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Montpellier

France.com

Montpellier is the principal city in the Languedoc-Roussillon region in southwest France.

Access

By car

From the A9 motorway, take either of the 5 exits that serve Montpellier:

The A75 is free of charge between Clermont-Ferrand and Montpellier.

Park at a tramway statiion (eg Occitanie, Jacou) and take a tram – parking in the town centre can be hard.

By train

Montpellier's main train station is Montpellier St. Roch. It is serviced by a TGV connection from Paris, 3hr 15m, Lille, 4hr 50m and Lyon, 1hr 40m, Valence 1hr 45m, Nice 4 to 5 hrs. It is also serviced by the Talgo service to Barcelona. Most destinations in Southern France are also easily accessible by rail from Montpellier.

By plane

Montpellier M̩diterran̩e Airport, formerly Fr̩jorgues Airport, is situated on the outskirts, a bus service called navette operates to the centre of Montpellier Рalthough the driver does not feel that much bound to the schedule (10 minutes off the time is usual; driving time around 20 minutes).

The airport is fairly well connected by way of Air France's central hub in Paris. Ryanair flys from Brussels-Charleroi – (CRL), Frankfurt-Hahn (HHN), London-Stansted (STN), although on a reduced timetable over the winter months and there are also regular flights to Copenhagen with Sterling.

From May 1st 2008 EasyJet will run a service from London Gatwick. Transavia.com is also offering direct flights Amsterdam – Montpellier.

By boat

The nearest sea port, situated in Sète has ferry crossings to the Balearic Islands, Mahgreb and Corsica.

By coach

There is a coachstation situated in the city centre, less than 500m from the main train station.

 Transportation

By bike

The tourist information office have a map Montpellier à vélo, which shows you where the best places to go by bike are, and also indicates places where it is dangerous to cycle. The city has an extensive network of cycle paths, often separated from traffic for added safety. There is also a bike path running all the way to the beaches at Palavas-les-Flots and Carnon. The ride from the city to the beach takes about an hour.

Bikes may be rented at machines in various places in the city centre including Virgin, the tourist office on the place de la comedie and the main TAM velo office, located adjacent to the train station. Just remember if cycling in the old centre that there are streets which are actually staircases and although they are a sight to behold (the rue du bras de fer), a glorified shopper bike will not tackle them as well as a fully suspended Cannondale (guess which one you can hire and which one you can't)!

By bus

Montpellier has a comprehensive public bus system. Many buses leave from stops in front of the train station. Buses use the same tickets as the tram; you can purchase tickets from the automatic machines located at each tram stop, or you may purchase tickets from the driver. If you purchase a ticket from a machine, be sure to validate it in the machine when boarding. One-way tickets cost 1.40 euro and can be reused for transfers up to one hour from the first validation. Round-trip (aller-retour) tickets are 2.30. Also, be warned that bus service is limited on weekends and the last buses run before nine o'clock all week.

The most notable bus lines for visitors are line 28, which runs from the Port Marianne tram station to the beach at Palavas les Flots, and L'Amigo late night bus, which runs from the main bus stop in front of the train station to the nightclubs on the outskirts of town. Please note that the 28 is often crowded, and that in addition, the last stop is actually a twenty-minute walk from the beach itself. Still, this is the best way to get to the beach if you do not have a car.

For more information, see the website for Montpellier Transport.

By car

There are several parking lots in the city centre. However, it is inadvisable to travel in the city centre by car, it gets busy, you will get stuck in traffic and it's not very well signposted. The city centre is also a traffic-free zone! Your best bet is to park by a tram station at the end of a line such as Odysseum on line 1 or Sabines on line 2, but if you do insist on driving on regardless, may I suggest parking in the Polygone shopping centre to save you a lot of your precious spending money!

By tram

The Montpellier tram service features two lines that form an 'X' across the center of town. A third is currently being planned.

The trams tend to be very pleasant way of travelling across the city, they are clean, comfortable, and offer a better view of the city as a whole than traveling on buses. Trams arrive every three to five minutes at peak hours but less frequently at night, once every fifteen minutes. One major advantage of the tram is that it operates until midnight, making much more of the city easily accessible after dark. Ticket prices are the same as for the buses and the tickets are interchangeable.

Purchase tickets before boarding – there are multi-lingual ticket machines at each tram stop. A day pass is available, and recommended for anyone who plans to see anything outside of the centre. Longer-term passes are available as well from the TaM office situated across from the train station.

Sightseeing 

Of particular interest in the old centre

Take a walk on the Esplanade one day when the weather is nice, (most of the time). Lined with trees, benches, a couple of outdoor restaurants, and often the tents of a market selling clothing and food, the
Esplanade is a lovely place to spend the afternoon. Keep to the well lit part at night, unless you wish to buy drugs or be mugged or both (this has improved since a new police station was opened close by recently). The police station is right next to the tourist information building so all your tourism needs are located right next to each other. 

Shopping 

For upscale shoppers, the best bet is in centre-ville. There is an abundance of clothing stores, the most high-end being found on the main streets leading away from the Place de la Comedie and on the rue Foch. For those with a more modest budget, the Polygone shopping center, also near La Comedie, contains a large variety of stores, including major French chains such as Inno and FNAC. There is also a small area in the centre where most of the 'offbeat' shops have typically clustered together, along with plenty of kebab shops and sandwicheries.

If you like to haggle and want a different experience, there is an enormous flea market every Sunday morning. Take the blue line tram all the way to the last stop at Mosson, and then just follow the crowd of people. The market sells just about everything under the sun, including brand-name clothing, movies (mostly pirated), and the usual assortment of household odds and ends. Haggling is the norm but the prices are generally reasonable to start with. The market (marche aux puces) is particularly well-known as a place to buy bicycles, although be sure of the quality before you buy. There have been 'some' reports of stolen bikes turning up at the market as well.

Visit Sauramps bookstore (Le Triangle, at one end of la Comedie) and the Gibert Joseph bookstore (at the Place de la Prefecture). These independent bookstores are real treasure for the city and offer a wide variety of topics and languages.

Restaurants 

Montpellier is very cosmopolitan for a city of its size and has a wide variety of ethnic cuisines available, in addition to traditional French food. The centre features a plethora of over-the-counter sandwich shops and similar places specializing in kebabs (nearly as many of these as there are hair salons and real estate agencies). If you're looking for the classic French cafe experience, try any one of the many bistros near La Place de la Comedie. For a good coffee in a more relaxed atmosphere, there's also a nice cafe near the Louis Blanc tramway stop.

The most classy restaurant in montpellier is " le jardin des sens " ( expensive, very expensive ) there are a bunch of kebabs, there are a lot of small restaurant owned by north african ( des arabes quoi….) cheap fast and good, but you will feel like eating in another continent, some of them don't speak french. you could also try " les doigt de fes " ( from fes in tunisia) the grand mother is cooking. rue du faubourg du courreaux ( at your right side when going inside the town ) spicy chiken, stuffed gallette withe saffron, chicken and vegetables, excellent !!!!

Nightlife 

France is the country for wine and the Languedoc Roussillon region produces more annually than the whole of Australia! There are too many varieties to name here (it deserves its own wiki) but as a pointer for red try a mid priced pic st loup The white for the local seafood and especially the oysters is picpoul de Pinet, no need for lemon juice! During the summer months many people stick to rose, but a lot of restaurants also serve chilled red wine. For sweet-tooths, the neighbouring towns of Lunel and Frontignan produce good quality muscat and have their own appelations.

The aparetif liquor of the south of France is Pastis, which, while not for everyone, is a definite part of the local culture. Pastis should normally be served onto a single ice cube and then diluted to taste. There are, however several bizarre permutations of this drink that can be concoted using grenadine, mint syrup and orgeat (almond and rose flower)

Bars

Clubs

Lodging 

See the listing of the Hotels in Montpellier

Surrounding

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