Toulouse’s museums, from Roman emperors to Ariane 5
Toulouse’s museums show two sides of the city: the brick-built town with two thousand years of history, and the aerospace capital. You can spend the morning among busts of Roman emperors and the afternoon at the foot of a 53-metre rocket.
Musée Saint-Raymond
Toulouse’s archaeology museum, right next to the Basilique Saint-Sernin. On the first floor, the marbles from the Roman villa of Chiragan line up busts of emperors and reliefs of the Labours of Hercules. In the basement, you walk past sarcophagi left where they lay, unearthed when the museum was extended. Allow an hour and a half.
1 ter place Saint-Sernin, 31000 Toulouse
Coming up here: Quoi de neuf, medicus ? [Visite flash] (Wednesday 11 Nov, 11:30 am), La Douleur de Marguerite Duras (11 to 14 November), La religion en Gaule romaine [Visite flash] (Wednesday 11 Nov, 3:30 pm)
Les Abattoirs
Modern and contemporary art in the city’s former slaughterhouses, great brick halls on the left bank of the Garonne. The collections of the museum and the Frac Occitanie change with each new hang. Picasso’s huge stage curtain is only shown from time to time, as it is fragile. On the way out, the Jardin Raymond VI next door has a fine view over the quays.
76 allées Charles-de-Fitte, 31300 Toulouse
Coming up here: Joan Miró. Protestation (until 7 March)
Muséum de Toulouse
The natural history museum, on the edge of the Jardin des Plantes. The permanent exhibition shows 4,000 specimens over 2,600 m², from minerals and meteorites to fossils and large vertebrates, with a giant squid as your guide. A safe bet with children, and the grown-ups stay just as long. Allow two hours, then take a turn round the garden.
35 allées Jules-Guesde, 31000 Toulouse
Coming up here: Ix : Variations (12 to 13 November), Africlap Film Festival (10 to 14 November), Minéraux, bien plus que des cailloux (until 4 July)
Fondation Bemberg
Georges Bemberg’s collection fills the Hôtel d’Assézat, a Renaissance palace built in 1555 for a wealthy woad merchant. Five centuries of art, from Veronese to Picasso, and one of the most important collections of Pierre Bonnard in Europe. A museum of manageable size, perfect for a quiet hour right in the centre. Take your time in the courtyard.
Place d’Assézat, 31000 Toulouse
Coming up here: Toulouse Aime les Contes (until 13 June)
Musée Paul-Dupuy
The museum of precious arts is housed in a grand townhouse in the quarter where the magistrates of the old Parlement de Toulouse lived. Inside: clocks and watches from the Renaissance to the 20th century, ivories, Toulouse earthenware, the Jesuits’ 17th-century apothecary and even pre-cinema devices. Its clock and watch collection is known to enthusiasts the world over. An hour is enough.
13 rue de la Pleau, 31000 Toulouse
Coming up here: Visite: Des artistes dans la Grande Guerre (Sunday 15 Nov, 3:30 pm), Atelier: "peinture sur porcelaine" (Friday 20 Nov, 5 pm), Visite: Des artistes dans la Grande Guerre (Monday 16 Nov, 3:30 pm)
Cité de l’espace
The big space park in the east of the city. In the gardens, you stand at the foot of a 53-metre Ariane 5 rocket, near a Soyuz capsule and a lunar module, then step inside the Mir space station. A planetarium, an IMAX cinema and exhibitions round off the programme. Set aside the whole day, with children or without.
Avenue Jean Gonord, 31500 Toulouse
Aeroscopia
In Blagnac, the aviation museum gathers more than 40 aircraft in a huge hall and out on the tarmac. You can climb aboard legendary planes such as Concorde, and the military A400M impresses by sheer size. The hall is neither heated nor air-conditioned, so bring a jumper in winter. Allow two to three hours.
Allée André Turcat, 31700 Blagnac
L’Envol des Pionniers
On the historic Montaudran site, where the planes of the Latécoère airline, and later of the Aéropostale, took off. The permanent exhibition, in the old general store, tells the pioneers’ story through their belongings and first-hand accounts, and you can step into Didier Daurat’s office. A visit of an hour and a half, easy to combine with the Cité de l’espace, a few kilometres away.
6 rue Jacqueline Auriol, 31400 Toulouse
Coming up here: Exposition "Air France, une histoire d'élégance" (until 12 February), Un atelier 100% déconnecté pour vivre en famille une immersion dans le quotidien des pionniers de l’Aéropostale ! (11 November to 3 January), Exposition éphémère « 100 ans de l’embauche d’Antoine de Saint Exupéry à Toulouse » (11 November to 3 January)
Updated 10 November 2026.