Halle de La Machine

This is an amazing place with a definite steampunk vibe. The staff were absolutely lovely and gave me a personal tour because I was the only English-speaking person in the crowd. I have no idea what wicked mastermind has created all the machines on display, but he/she definitely is an ingenious and determined artist, and the attention to detail is quite remarkable. This place is a must-see if you are planning to visit Toulouse, and there are plenty of stylish souvenirs available in the gift shop. Go see yourself!

Awesome machines, inspiring art ! A must see in Toulouse : the incredible creations of La Machine. The exhibit is definitely worth a visit, but make sure you follow one of the guides. Great bar, concerts at night. I would not recommend the ride on the Minotaur for once on it you cannot really see much of it... It is actually a lot more impressive when you are next to it as it takes visitors for a ride. There is also a very cool, unique carousel, and a very good playground for kids right across from the Halle.

Made me dream. A place with these beautiful giant machines and some weird and wonderful inventions. The crew are a lot of fun, they do a bit of everything, from touring you around their exhibition, driving the Minator, or serving you water and bread from their fun mechanical creations. Worth a visit if you're around Toulouse

Wish I could get my money back, and I didn't even pay the full price... The coolest thing is the Minotaur, and you can see that for free outside (which you should, it's really spectacular). I think I just missed the point of this place... The machines are oddities, serving no purpose and in somewhat a state of disrepair (musical instruments untuned, bow strings shredded, etc...). There were only 3 people in the entire place to actually demonstrate the machines and you had to sit through their long winded "explanations" (where they tried to milk the audience for half-hearted laughs) before being actually shown the silly thing. So I was just bored and frustrated the entire time. Maybe I'm not French enough to get it 😆 Stopped by the projection room to try to catch a movie clip before heading out, but it's 13 minutes past the start time and nothing has happened yet, so I think I'll give up 🙄

Very steam-punk vibe. Not a bad place, just... Not what I was expecting. Though, to be honest, I'm not sure exactly what I was expecting. There are many 'rube goldberg' style 'music making' machines. Visitors cannot touch them, but the Halle has people that roam and do demonstrations. I think that may be the thing that was slightly less than what I expected - it wasn't hands on at all. Everything is look at (or listen to) but don't touch. They do have a giant (3 story tall) minotaur/centaur machine that you can purchase a ride on (with many other people). It is NOT a fast thing, but interesting. That said, it's very popular, so if you want to do that, get there early. Tickets for that sell out quick. Also, just next to the Halle is a really nice playground, so it is definitely worth visiting if you have kids. All in all - worth a visit once, probably not worth multiple trips, IMO.