Best Museums in Toulouse, France
Combine the Rugby World Cup with Art, Glass, Space & Roman Sculpture
May 24, 2007
Visitors travelling to Toulouse, France for the 2007 Rugby World Cup don’t have to spend all their time around the city’s stadium. When there are no matches on, Toulouse has plenty to keep tourists occupied, including some fabulous museums such as Cité de l’Espace (Space City), the Chateau d’Eau and the Musée des Augustins.
Best Museums in Toulouse, France - Cité de l’Espace (Space City), Toulouse, France
Cité de l’Espace is one museum that children most certainly won’t be bored by. It is full of hands-on exhibits and brimming with modern technology. For the entrance fee, visitors to Space City get the chance to dock a space shuttle (not a real one, obviously – it’s just a simulator) and visit the Mir space station high up above the earth. It’s very difficult to miss on the city outskirts, as it’s signposted by a 50m-tall space rocket. Budding astronauts will love it.
Best Museums in Toulouse, France - Musée St-Raymond, Toulouse, France
The Musée St-Raymond in place St-Sernin, Toulouse houses a rather random selection of artefacts from across the years, ranging from Roman sculptures to Gaulish coins. Visitor to the museum can also find fine glassware and sarcophagi in this converted villa.
Best Museums in Toulouse, France - Chateau d’Eau, Toulouse, France
The Chateau d’Eau is an old water tower that has been converted into an exhibition space, and its main focus is great photography from across the planet. Pictures taken by some of the world’s greatest photographers are housed in this unique setting, and those wanting to buy a print or two can purchase posters in the shop.
Best Museums in Toulouse, France - Musée des Augustins
Yet another old building that has been converted into a museum, the Musée des Augustins on rue de Metz is a former monastery with cloisters dating back to the 14th century. Again, there’s no real theme to the museum, with Roman artefacts sitting quite happily alongside paintings from the likes of Toulouse-Lautrec and Rubens.
Best Museums in Toulouse, France - Les Abattoirs Contemporary Art Museum
The transformation theme keeps on going at Les Abattoirs. As the name suggests, this public space was formerly Toulouse’s slaughterhouse complex. The main building is now an exhibition space, and it focuses on contemporary art. The contemporary art museum features lots of fresh (and sometimes inexplicable) works by modern bright-young-things and up-and-coming artists.
Best Museums in Toulouse, France - Musée Paul Dupuy
Another Toulouse museum with a bizarrely random selection of artefacts, this 18th century hotel has been transformed into an exhibition space, and it covers everything from religious art and rare clocks to glasswork and medieval weaponry.
Other highlights of Toulouse include its aerospace industry – the Clement Ader and JJ Lagardere Airbus factories on the outskirts of town host tours of the plants – and the pedestrianised Place du Capitole, which houses one of France’s most important theatres.
