Twelve reasons to discover the south of France by train
1. BY YOUR DAILY FREQUENCY
The sweet tooth destinations of these regions have become more accessible and irresistible thanks to a seamless connection with Barcelona, Figueras, Girona, Zaragoza and Madrid. Cities like Perpignan have five trains a day, Nimes and Montpellier with four and Toulouse, Lyon and Marseille with a round trip. And always with the perfect schedules so that there is no possible excuse to delay an immediate getaway.
The frequency of the trains is the perfect excuse for your trip
two. FOR ITS SPEED AND ACCESSIBILITY
To all these charms we must add the fact that the train connects city centers in record time and making distances shorten. For example, Barcelona and Marseille are only four and a half hours away, while Toulouse can be reached in just over three. But these are just two examples of a whole range of possibilities that make the neighboring country more of a roommate. More information and timetables at Renfe-SNCF.
3. THROUGH THE EPIC STONES OF CARCASSONNE
The most beautiful fortified city in all of France is a festival of surprises and a tourist regression to childhood, when you dreamed of being an honest and heroic medieval knight. His citadel is exhibited aware of the photogenicity of its walls and towers and the desire they arouse to be visited and traversed. In this adventure you cannot miss the visit to the castle, the tour of its walls and a moment of impasse under the windows of the temple of Saint-Nazaire . But, above all, that feeling that you are in another era and that everything is real, although in the end it is an idyllic capsule.
medieval monumentality
Four. THROUGH TOULOUSE, THE CITY THAT DREAMED OF BEING AN ASTRONAUT
the metropolis of Midi-Pyrenees has been uncovering in recent years as a great unknown must-see. To its throbbing Latin-French life (it is the most 'Spanish' Gallic city, lively and street) we must add a surprising monumentality. A good walk around here is not complete without strolling through the Versaillesque Capitole or running around the cheerful arcades of its square. Nor without its good dose of Gothic in the church of Saint-Sernin and in the convent of the Jacobins nor without idolizing the Garonne for its banks . And, in the end, honor its status as the capital of aeronautics by looking at the sky and its adventures from the Cité de l'Espace and the Aeroscopia museum.
For its speed and accessibility
5. THROUGH THE BUCOLIC AND FAMILY CHANNEL OF MIDI
From peaceful Toulouse to the Mediterranean . This is the route of about 240 kilometers that covers the bed of this artificial river made by the hand of man. What in its day was a work of engineering with which defy the whims of nature today it has become an essential attraction for any getaway in this region. Its small ports lead to charming towns such as the medieval Beziers , the Roman Narbonne , the peaceful Trebes or the vibrant Castelnaudary . In addition to being a quiet crossing ideal for any age, the canal offers the alternative of cycling tourism, a more direct way of being in contact with the riverbed and its leafy banks.
midi-channel
6. BY THE VISIBLE FOOTPRINTS OF THE BEST ARTISTS
When thinking about these coordinates, it is inevitable to remember the painters who settled in their towns attracted by the Mediterranean light and, also, by the tranquility that it gave them escape the Parisian maelstrom . Tracing a mythomaniac route, Arles is claimed as the locality where Van Gogh found a certain calm and as far as he got Gauguin to take it off. Today, a well-signposted route recalls the places where both were distracted as well as the urban and natural landscapes they painted. The name of Cezanne , for its part, is intimately linked to that of Aix-en-Provence . In this idyllic municipality his workshop is preserved as well as his house Jas de Bouffan the place from where he captured nearby corners such as the Sainte-Victoire mountain and, incidentally, where he took the definitive step to welcome the avant-garde. The last great genius to set his life and brushes on this earth was picasso . His footsteps are followed through bucolic villages where he lived as Menerbes either Les Baux-de-Provence as well as other mythical enclaves such as Arles, Avignon either Aix-en-Provence . In fact, his body rests in the castle of Vauvenargues , his home from 1959 to 1961.
Sainte-Victoire mountain
7. FOR THE FRENCH ROMANIZATION OF NÎMES
the cocktail of Nimes it is simply irresistible. On one side is its deserved fame as a city of good life and better recreation. A perfect adaptation of the famous style 'bon vivant' Gaul to the Mediterranean climate and rhythm that translates into streets full of terraces and pulsating squares such as the Du Marché or the Explanade Charles de Gaulle where at all hours there is commotion and life. To this lively ingredient we must add its Roman monumentalization or, what amounts to the same thing, an admirable inventory of mammoth constructions almost two millennia old. Its main attractions are the magnificent amphitheater and the Maison Carree , the perfect administrative building that presided over the old forum. To this must be added the temple of Diana, the Castellum -point of arrival of its aqueduct-, and the great tower , the best reminiscence of the ancient walls and gates.
Maison Carrée in Nimes
8. FOR THE COSMOPOLITISM OF LYON
The main lesson that is learned knowing this inexhaustible city is that here conformism was banished long ago . Because, as much as it seems that Lyon can't reinvent itself anymore, there is always a new neighborhood, a new stimulus . For the view there is always the old charm of its old town, the green of the park of the Tete d'Or and the rainbow Quai Rambaud of the Confluence. For taste, the endless ways to enjoy Paul Bocuse and his entire universe while for the ear there will always be concerts in the auditorium, at the opera and even on the terraces of La Sucriere.
Lyon, the vibrant excuse
9. FOR THE UNSUSPECTED MODERNITY OF MONTPELLIER
Far from being 'only' the capital of the Languedoc Roussillon, this amazing city has evolved into a mecca for lovers of Fine Arts and Architecture . And it is that enjoying its charms is a journey through the best of each century, from the Renaissance to the present day. This particular journey through time requires stops in its Botanical Garden , the oldest in France (dating from 1593), in the singular portico of the San Pedro Cathedral , in his bombastic Arch of Triumph and in the pharaonic San Clemente aqueduct . All this without forgetting the galleries of the Fabre Museum or the new town hall of the city, designed by Jean Nouvelle as the icon of the brightest and most creative future of this place.
10. FOR THE MONUMENTALITY OF AVIGNON
Cross the Rhône and appear in Avignon it is to take a trip through the nostalgia of a city that came to have the same religious power as Rome. Papal seat from 1309 to 1377, everything in this place recalls its time of greatest glory, making it possible to imagine today all its magnificence when touring its boundless Palace of the Popes . This monument not only presides over a beautiful square, but also infects the rest of the streets. This spectacular collection is completed with buildings dotted around the center such as the **Petit Palais (current museum) **, the romanesque cathedral that has castle twigs and the folkloric bridge, where its four surviving arches attest that parné and political interests moved in this city.
Avignon, Picasso's muse
eleven. FOR THE OLFACTORY-VISUAL SHOW OF LAVENDER
Aix-en-Provence It's not just an artist's candy and a compendium of embalmed beauty. It is also the gateway to visit the essential lavender fields carpeting Provence and that give a different color to the idyllic landscape. Yes, the route is free and even a little improvised, but the places of towns like Luberon, Coustellet (with a museum dedicated to lavender included), Lure, or the ever wild god They are a perfect way to debut in these conflicts.
the lavender show
12. FOR THE RENAISSANCE OF MARSEILLE
The cultural capital that this town held in 2013 has been the definitive accolade for Marseille to recover the brilliance of yesteryear . More beautiful than ever, this gateway to the Mediterranean has irresistible potential with anthological places such as its old port -heart of the city-, the Museum of European Civilizations and the Mediterranean designed by Rudy Ricciotti, the slender basilica of Notre Dame de la Garde or the old man Le Panier neighborhood . A route that reveals a multicultural France, seafaring and with a charm which makes it essential.
MUCEM