Occitanie

Occitanie is France's 2nd largest region by area (72,700 km²) — 2016 merger of Languedoc-Roussillon and Midi-Pyrénées. It stretches from the Mediterranean shores (from Camargue to the Spanish border, 220 km of coast) to the Massif Central and the Central Pyrenees (highest point: Vignemale, 3,298 m). This geographical diversity translates into exceptional tourist wealth, structured around several world-recognised sites.

Carcassonne (UNESCO since 1997) is Europe's largest fortified medieval city, with 3 km of ramparts, 52 towers, two concentric walls. It welcomes 4 million visitors per year — it's France's 5th tourist site. The Pont du Gard (UNESCO since 1985), a 50 m high Roman aqueduct built in the 1st century, is one of the most impressive Roman Empire remains in Europe. Toulouse (France's 4th city, 480,000 inner inhabitants), nicknamed "La Ville Rose" (the Pink City) for its constructions in brick foraine, houses the Saint-Sernin basilica (Europe's largest Romanesque church), Place du Capitole, the Carmes district, and the Cité de l'Espace (CNES, Airbus).

Occitanie also unfolds exceptional landscapes. The Tarn Gorges and the Hérault Gorges carve limestone plateaus sculpted by erosion. The Cévennes (UNESCO since 2011) are an exceptional cultural landscape of Mediterranean agro-pastoralism. The Cirque de Gavarnie (UNESCO) is the most spectacular natural amphitheatre of the Pyrenees (1,700 m drop, 422 m waterfall). The Camargue (shared with PACA) offers its unique landscapes of marshes, black bulls and pink flamingos. Vineyards cover 220,000 hectares (France's largest vineyard by area) with renowned AOCs: Minervois, Corbières, Faugères, Saint-Chinian, Languedoc, Côtes du Roussillon, Limoux (sparkling wines).

The Mediterranean coast is one of France's longest: 220 km from the Rhône delta to the Spanish border. Family resorts (La Grande-Motte, Cap d'Agde), maritime cities (Sète, Collioure), fishing ports (Le Grau-du-Roi, Port-Vendres).