Transportation

Moving around in Toulouse

From the airport

The airport has fast access from and to the city center. With the 15-minute ride to the airport and the fast departures and arrivals in a medium-size airport such as Toulouse-Blagnac, the one-to-two-hour connecting flight from a major European hub is quite compensated, making access to Toulouse comparable to that of most European capitals.

• Taxi
  Fares can range from 15€ to 25€ (or more) depending of the time of the day and the traffic. Travel time is 10 minutes when there is no traffic at all, and can go up to 40 minutes at very busy time of the year (which is not the case in July).
• Airport Shuttle service
  8€ for a one way ticket. Efficient service by bus from 5am till midnight with departures every 20 minutes. Reaches directly the Congress Venue (Compans-Caffarelli stop) in about 15 minutes (or more depending on the traffic).
• Tramway+Metro
  The airport is connected to the urban public transportation system with the T2 tramway line. Traveling by Tram + Metro (+ eventually Bus) costs a single ticket fare 1.60€.
  • To reach the Congress venue by Tram+Metro take the T2 line, change at Palais de Justice (final stop) for the Metro B line bounding for Borderouge. Stop at Compans-Cafferelli. The trip is approximately 40 minutes.
  • To reach the accommodation at University Campus take the T2 line, change at Palais de Justice (final stop) for the Metro B line bounding for Ramonville. Stop at Université Paul Sabatier. The trip is approximately 45 minutes.
  • To reach other places in the city center, it may be more time efficient to change at Arènes for the Metro A line.
    Mind the tourists trap: there is on the way another tramway station called Arènes Romaines. Do not stop there, unless you aim to plan to visit the remains of the ancien Roman Arenas. These are 20 centuries old, but far less impressive than the ones in Rome.

Metro, Tram and Buses

A free ride ticket is offered to all IFAC 2017 participants. It allows to travel without limitation during all the congress days on all the urban transportation system including Metro, Tramway and Buses. It does not include the Airport Shuttle.

See the Tisseo web page for information about the Toulouse transportation network.

VélôToulouse

A public pick-and-drop bicycle service operates in Toulouse 24 hours a day. The user can pick bicycles at any of the numerous VélôToulouse stations and drop it at any other. To access the service, buy a 1-day or a 7-day ticket at any VélôToulouse station. The 1 day ticket allows to use the service during 24 hours and costs 1.20€. The 7 days ticket costs 5€. No additional cost is billed if the bicycle is returned to a station in less than 30 minutes (which is far enough to ride through all Toulouse city).

See details about the VélôTououse service.

Traveling to Toulouse

by Plane

Visitors arriving from abroad will most probably arrive by airplane at the Toulouse-Blagnac airport. Toulouse benefits from frequent and rapid connections to major international European hubs including a one-hour shuttle service to Paris (La Navette). All destinations are listed here.

by Train

Toulouse Matabiau railway station is easily accessible from major cities in France. The connections include high-speed TGV train links and sleeping-car overnight trains. Beginning 2 July 2017, the high-speed railway to the south-Atlantic part of France will be operational, making Toulouse accessible from central Paris in 4:09 hours.

Railways from Toulouse Matabiau station also allow easy access to some of the touristic locations in the region such as Carcassonne, Albi, Lourdes and many others (see the tourism page).

by Car

An arrival by car may be profitable for travelers intending to explore the Toulouse surroundings, the Pyrenees, the Basque Atlantic Ocean coast, the Mediterranean Sea, or the Cathar castles, or to do some shopping in Andorra. Six high-speed motorways serve Toulouse. The network of motorways makes the traveling time 6h30 from Paris and Nice, 3h30 from Barcelona and Marseille, and 12h from London, Rome and Munich.

If arriving by car, have in mind that the Toulouse city center is now almost pedestrian only. It is recommended to plan a parking facility.