Maourine Park in Toulouse: guide and practical information
A veritable green lung to the north of the city, the Maourine park in Toulouse collects a great botanical diversity. With its surface area of 14 hectares, it is a real focal point since 12 kilometers of paths join it. Opened in 2003, the space also houses the gardens of the Museum of Toulouse. Back to the history of Maourine Park.
History of the Maourine park in Toulouse
Unlike the green spaces of the hypercentre of Toulouse, the Parc de la Maourine was only created recently, in the 2000s. The development of the garden was decided at the same time as the creation of the Borderouge district, where many housing and shops have been built and are now served by Toulouse transport. The Borderouge district was created on former land of market gardeners in Lalande and Croix Daurade
“While safeguarding the natural area, we have created a succession of gardens irrigated by a small canal and a pond, places particularly popular with ducks”, specifies Francis Fantoni, referent of the design office of the Spaces Department green, at the town hall of Toulouse.
It is not for nothing that the site is taxed as a bouquet of diversity: it contains various species from the four corners of the world. Among the most remarkable: a 150-year-old palm tree, imported from Chile and protected as it is an endangered variety. Visitors can also find a maze of boxwood, a garden of Mediterranean plants and also the gardens of the Museum of Toulouse.
The gardens of the Museum in Borderouge
It is an annex of the Toulouse Museum, a few kilometers from its location, on the Jules-Guesde alleys. For several years, the Maourine Park has indeed hosted the museum’s gardens, where young and old can immerse themselves in nature. They were created around the Maourine pond and are aimed at everyone, initiates as simply curious.
What to do in Maourine Park?
Admire the gardens of the Toulouse Museum
Transition point between the urban area of the Borderouge district and the vegetation, the Shade of the Museum allows walkers to cut themselves off from the city to continue their visit. An eight-meter-high wooden trellis helps soften the air, complemented by the chirping of birds and the trickling of water. Aquatic plants and rocks are also visible.
A true concentrate of plants, the vegetable gardens of the world allow you to discover around 700 varieties of food plants, fruits and vegetables. Passers-by can notably admire curiosities such as witch’s claws, elephant’s head amaranth, snake gourd or even sponge gourd.
In order to complete the visit to the annex of the museum, Toulouse residents can continue with the discovery of the thematic gardens: the garden of Bacchus, containing plants used in the production of alcohol, the garden of aromatic plants, the square of the tropics and finally the sweet garden where the fruits and plants used in the composition of jams, syrups and other delicacies are displayed.
Baptized the forgotten path, a corner of the Maourine park is aptly named: this preserved natural space spreads over three hectares where the reeds that have completely invaded the pond flourish. An environment where animals – and especially birds – have taken up residence in order to enjoy the flora while staying away from predators. Note that the gardens of the Museum in Borderouge are open from Tuesday to Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. from May 2 to October 31. On these schedules, walkers can walk them independently but marauders are there to answer questions.
Discover how a beehive works in the Maourine Park
They are insects that are victims of climate change and yet essential to biodiversity. Within the Museum gardens in Maourine Park, it is possible to learn about the functioning of bees thanks to the educational hive installed at the request of the municipal council of children of Toulouse. Inside is a swarm of bees that visitors can observe in the shelter behind thick glass. Every last Sunday of the month, a beekeeper welcomes the curious to explain to them how a hive works and the life of bees.
A guided tour of the gardens of the Museum
© Marion Bernard/The Independent Opinion
If it is possible to stroll within the gardens of the Museum according to its desires, guided visits are also regularly organized. With a departure from the Ombrière, the route then passes through the vegetable gardens of the world with explanations of food plants and their evolution over time and the seasons. A walk that then ends with the observation of the Roselière. This mini-tour lasts approximately 30 minutes and is held on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday at 12 noon. A longer excursion, lasting one hour, is also organized on Wednesday and Saturday at 3 p.m. and on Sunday at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. The activity is accessible to children from 3 years old.
To discover what is hidden under the reeds of the forgotten path, a visit of one hour or 30 minutes is entirely dedicated to it. Walkers are called upon to open their senses to the cracking of branches and the sound of birds. One-hour visit on Wednesday and Saturday at 4.30 p.m. and on Sunday at 10.30 a.m., 2.30 p.m. and 4.30 p.m. The 30-minute excursions are scheduled on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday at 4 p.m. Accessible to children accompanied by an adult from 7 years old.
Go in search of toads in the Maourine park
This is one of the peculiarities of Maourine park in Borderouge : it is home to “a variety of toad endemic to the region”, indicates the town hall of Toulouse on its website. Baptized cultriped pelobate, it measures on average between 7 and 9 centimeters. It has a distinctive sign: its hind legs are made up of knives allowing it to bury itself in the ground. This peculiarity sometimes earned him the name of “knife toad”.
Of a yellow-green color, these toads have brown spots. The male’s song resembles the clucking of a hen. The cultriped pelobate is a fine mosquito hunter, since it consumes these insects. A species to discover in the Maourine park, where two males and a female live.
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Discover plants from different environments in the Maourine park
When creation of the Maourine parkit was decided to set up atmospheric gardens, four in number, where the people of Toulouse can find botanical species specific to each environment: the moor, the marsh (iris, water lilies), the Pyrenean mountain stream (pebbles, plants from the wet places), scrubland (Mediterranean plants, limestone rocks).
What do we find in the Maourine park in Toulouse?
With its large area, the Maourine park in Toulouse contains many infrastructures and gardens to discover. Here is the list:
- The Jubea Garden
- The boxwood maze
- The shade garden
- The dry garden
- The vegetable gardens of the world in the natural history museum
- The orchard
- The educational labyrinth of biodiversity, created in April 2018
- Four atmospheric gardens
- The herb garden
- Two play areas
- 13 nest boxes
- 3 caniparks
Practical information on the Maourine park in Toulouse
Prices for visiting the park
Prices: 3 euros for adults, 2 euros reduced price (children aged 6 to 17, students, people with disabilities, people over 65, job seekers, teachers).
Free for every first Sunday of each month, for children under 6, holders of the Toulouse Tourism Pass, the ICOM card, press card and those accompanying people with disabilities.
How to get to the Maourine park in Toulouse?
Address: 24-26 Avenue Maurice Bourges Maunoury, Borderouge, 31200 Toulouse
Maourine Park is accessible by transport via metro line B, Borderouge station.
Where to park near Maourine Park?
- Maourine square car park
- Park and ride Tisséo Borderouge
The opening hours of the Maourine park in Toulouse
Open from May 3 to October 31, Tuesday to Sunday from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. The park is closed on Mondays.
Between November 1 and May 1, Maourine Park is closed to visits. However, the gardens remain open for gourmet workshops, gardening workshops, nature discovery workshops and group reservations.
Things to do around Maourine Park
A few cultural or leisure venues are near the Maourine park: the BBB art center, the Violette theatre, the Utopia Borderouge cinema, the Metronum performance hall, the Toulouse-Lautrec swimming pool, the Maourines.
Restaurants around the Maourine park in Toulouse
- La Noria, 11 Rue Edouard Pailleron, 31200 Toulouse, in the heart of the Museum’s gardens.
- Makao, 2 rue Ernest-Renan, 550 m.
- La Cucina di Nino, 2 rue des Trois Pigeons, 800 m.
- Mona Pizza, 9 rue Louise-Weiss, 800 m.
- Nelsao, 61 avenue Maurice-Bourgès-Maunoury, 900 m.
Hotels near Maourine Park
2 star hotels
- Hotel des Etats-Unis, 230 avenue des Etats-Unis 31200 Toulouse, 05 61 47 50 14.
- Ibis budget Center Gare, 27 Boulevard des Minimes 31200 Toulouse, 0 5 61 13 30 54
- Aparthotel Adagio access Jolimont, 11 Avenue Léon Blum 31500 Toulouse, 05 34 30 28 00
3 star hotels
- Campanile Toulouse Nord L’union, ZAC de Cantemerle, 31240 L’Union, 05 62 89 24 30
- One Bedroom Hotel in Town, 67 bis Rue des Chalets 31000 Toulouse, 0 806 11 02 83
- Sporting House Hotel – Toulouse, 272 route de Launaguet 31200 Toulouse, 05 34 40 50 58
4 star hotels
- Néméa Appart’Hôtel Residence Concorde, 16 Boulevard Bonrepos 31000 Toulouse, 05 62 16 14 42
- Best Western Hotel Innes, 13 bis Rue Matabiau 31000 Toulouse, 05 61 63 10 63
- Privilege Appart Hotel Saint-Exupéry, 10 Rue Lafon 31000 Toulouse, 05 34 41 72 72
5 star hotels
- Pullman Toulouse Center Ramblas, 84, allées Jean Jaurès 31000 Toulouse, 05 61 10 23 10
- La Cour des Consuls Hotel and Spa, 46 rue des Couteliers 31000 Toulouse, 05 67 16 19 99
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