Montpellier

A sunny university city in the south of France, where the Place de la Comédie and an ancient medical school bear witness to centuries of learning, with the medieval village of Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert, the canal port of Sète and Mediterranean beaches nearby.

Montpellier is one of the capitals of the Occitanie region and the prefecture of the Hérault department, about 10 km from the Mediterranean. One of France's fastest-growing cities, it is known for having Europe's oldest medical school still in operation (dating back to the 12th century) and a large student population, giving it a young, walkable feel.

Core areas: the old town, known as the Écusson, starts at the Place de la Comédie and leads west past the Musée Fabre, flagstone lanes and the courtyards of private mansions to Saint-Pierre Cathedral, the medical school and the Jardin des Plantes; at its western end are the Arc de Triomphe, the Promenade du Peyrou and the Saint-Clément Aqueduct. East of the square, Ricardo Bofill's neoclassical Antigone district stretches all the way to the Lez river. Just 10 km south are the beaches of Palavas-les-Flots and the cathedral on the Maguelone headland.

Day trips: 50 km northwest, the medieval village of Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert, the Pont du Diable and the Grotte de Clamouse can be combined in one day; to the north, Pic Saint-Loup is good for hiking and wine tasting; 30 km southwest, the canal port of Sète is the place for oysters from the Étang de Thau; about 35 km southeast, the walled town of Aigues-Mortes with its pink salt marshes and the dune beaches of L'Espiguette are often paired with the Camargue; the more remote Cirque de Navacelles requires a car.

Getting there: the TGV from Paris takes about 3.5 hours, and a shuttle bus runs from Montpellier Airport into town. Four tram lines cover the main sights; a car is the easiest way to reach the surrounding area, though Sète and Aigues-Mortes are also served by train. Plan on 2–4 days. The climate is Mediterranean: summers are hot and dry, autumn sometimes brings torrential storms (the "épisodes cévenols"), and winters are mild.

Top sights

• Place de la Comédie – Montpellier's city living room, a pedestrian square framed by an opera house and the Fountain of the Three Graces. It is the starting point…
• L'Écusson (Old Town) – A medieval old town named after its shield-shaped outline, full of stone alleys, courtyards of private mansions and small shops.
• Promenade du Peyrou – A 17th-century royal terrace garden at the western end of the old town, where a statue of Louis XIV on horseback and a hexagonal water towe…
• Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert – One of France's most beautiful villages, a medieval stone village in a gorge, home to the UNESCO-listed Gellone Abbey on the Camino de Sant…
• Aigues-Mortes – A fully walled medieval city from which Saint Louis set out on the Crusades. You can walk the entire circuit of its ramparts.
• Arc de Triomphe (Porte du Peyrou) – A triumphal arch built in 1691 to celebrate Louis XIV, with a viewing terrace over the Promenade du Peyrou and the rooftops of the old town.
• Aqueduc Saint-Clément – A double-tiered arched aqueduct built in the 18th century in imitation of the Pont du Gard, stretching about 800 meters from the Promenade…
• Musée Fabre – One of France's major art museums, with works by Courbet, Bazille, Soulages and other masters.
• Montpellier Cathedral (Saint-Pierre) – A Gothic cathedral converted from a 14th-century abbey church. Its porch, supported by two massive conical-topped columns, is instantly rec…
• Faculty of Medicine of Montpellier – The oldest medical school in the world still in use, where Nostradamus and Rabelais once studied.
• Jardin des Plantes de Montpellier – The oldest botanical garden in France, founded in 1593, with ancient trees, greenhouses and a medicinal plant garden that are free to visit.
• Antigone – A neoclassical district designed by architect Ricardo Bofill, with a grand axis running from Place de la Comédie to the Lez River.
• Halles Castellane – A covered iron-framed market in the heart of the old town, offering Languedoc cheeses, oysters, prepared foods and local specialties.
• MO.CO. Hôtel des collections – A contemporary art center known for rotating exhibitions drawn from private and institutional collections around the world, with a garden o…
• Planet Ocean Montpellier – A large aquarium and planetarium in the Odysseum shopping district, with a shark tunnel and penguin area that suit families.
• Montpellier Zoo (Lunaret) – A free 80-hectare forest zoo with an Amazon tropical greenhouse, ideal for a half-day outing with children.
• Palavas-les-Flots – The Mediterranean seaside town closest to central Montpellier, with a long beach, a fishing harbor canal and seafood restaurants.
• Maguelone Cathedral – A Romanesque fortress church on an island between a lagoon and the sea, surrounded by vineyards and wild beaches.
• Pont du Diable (Hérault) – An 11th-century Romanesque stone bridge spanning the Hérault gorge, a World Heritage site, with clear green water below for swimming and pa…
• Grotte de Clamouse – A limestone cave famous for its pure white aragonite crystals, visited on a guided tour of about an hour and close to the Pont du Diable. I…
• Pic Saint-Loup – The iconic limestone peak north of Montpellier. From the summit you look over vineyards and the Mediterranean, and the foothills produce re…
• Cirque de Navacelles – A giant crescent-shaped canyon carved by the Vis River, one of France's 'great landscapes', with a village and waterfalls on the canyon flo…
• Grotte des Demoiselles – A huge cave reached by cable car, with a 'cathedral' chamber about 50 meters high and a stalagmite resembling the Virgin and Child.
• Lac du Salagou – A reservoir ringed by red 'rougiers' hills, with a Mars-like landscape of red earth and blue-green water, close to the Mourèze rock formati…
• Pézenas – A small craft town where Molière once performed, with Renaissance mansions, courtyards and artisan workshops throughout the old town.
• Sète – 'The Venice of Languedoc', a harbor city of canals known for water jousting and seafood.
• Mont Saint-Clair – A small hill in Sète offering panoramic views of the Thau lagoon, the Mediterranean and the whole city, with a seaside cemetery on its slop…
• Étang de Thau & Bouzigues – The largest oyster-farming lagoon on the French Mediterranean, where you can eat freshly harvested oysters and mussels by the water at Bouz…
• Salins d'Aigues-Mortes – Vast salt pans that turn pink from salt-loving microalgae, with white salt mounds, flamingos and wetlands to see from a little train.
• Plage de l'Espiguette – A natural dune beach on the edge of the Camargue, with more than ten kilometers of undeveloped sand, a lighthouse and wild dunes.

Where to eat

• Le Jardin des Sens – A Michelin-starred restaurant run by the Pourcel brothers, located inside a historic hotel in the Old Town, representin…
• L'Artichaut – A Michelin Bib Gourmand bistro on a pedestrian street in the Old Town, offering excellent value seasonal French cuisine…
• Ébullition – An intimate 18-seat Michelin-starred restaurant in a historic house, where the chef presents creative Mediterranean cui…
• Reflet d'Obione – Chef Laurent Cherchi's Michelin-starred restaurant, known for its sustainable philosophy and a complete vegan tasting m…
• Terminal #1 – A bistronomic restaurant opened by the Pourcel brothers in a converted old wine warehouse, featuring a striking industr…
• Tôt ou Tard – A neighborhood bistro with a terrace under plane trees on Place de la Chapelle Neuve, loved by locals for its tapas, pr…

Itineraries

• Languedoc Castles to Roussillon Coast – Head south from Montpellier to Perpignan, connecting canals, Cathar castles, and the small port of Collioure.
• Barcelona to Nice South France Panorama – Cross the French Mediterranean coast, connecting cities by train and renting a car for the Provence segment.