Begin your journey at Toulouse's grand railway terminus, where your audio guide uncovers the unexpected origin of the name "Matabiau" — Occitan for "kill the ox", linked by legend to the bull that dragged Saint Saturnin to his martyrdom. Look closer at the early 20th-century façade and discover artistic details most travellers rush straight past.

Stand before one of the largest surviving Romanesque churches in Europe, a UNESCO World Heritage site on the historic Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage route. Your audio guide reveals the dramatic martyrdom of Saint Saturnin, the basilica's namesake, and points out symbolic carvings that pilgrims have touched for close to a thousand years.

Marvel at Toulouse's strangest architectural puzzle — a cathedral that looks like two mismatched buildings fused awkwardly together, the visible result of five centuries of stop-start construction. Your narrator walks you through the changing plans and budgets that produced this asymmetry. It's a building that rewards a slow, curious look rather than a quick photograph.

Step into Toulouse's gastronomic heart, where your audio guide turns a simple market visit into a rich piece of local culture. Learn how the 1892 iron market hall was replaced in 1959 by today's market-and-car-park building, and meet — through the narration — the artisanal producers whose families have worked the same stalls for generations. You'll also hear how the stalls supply the restaurants on the market's first floor.

Step into a 19th-century neo-Romanesque and neo-Byzantine church that locals treasure but most visitors miss entirely. Your audio guide unpacks the story of why its planned bell tower was never built — the money ran out, leaving the church unfinished. The stained-glass windows carry symbolism your narrator decodes scene by scene.

Find a genuinely serene pocket of Toulouse in this Japanese garden, created in 1981 at the wish of Mayor Pierre Baudis and modelled on the gardens of Kyoto. Your audio guide explains the deliberate symbolism behind the red bridge, the choice of maple varieties, and the careful placement of every stone. You'll also hear how the city's own gardeners designed it and still maintain it.

Experience Toulouse's civic heart, the seat of municipal power for more than 800 years. Your audio guide reveals the ancient Roman ruins uncovered beneath the square during car-park construction, the rare statue of Henri IV made in his lifetime that stands in the Henri IV courtyard, and the Hall of Illustrious paintings that retell great moments of Toulouse's history.

Step inside this extraordinary Dominican church, where a single "palm tree" column bursts into 22 soaring ribs in a feat of medieval engineering. Your audio guide recounts the audacious operation that brought the remains of Thomas Aquinas here in 1369.

Venture into a church whose site, according to tradition, was once a Roman temple said to be dedicated to Apollo. Your narrator explains how shimmering golden mosaics gave the site its name "Daurade" — meaning "golden" — and introduces the Black Madonna (today's statue is an 1807 replacement for one burned in 1799), long venerated as protector of the city and of expectant mothers.

Stroll along Toulouse's most scenic riverbank as your audio guide opens a window onto its river-port past. Hear about the boatmen who once worked the Garonne from this historic port, and the devastating floods that shaped the city's long, complicated relationship with its river.

Finish at Toulouse's iconic Pont Neuf — ironically the city's oldest surviving bridge, despite a name that means "New Bridge." Your audio guide explains the 16th–17th-century engineering behind its distinctive asymmetrical design, why it was built free of the houses and shops that crowded medieval bridges, and the floods it has withstood across the centuries.