Tarbes is known for its beautiful garden, the Jardin Massey, which figures on France's official list of Jardins Remarquables. This wonderful landscape park features a network of footpaths and a large number of rare tree species.
A Moorish-inspired mansion topped with an observation tower stands in the middle of the park. It houses the Massey museum which has a collection of fine art and one based on the history of the hussars.
Also worth visiting is the Haras National de Tarbes founded by Napoleon in 1806. A guided tour of this Empire-style group of buildings shows you the stables, stallions of different breeds and a collection of horse-drawn vehicles. The Maison du Cheval there is a museum in a former indoor school dedicated to the world of horses and in particular images of the horse in the Midi-Pyrénées region.
And last but not least, if you’re inspired by the views of the mountains on the horizon to the south you could hop in the car for unforgettable trips into the Pyrenees. The stupendous Cirque de Gavarnie will leave you breathless, as is the colossal natural gap at the Brèche de Roland.
How to get around ?
Tarbes is rather easy by walking, for example you can walk from the Jardin Massey to the Cathedral within ten minutes.
Tarbes has an urban bus service between town centre and suburbs. Note there are no buses on Sundays or Holidays. From Monday to Saturday service ends by 8pm.
Tarbes has a small regional airport known as Tarbes-Lourdes-Pyrenees Airport and is located 9 kilometres southwest of Tarbes. Some of the other nearby airports which offer better connectivity and greater frequency of flights are at Pau, Carcassonne and Toulouse.
Tarbes has good rail connections with the rest of the towns of the region and it also lies on the high speed TGV network of France. SNCF operates the major rail services in France.
Events
Festival Equestria : every July “Equestria” is a horse-riding extravaganza taking over the regal grounds of this noble institution. Over four nights the city celebrates its horse-riding tradition in these sumptuous grounds, welcoming more than 45,000 spectators for blockbuster shows and all kinds of side events.