Albi: a cute French city worth visiting

Niina

18/04/2024

Hi all! In this post, I will introduce you a cute little city in France called Albi.

I have traveled a bit around France. While doing this, I have noticed how it is often the smaller cities I find the most interesting and beautiful. Albi is a good example of them.

How on earth do I know the existence of cette petite ville? I did my Erasmus there. If you are more interested in what it is like to do an exchange in France, I wrote a separate post about it.

Albi is located in Southern France, in the region of Occitania. By train, it takes about an hour to get there from Toulouse. And that is actually how I usually explain the location of Albi to people: near Toulouse!

The most common comment I heard about Albi was how small it is. From my point of view, it was rather just cute and cozy. I truly enjoyed my time there! Not so many people and an overall calm atmosphere. In bigger cities, we would have had more distractions but now we were able to concentrate on our studies and bonding with the people we met, which was nice.

I sound such an introvert, don’t I?

All in all, if you are visiting the Toulouse area, I would totally recommend visiting Albi. I can see it to be a perfect destination for a little day trip!
So let me introduce my favorite things in Albi!

Cathédrale Ste-Cècile

Look at the ceiling!

In the heart of the old town of Albi, between all the beautiful old houses, there is a massive building which you cannot miss. This is Cathédrale Ste-Cècile a.k.a. Albi Cathedral. This marron Gothic building is the largest brick-built cathedral in the world (can you imagine!) and it is even on the list of Unesco’s World Heritage.

Because of its size, the cathedral is impressive from the outside but it is also worth visiting inside. The first thing you can notice indoors are the rich paintings on the walls and the ceiling. Under the organs, the most remarkable of the cathedral’s paintings, The Last Judgements, takes over the whole wall. It is almost like a centuries-old cartoon. I like especially the navy blue and gold decorations on the ceiling. Breathtaking! They alone make the Ste-Cècile one of the coolest cathedrals I have visited!

More information about the cathedral here: Sainte-Cécile Cathedral – Albi Tourisme (albi-tourisme.fr)

Musée Toulouse-Lautrec

Inside the museum

Next door to the cathedral is another massive brick building: Palais de la Berbie. In the Middle Ages, the palace was the home of a local archbishop. Nowadays there is a museum of Albi’s most famous resident: painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.

At the turn of the 20th century, Toulouse-Lautrec spent his time in Paris recording its underworld in his works. He made paintings, mostly portraits, but also posters and lithographies. He is best known for his cartoonish style which he used to portray dancers and prostitutes of Bohemian Paris.
Toulouse-Lautrec’s most famous works can be seen in Musée d’Orsay (of course) but the collection in his hometown is wide and gives a good impression of his works. A very interesting and good museum in all.

After the museum, you should drop into the classical garden behind the palace. The garden is more cute than big and it is cozy to stroll the walls around the garden. There you can enjoy the panoramic view of the historical buildings and the river next to it.

More about the museum: Bienvenue sur le site internet du Musée Toulouse-Lautrec (musee-toulouse-lautrec.com)

Tarn

In the middle of Albi, flows the river Tarn dividing the city into two parts. While visiting the city, I would recommend taking a little walk on the riverbanks. The view to the other side is nice and you can also see the magnificent Pont Vieux crossing Tarn. The riverbank is a popular place to spend time lying on the crass, having picnics, and doing similar activities.

The pathway is part of a longer nature trail. If you are interested in hiking, you can just keep following the path and enjoy nature almost in the middle of the city. Pretty cool and calming!

Crêpes

Crêpes are not a particular thing for only Albi (they are eaten everywhere in France), but they are too delicious for me not to mention here! Going to the city center with my friends and getting some crêpes was one of my favorite things to do in Albi. The best crêpe-place was La Petite Crêperie near the cathedral. Among my friends, the crêpes with Nutella were popular, but I would recommend trying ones with jam, especially if raspberry is an option. The Best!

Having crêpes at the Cathedral

Next to the crêperie was a little cloister of the church Collégiale Saint-Salvi, where we sometimes went to eat our treats. The church itself is also a nice place to drop in. 

Carnival!

The biggest annual event in Albi is the Carnival. It starts around the end of January or the beginning of February and lasts a couple of weeks. During this time the city center is the home of a huge fair spreading in squares and parking places. You can find countless games, rides, and stalls selling delicious food to have an entertaining time when scrolling around the fair.

The Carnival ends with a parade that circles the streets of Albi. There will be bands, majorettes, dancers, and most importantly gigantic floats. The queen of the Carnival oversees the whole event and everything is covered with a crazy amount of confetti!

At the Carnival!

We do not have carnivals like this in Finland (and as far as I understand, it is not common in these proportions in all French cities either) so for me the parade was such an amazing experience! I went to see it at Place Lapérouse near the theatre but I could imagine Place to Vigan to be another good place to enjoy the event.

Other, random things about Albi:

  • The train station: if you arrive at Albi by train, it is worth noting, that the train station is about 20 minutes walk from the old town. However, Albi is not a big city so even if you do this walk, all the main sights are in the old town and once getting there, you do not need to walk long distances from place to place.
  • There is a university called Institute National Universitaire Champollion in Albi. It is located in old military buildings quite near the station. Champollion is one of the smallest universities in France. Thus, even if Albi is a university city, the general vibe is not the same as in other cities filled with students.
  • The tourist office is near the cathedral. You can go there to pick a map of the city or buy some kind of city passes to get discounts. Some shops near the office sell local products.
  • And about shopping, the stores in Albi can be a bit expensive, especially in the old town.
  • If you are looking for a place to stop for a drink or some snack, Chien Rouge near Place to Vigan was a bar where at least we exchange students went every once in a while. There were even some student events sometimes.
  • The best place to take pictures of the skyline of the city is on the other side of Pont Vieux. Another photographic place is Place du Château. The houses around the place are beautifully painted and you can see the tower of the cathedral very nicely.
  • Even though Toulouse is the city of violets, you can find violet-themed products also in Albi!
  • Interesting places near Albi: Cordes-sur-Ciel! Just an adorable little medieval city with fortified! A bit like Carcassonne, but smaller and surrounded by nature. And there is a chocolate museum!

This is all I can tell you about Albi! Just the Cathedrale Ste-Cécile and the Museum of Toulouse-Lautrect are reasons why you should absolutely visit there if you ever get a chance. It may seem a very small place but it is totally worth a day trip!

If you liked this post, please, leave a comment! I am planning to do more of this kind of introductions to cities I know. Feedback would be much appreciated! Thank you!

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Hi all! Welcome to my blog!

I’m Niina, I come from Finland (out of all places in the world) and I really like travelling. I’ve been lucky to do all sort of cool things in many different countries.

Now I would like to share those experiences to inspire you to go your own adventure. So go explore the stuff I’ve written for you!

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