Occitanie - 68 Attractions You Must Visit

Col du Soulor is a high mountain pass at an elevation of 1.474m (4,835ft) above the sea level, located in the Pyrenees, a range of mountains in southwest Europe that forms a natural border between France and Spain. It was one of the beautiful locations in this area which is flourished with natural beauty. The road over the col is regularly used in the Tour de France cycling race, normally in conjunction with the Col d'Aubisque.

Col du Tourmalet is one of the highest paved mountain passes in the French Pyrenees, in the department of Hautes-Pyrénées. Sainte-Marie-de-Campan is at the foot on the eastern side and the ski station La Mongie two-thirds of the way up. The village of Barèges lies on the western side, above the town of Luz-Saint-Sauveur.

The Etang de Thau is the largest body of water in the Occitanie region. It has an area of ​​approximately 7,500. The pond, which is defined as a lagoon, is linked to the Mediterranean Sea by graus at Marseillan and Sète. Although it has a high salinity, it is considered the second largest lake in France.

A deep canyon carved by the clear water of the river, the Gorges du Gardon reveal all the beauty of the Mediterranean landscapes, from cliffs to garrigues and sheltered forests. The Roman aqueduct Pont du Gard and the 16th-century Pont Saint-Nicolas are two historic bridges that cross the Gardon. The Gorges du Gardon, which ends at Pont Saint-Nicolas, is a popular recreation area for kayaking, canoeing, rock climbing, and hiking.

Gaube Lake is located in an area of outstanding natural beauty surrounded by Pyrenean peaks over 2,000 metres above sea level. Hiking to the Gaube lake is a lovely stroll along well-kept tracks with beautiful waterfalls everywhere. The shoreline and surrounding slopes are covered with various glacial rock formations.

Gavarnie Falls is a 422m waterfall at a glacial cirque in the Pyrenees making it the tallest falls in France. The falls are situated in the Cirque de Gavarnie, near the village Gavarnie in the Hautes-Pyrénées. It is fed by melting snow and a small glacier, located in Spain. This water seeps underground until it appears at the upper rim of the waterfall.

The Gorges de Galamus is a narrow passage between the French departments of Aude. They were dug by the Agly in the northern link of the Fenouillèdes syncline. The Agly that flows at the bottom of the gorges is a small river that comes from Pech de Bugarach and has dug this several tens of meters deep depression in the stone. The best way to explore the course of the Gorges de Galamus on foot or to take a circular route that gives impressive views of the gorges and their surroundings.

These limestone caves are host to a wide variety of unique mineral formations and a perfect year-round place for all ages to visit. At various times in history, the cave has also served as a hiding place and refuge. At the time, visiting the cave was quite perilous, but in 1931 a funicular, concrete stairs and walkways with sturdy railings and extensive electric lighting were installed to make it accessible to the general public.

The Grotte du Mas d'Azil is a cavity crossed by a road and by the Arize river which hollowed it out. This cavity of imposing dimensions opens into the Plantaurel massif, the commune of Mas-d'Azil, department of Ariège. It was occupied at different prehistoric and historical periods and gave its name to a prehistoric culture, the Azilian.

The Haut-Languedoc Regional Nature Park invites you on a journey to the heart of its beautiful natural heritage. With preserved sites, great biodiversity, and exceptional wildlife and plant species, the park is a truly exceptional place. The park provides a habitat for more than 240 species of birds, in a stunningly diverse range of climate and scenery. It also provides a home for mouflons, successfully reintroduced from Corsica.

The Hôtel d'Assézat is a 16th-century Renaissance palace, which houses the Bemberg Foundation, a major art gallery. It was probably designed by Toulouse architect Nicolas Bachelier for Pierre d'Assézat, a rich manufacturer. It is an outstanding example of the Renaissance architecture characteristic of southern France. Today, it is home to the Union des sociétés savantes and the Bemberg Foundation.

Les Jardins de la Fontaine is a public park located in Nîmes, in the Gard. They are made around the original Nîmes source, already venerated by the tribes before the arrival of the Romans. The source of the Fontaine is also at the origin of the creation of the agglomeration several centuries before the Gallo-Roman period. Their architectural organization also highlights two major ancient monuments of the city, the temple of Diana and the Magne Tower.

Jardin des doms is a rocky outcrop on the left bank of the Rhone that served as a shelter for the founding and development of the city of Avignon . It was set up as a public garden. It serves as protection for the foundation and then the development of the city. Its summit is covered with a public garden called Jardin des Doms.

The Montpellier Plant Garden is a university botanical garden founded in 1593 and which is an integral part of the heritage of the Faculty of Medicine of Montpellier and the University of Montpellier. It is the oldest botanical garden in France, ahead of that of Strasbourg founded in 1619, that of Paris created in 1635, and that of Caen in 1736. This garden has a triple vocation: botanical, historical, and university.

The Roland Breccia is a natural gap, 40 meters wide and approximately 70 meters deep , opening into the cliffs located around the circumference of the Cirque de Gavarnie , in the Hautes-Pyrénées . Located at an altitude of 2,807 meters, it plays the role of a mountain pass which marks the border between Spain and France over its entire width.

The Bouillouses lake is an artificial lake with an area of 149 ha of the Pyrenees, in Haut-Conflent in the Pyrénées-Orientales. The lake has a capacity of 19,000,000 m 3 and is full annually in summer, and often almost empty at the end of winter. Lac des Bouillouses is very famous in the fishing industry. It includes brown trout common in Europe, arctic char, and rainbow trout.

The Salagou Lake is a reservoir lake of the dam Salagou. It is located in the center of the Hérault department, on the Salagou river, a tributary of the Lergue river which flows into the Hérault. It reaches a depth of about 50 meters. The lake is dominated by mountains and plateaus culminating at 300 m in the east, up to 407 m for Carels in the west, and 535 m for Mont Liausson in the south. The latter separates the lake of Salagou from the dolomitic cirque of Mourèze.

The Gouffre de Padirac is one of the largest chasms in Europe. Discovered by the famous French cave explorer Edouard Martel, it was opened to the public in 1899. visitors gaze down into the enormous 75 metre chasm into the earth, 33 metres wide. It then leads into a cave system, created by millennia of subterranean underground water erosion which has carved out spectacular caverns in the limestone.

The Pont du Diable on the Hérault River is one of many bridges in France with this name means Devil's bridge. It was registered as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in conjunction with the St James’ Way to Santiago de Compostela in western Spain. Among the oldest existing French medieval bridges, it incorporates the early techniques of Romanesque art in the region, including two main arches and two secondary arches, demonstrating the strength and solidity of its construction.

The line of Villefranche - Vernet-Les-Bains in Latour-de-Carol, sometimes dubbed line Cerdanya, is a line of railroad to route metric long 62.5 km, which, in the department of Pyrenees -Orientales, connects Villefranche - Vernet-Les-Bains station to that of Latour-de-Carol - Enveitg via Font-Romeu following the Têt valley then crossing the Cerdagne plateau.