Toulouse

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Toulouse is a city in southwest France.

Several motorways meet at Toulouse so it's a great place to change routes if your driver is no longer going the same way as you. Toulouse's bypass is complicated, so try to change vehicles at a péage when entering the motorway. If you change at the exit péage before entering the Toulouse bypass a lot of passing traffic won't be going the same way as you.

Hitchhiking out

North towards Bordeaux, Agen, Limoges, Paris E 9 E 72 A 62

Option #1: to get directly to the toll (péage) starting the highway A62. From the metro station "La Vache" (Metro line 2), take the bus 29/60/69/105, get off at "Lapin", walk ahead (on Avenue de Front) for about 75 meters and take the first left (Chemin du Lapin) until you reach a pedestrian bridge. From there you can jump across a small barrier, get in something that looks like a small abandoned field and walk along ahead for about 100 meters. You'll see a one-way northbound motorway connection road to what will become the péage after about 500 meters. You want to walk along that portion, staying as much as possible on the right side of the safety barrier (not very dangerous actually, but if the police see you, they won't stop to annoy you). In my opinion (Hertinek, aka Uncle_Franek), this is the ultimate option to hitch north out of Toulouse. I've lived in the area almost all my life, and have experienced many different spots. Today I always use this one. Two busstops after "Lapin" you can leave the bus at stop "Lapparou" as well, walk ahead 50 meters, turn left Impasse des Horticulteurs at the end of which you will find a red wall and fence which you need to climb over, which is probably possible as the fence is damaged - this way you are only a few meters from the péage, which then saves you from walking along the motorway for half a kilometer. Take a HUGE sign with you as the toll is large.

Option #2 : a smaller peage but maybe easier to reach (I had to get there because there were policemen and higway employees at the main one), from the subway station La Vache, take the bus 69 toward Bruguières, then stop at Pont rouge, you'll need to walk a few hundred meters, cross the bridge and you'll be at Saint Jory's peage, I got a ride to Agen waiting just a few minutes.

Option #3: you can walk to the entrance of the "périphérique" (ring road) at Pont Jumeaux as well (10mns walk from metro Canal du Midi), there are 2 traffic lights there. Easy to go there (plus standing at the péage might be forbidden), nice spot, but took me like 1 hour to get a ride, both times.

Option #4: REALLY EASY. A really good idea is to take the metro to Balma Gramont, from there, 5 min away there is a ramp entrance to the "périphérique", a lots of cars go in that direction, cars can easily see you and stop, you can find people going torwards Bordeaux(A62) Montauban/Paris(A20) or Albi (A68). I've hitchhiked several times there any day any time of year and sometimes I've not been alone, there are often other hitchhikers going out Notrh from Toulouse there (especially during the summer). The big advantage is that you'll get there really easily, compared to the time it takes you to go to the péages, and if the person that stops isn't going in your direction they can always leave you at a péage. So if you're heading anywhere North of Toulouse you can think of starting at Balma.

Northeast, towards Albi A 68

Take metro line B to stop Borderouge, then change bus 40 or 73 or walk to stop Atlanta. Just walk along the Route d'Albi to the road sign post before the road splits to ramp onto A62 and hitch with a sign. The passing traffic goes to Albi via D888 or A68.

The Péage towards the East/South-East (Carcassonne, Narbonne, Perpignan, Montpellier) A 61

Option 1

Take metro line B in the direction Ramonville to the very last stop. Then,

  • hitch from the park and ride parking lot, asking people to bring you to the péage or to the first service area, Toulouse-sud, 25 km further, or
  • hitch from the roundabout: turn left at the traffic circle just out the metro station. Follow the autoroute/Montpellier or Carcassonne signs to the entrance of the motorway; it's the first exit on the right of the second roundabout, or
  • get to the péage on foot: the -péage is only 2km further than the roundabout.

Option 2: Canal du Midi near the Jardin du Grand Rond

This street leads directly to the highway A61. You can wait next to the small bridge over the canal, there's a bus-stop so cars can easily stop. From here you can get to the rest station 5 km after the big péage, from where you can continue towards the Mediterranean. This is the fastest way for cars getting from the centre on the higyway, so there's always a lot of traffic. go to this point from Ferme Pédagogique de Cinquante (Maps)

Option 3

There is a small petrol station on the highway in town, before the split towards either Andorra or Carcassonne. To get there, you can take Linéo 3 or bus 67 to Pont Rocade, walk across the highway and turn right immediately, or Linéo 2 to Castanet. There's not heaps of traffic, and much of it stays in town, but it's definitely possible to get rides in either of the major directions.

Towards Carcassonne, Montpellier, Barcelona (Spain)

Most of the cars are going this way, you should get a ride in a few minutes. The Raimonville metro station (line B) is very close to one of the roundabouts that lead to the highway (A61).

Otherwise, the first toll of the highway is 30 minutes walking from there and offers higher chances.

Towards Foix, Andorra

About 20 kilometres after the péage the motorway splits, with most traffic going on to Montpellier. The best way is to get to the rest station 5 kilometres after the péage. There you can continue searching for drivers. A sign reading direction Foix can be useful.
If the driver is not going all the way to Foix or Andorra, he might be able to drop you off at the péage Pamiers, from which one can easily continue on.

Towards Tarbes, Pau, Bayonne on highway A 64

There is a toll gate near the small town of Roques, on the highway A64 direction Tarbes/Pau/Bayonne. Take the red Metro to Baso Cambo (last stop) then bus line 50 from Baso Cambo to Roques Acacias (last stop) (buses every 30min at the most, careful not all line 50 buses go to Acacias!)

From the stop, walk in the direction the bus came from, through a small lot, following the sound of the motorway (you can hear it). After a while you have to climb over a small grassy knoll, and you arrive on a route nationale, parallel to the motorway, and from the top of the hump you can see the toll gate in the distance. Walk along the route nationale to your right until you arrive at a roundabout. Go left, over the bridge that crosses the motorway, you're now on the right side, follow the motorway to the toll gate. If no cops are around and you feel lucky you can hitch from the inter-lane spaces (effective but illegal...) or otherwise go to the small service-area just behind (no petrol pumps but people do stop occasionally, and you can always wave a thumb at passing cars).

Other Option: Take bus 58 from Basso-Cambo to "Centre de détention" (there are not many so check the schedules, but some terminates only at "Seysse maison d'arrêt" or "Seysse Gay", it also works but the walk will be longer). From there walk 10min to the entrance of the motorway https://goo.gl/maps/b9bkxUH2xqB2 . All the traffic that wants to avoid the toll (péage) will enter here as the motorway becomes free and there is a good place to stop for the cars. You can easily find a lift to the petrol station 20km down or further away.

You can also walk directly from the Metro station Basso Cambo or even better Bellefontaine to the highway entrance. From there, you can find a ride to the péage. Even cars exiting the motorway before the péage to go to Roques or Muret will be able to drop you on the route nationale very close to the péage.

Towards Auch, N124

There is a spot at the roundabout just in front on the Purpan Hospital (a bunch of public transport stop there).

Metro

If you are on a low budget: The security at the entry of the metro stations is watching for people who enter, that they validate their tickets. Even if they are there you can ask them friendly if they let you enter without ticket as you don't have much money. Worked with me 3 of 4 times, basically outside the very centre of the city. In the centre they are more strict and you need to be careful when you change the lines there.

Wild camping

You can pitch a tent north of the soccer field on the Pech-David hill south of Toulouse. If you come from the south, you can ask drivers to drop you on route d'Espagne and take the cable car to Hôpital Rangueil - Louis Lareng. You will find drinkable water from the fountains of the parc on your way to the place.

Nomadwiki & Trashwiki

Check Nomadwiki for info on accommodation, showers etc. or Trashwiki for dumpsters...and share your wisdom :)

French cities with more than 70.000 inhabitants

> 1.000.000: Paris

200.000–1.000.000: MarseilleLyonToulouseNiceNantesStrasbourgMontpellierBordeauxLilleRennes

100.000–200.000: Le HavreReimsSaint-ÉtienneToulonGrenobleAngersDijonBrestLe MansClermont-FerrandAmiensAix-en-ProvenceLimogesNîmesToursSaint-Denis (France)VilleurbanneMetzBesançonCaenOrléansMulhouseRouenBoulogne-BillancourtPerpignanNancy

70.000–100.000: RoubaixFort-de-FranceArgenteuilTourcoingMontreuilSaint-PaulAvignonSaint-Denis (Réunion)VersaillesNanterrePoitiersCréteilAulnay-sous-BoisVitry-sur-SeinePauCalaisColombesLa RochelleAsnières-sur-SeineChampigny-sur-MarneRueil-MalmaisonSaint-Maur-des-FossésBourgesAntibesDunkirk

If you search cities with less than 70.000 inhabitants, have a look at the seperate Région articles. You find them at the bottom of this page.