Things to do in Montpellier

Montpellier is the capital of the Hérault department, in southern France, about 12 km from the Mediterranean. Its university dates from 1289. The old centre is a shield-shaped maze, the Écusson, and most of it is closed to cars.

The squares and the terraces

• Place de la Comédie. The oval main square the locals call the Egg, with the Three Graces fountain and the opera house at one end.
• Saint-Pierre Cathedral. Gothic, with a porch that rests on two tall round pillars.
• Musée Fabre. The fine-art museum, strong on Courbet and on Pierre Soulages.
• Promenade du Peyrou. A raised terrace at the western end, entered through a triumphal arch of 1692. The Saint-Clément aqueduct once fed the water tower at its far end.
• Jardin des Plantes. A botanical garden founded in 1593.

What gets booked, and what lies beyond

City games played on a phone dominate the bookings. One walks the squares and the Peyrou in about two hours; another turns the same streets into a ghost-story quest. Private transfers run to Barcelona and Lyon.

• Palavas-les-Flots. The nearest beach town, about 12 km south.
• Sète. A fishing port on the coast, reached by train in under half an hour.
• Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert. An abbey village in a gorge, under an hour by car.
• Pont du Gard. The Roman aqueduct bridge, about an hour away.

Practical

• Weather. July highs reach about 30C. January days run near 11C, with nights around 3C. Heavy autumn downpours are the one weather to plan around.
• Getting here. Paris is about three and a half hours by TGV. The airport lies a few kilometres east of the city.
• Getting around. The centre is walkable. Trams cover the rest of the city.
• Meal times. Lunch runs from noon to about two. Dinner rarely starts before half past seven.