.