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What to see in Occitanie

512 sites listed in the region. Between the Pyrenees and the Mediterranean, Occitanie unfolds Cathar castles, the spectacular gorges of the Tarn and art cities such as Toulouse and Carcassonne. This region of the deep South cultivates a warm way of life, carried by the sun and a heritage thousands of years old.

DépartementsAriègeAudeAveyronGardGersHaute-GaronneHautes-PyrénéesHéraultLotLozèrePyrénées-OrientalesTarnTarn-et-Garonne
By themeAquariumsWaterfallsCastlesNatural wondersCavesGardensLakesMonumentsMuseumsBoat tripsWater parksTheme parksReligious heritageBeachesBridgesSki resortsTourist trainsVillagesTowns & citiesZoos & wildlife parks
GuideDiscover Occitanie: culture, food, nature, tips
Seaquarium - Musée de la mer
Aquariums · Gard

Seaquarium - Musée de la mer

OccitanieRegional top 10

Giant aquarium and marine mammal area. Mediterranean and tropical fish, shark tunnel and walkway, giant seal and sea-lion tank, many interactive areas, children's trail, Sea Museum.

Aven Armand
Caves · Lozère

Aven Armand

OccitanieMust-see

In September 1897, Louis Armand, Édouard-Alfred Martel and Armand Viré discovered this fantastic cavern for the first time.

Cascade du Sautadet
Waterfalls · Gard

Cascade du Sautadet

OccitanieMust-see

The Cèze has carved channels and cavities that end up joining and forming crevasses into which the river rushes.

Château de Montségur
Castles · Ariège

Château de Montségur

OccitanieMust-see

Before setting off to assault the "Pog", the path passes close to the stele erected in 1960 "to the martyrs of pure Christian love".

Château de Peyrepertuse
Castles · Aude

Château de Peyrepertuse

OccitanieMust-see

"It is to be known that in the Marches, on this side of the Aragon frontier, is the City of Carcassonne, which is the mother and has five sons, namely Puilaurens, Aguilar, Quéribus, Termes and Peyrepertuse".

Cité de Carcassonne
Villages · Aude

Cité de Carcassonne

OccitanieMust-see

A fortified medieval town, with the history of the crusade against the Albigensians, the still-inhabited Cité de Carcassonne lies on the right bank of the Aude.

Collioure
Villages · Pyrénées-Orientales

Collioure

OccitanieMust-see

A little Catalan port of colourful houses nestled in a cove of the Vermilion Coast, immortalised by Matisse and the Fauvist painters in the early twentieth century.

Conques
Villages · Aveyron

Conques

OccitanieMust-see

The great period of Conques, in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, coincides with the building of the Romanesque abbey church and the creation of the finest pieces of goldwork in its treasure, including the golden Majesty of Saint Foy.

Gorges du Tarn
Natural wonders · Lozère

Gorges du Tarn

OccitanieMust-see

A 27 km limestone canyon carved by the Tarn between the Causse de Sauveterre and the Causse Méjean, dotted with hilltop villages and dizzying viewpoints.

Grotte de Bétharram
Caves · Hautes-Pyrénées

Grotte de Bétharram

OccitanieMust-see

The Bétharram caves are among the most beautiful that exist, and certainly the most curious to visit, because in the variety of their aspects they give the key to the formation of almost all caves, dead or fully active.

Grotte de Dargilan
Caves · Lozère

Grotte de Dargilan

OccitanieMust-see

On the Causse Noir, overlooking the Jonte gorges, it is the largest cave of the Causses and the Cévennes and one of the largest underground halls in France.

Grotte des Demoiselles
Caves · Hérault

Grotte des Demoiselles

OccitanieMust-see

Located not far from the Cirque de Navacelle, this cave is in fact an old aven whose opening is on the Thaurac plateau.

Le Chaos de Nîmes le Vieux
Natural wonders · Lozère

Le Chaos de Nîmes le Vieux

OccitanieMust-see

It is true that this group of ruin-shaped rocks can be deceptive.

Les Cascades de Cauterets
Waterfalls · Hautes-Pyrénées

Les Cascades de Cauterets

OccitanieMust-see

Here is the kingdom of granite and water; its impressive waterfalls and its many lakes make it a natural paradise where Empress Eugénie came to dream in the last century.

Les Détroits du tarn
Waterfalls · Lozère

Les Détroits du tarn

OccitanieMust-see

The Tarn rises on Mont Lozère at 1,575 metres' altitude and descends the slopes of the Cévennes in a fast and torrential course.

Les Gorges de Galamus
Waterfalls · Pyrénées-Orientales

Les Gorges de Galamus

OccitanieMust-see

The Galamus Gorges offer the grandiose spectacle of the struggle between water and limestone rock.

Les Gorges de la Fou
Waterfalls · Pyrénées-Orientales

Les Gorges de la Fou

OccitanieMust-see

In the heart of summer, shade and coolness are sometimes welcome... Add the extraordinary beauty of a site and the walk becomes even more pleasant.

Les Orgues d'Ille sur Têt
Natural wonders · Pyrénées-Orientales

Les Orgues d'Ille sur Têt

OccitanieMust-see

"Les Orgues" are strange rock formations eroded by time and shaped like chimneys.

Pic du Canigou
Natural wonders · Pyrénées-Orientales

Pic du Canigou

OccitanieMust-see

At 2,785 metres, the emblematic summit of the Catalans, the easternmost high point of the Pyrenees, visible from the Mediterranean in clear weather.

Pont du Gard
Bridges · Gard

Pont du Gard

OccitanieMust-see

The Pont du Gard was built shortly before the Christian era to let the Nîmes aqueduct, nearly 50 km long, cross the Gardon.

Sainte-Enimie
Villages · Lozère

Sainte-Enimie

OccitanieMust-see

Of the monastery raised to an abbey in the fourteenth century, the Romanesque chapter house and the Sainte-Madeleine chapel survive.

Sanctuaire Notre-Dame de Lourdes
Religious heritage · Hautes-Pyrénées

Sanctuaire Notre-Dame de Lourdes

OccitanieMust-see

Built on the site of the Marian apparitions of 1858, this sanctuary is one of the most visited places of pilgrimage in the world, welcoming about 6 million people every year.

Toulouse
Towns & cities · Haute-Garonne

Toulouse

OccitanieMust-see

France's fourth-largest city, nicknamed the "Pink City" for the brick that clads its façades, organised around the monumental Place du Capitole.

Albi
Villages · Tarn

Albi

OccitanieOutstanding

Omnipresent, Albi's red brick sets the tone. Delicate pink in the morning, powerful orange under the blazing summer sun or madder red in the evening.

Basilique Saint-Sernin
Religious heritage · Haute-Garonne

Basilique Saint-Sernin

OccitanieOutstanding

The largest surviving Romanesque church in Europe, built of pink Toulouse brick to house the relics brought back by Compostela pilgrims.

Béziers
Towns & cities · Hérault

Béziers

OccitanieOutstanding

The oldest town in France, dominated by its fortified cathedral of Saint-Nazaire that overlooks the Orb and its nine-arched medieval Old Bridge.

Canal du Midi au Somail
Natural wonders · Aude

Canal du Midi au Somail

OccitanieOutstanding

Shaded by its century-old plane trees, the hamlet of Le Somail is one of the most picturesque stops on the Canal du Midi, a seventeenth-century engineering masterpiece listed by UNESCO.

Canyoning Park
Theme parks · Pyrénées-Orientales

Canyoning Park

OccitanieOutstanding

Extreme thrills for climbing and sliding fans: jumps of 3 to 7 m, slides, abseiling under waterfalls, climbing nets, rope ladders, a 100 m zip line ending in the water. Equipment provided on site.

Cascade d'Arifat
Waterfalls · Tarn

Cascade d'Arifat

OccitanieOutstanding

A few kilometres from Montredon, in a place not so easy to find, this natural site is extremely picturesque.

Cascade d'Ars
Waterfalls · Ariège

Cascade d'Ars

OccitanieOutstanding

Three falls that leap down 110 metres. The impressive Ars waterfall is well worth 5 kilometres of walking!

Cascade du lac d'Espingo
Waterfalls · Haute-Garonne

Cascade du lac d'Espingo

OccitanieOutstanding

The beauty of the cirque entirely occupied by Lac d'Oô explains hikers' enthusiasm for this site.

Cascades d'Arizes et Garet
Waterfalls · Hautes-Pyrénées

Cascades d'Arizes et Garet

OccitanieOutstanding

From Bagnères, take the road of the passes. Follow this road to Sainte-Marie-de-Campan, where you turn right towards the Col du Tourmalet.

Chemin de Halage du Lot
Natural wonders · Lot

Chemin de Halage du Lot

OccitanieOutstanding

River navigation, sunk by the advent of the railway, had its hours of glory, which then rhymed with gabares, large wooden barges used to carry goods.

Cirque de Mourèze
Natural wonders · Hérault

Cirque de Mourèze

OccitanieOutstanding

This natural limestone formation, which gave its name to cliffs in the Alps of northern Italy, is found west of Clermont-l'Hérault.

Cirque de Navacelle
Natural wonders · Gard

Cirque de Navacelle

OccitanieOutstanding

Like other famous sites of the Grands Causses, the Cirque de Navacelles is visited every year by millions of tourists who come to admire the cut of the Vis canyon through the limestones and dolomites of the Causse de Blandas.

Cirque de Troumouse
Natural wonders · Hautes-Pyrénées

Cirque de Troumouse

OccitanieOutstanding

Upstream of the Héas gave valley, the Troumouse cirque is the largest glacial cirque in the Pyrenees.

Col de Peyresourde
Natural wonders · Haute-Garonne

Col de Peyresourde

OccitanieOutstanding

At 1,569 metres, one of the historic Pyrenean passes of the Tour de France, crossed as early as 1910, between the Louron valley and the Larboust.

Col du Tourmalet
Natural wonders · Hautes-Pyrénées

Col du Tourmalet

OccitanieOutstanding

The highest road pass in the French Pyrenees at 2,115 metres, the Tourmalet is the legendary arbiter of the Tour de France, immortalised by the statue of the cycling giant Octave Lapize.

Cordes-sur-ciel
Villages · Tarn

Cordes-sur-ciel

OccitanieOutstanding

25 km from Albi, in the Tarn, let yourself be charmed by the enchanting face of Cordes-sur-Ciel.

Florac
Villages · Lozère

Florac

OccitanieOutstanding

A small town, seat of the Cévennes National Park, nestled at the confluence of three rivers at the foot of the rocky bar of the Rocher de Rochefort.

Fontaine de Pescalerie
Natural wonders · Lot

Fontaine de Pescalerie

OccitanieOutstanding

At Cabrerets, in the Lot, the Pescalerie spring is a karst resurgence that feeds a calcifying waterfall at the foot of a cliff in the Célé valley.

Gorges St Georges et Pierre Lys
Waterfalls · Aude

Gorges St Georges et Pierre Lys

OccitanieOutstanding

The Aude, rushing down the Pyrenees from its source in the Capcir, has carved a series of majestic canyons in the limestone: the Saint-Georges gorges and above all those of Pierre-Lys.

Gouffre Cerisier et Gorges d'Héric
Waterfalls · Hérault

Gouffre Cerisier et Gorges d'Héric

OccitanieOutstanding

Very deep gorges with limestone needles. The Gouffre du Cerisier is one of the natural pools (gour) carved by the Héric torrent (swimming).

Gouffre de l'Oeil Doux
Waterfalls · Aude

Gouffre de l'Oeil Doux

OccitanieOutstanding

In the heart of the Massif de la Clape, the impressive Gouffre de l'Œil Doux is discovered in a green setting and offers walkers an unexpected spectacle.

Grotte de Bédeilhac
Caves · Ariège

Grotte de Bédeilhac

OccitanieOutstanding

The Bédeilhac cave is in the basin of Tarascon-sur-Ariège, a few kilometres from Niaux and Fontanet.

Grotte de Fontrabiouse
Caves · Pyrénées-Orientales

Grotte de Fontrabiouse

OccitanieOutstanding

The Fontrabiouse cave, in the Pyrénées-Orientales, is equipped for guided visits all year round on a route of about an hour.

Grotte de bellevue
Caves · Lot
Closed

Grotte de bellevue

OccitanieOutstanding

Located 1.5 km north-west of Marcilhac-sur-Célé, the Bellevue cave offers concretions of remarkable richness.

Grotte de la Cocalière
Caves · Gard

Grotte de la Cocalière

OccitanieOutstanding

The Cocalière cave, in the commune of Courry in the Gard, stretches out its knotty arms, long endless galleries, to visitors who advance, a little intimidated.
All sites (464)