Écusson
First-timersThe medieval centre: pedestrian lanes, squares, bars and most of the beds. Noisy at night and central.
Montpellier city guide
Montpellier Travel Guide
Southern, young and walkable: a medieval tangle of a centre, the oldest working medical school in the world, and the Mediterranean ten minutes away by tram.
4
Hostels in the city
8.9
Average, from 2,339 reviews
1220
The medical school founded, and still teaching
70,000
Students in a city of about 300,000
10 min
To the beach by tram and bus
The youngest city in France, with a beach attached
Montpellier has one of the youngest populations of any French city — around seventy thousand students in a city of three hundred thousand — and it feels it. The bars are cheap, the squares are full on a Tuesday, and nothing about the place is stately.
The centre, called the Écusson for its shield shape, is a knot of medieval lanes with almost no cars in it, opening suddenly onto the Place de la Comédie, which is one of the largest pedestrian squares in Europe.
The medical faculty was founded in 1220 and has taught continuously since, making it the oldest working medical school in the world; Rabelais and Nostradamus both studied here.
Unlike most of the French Mediterranean, Montpellier is not actually on the sea — it sits about ten kilometres inland, with tram and bus links to the beaches at Palavas and Carnon.
Two days, plus a beach afternoon.
Where to stay
A pedestrian medieval core with newer quarters spreading south towards the sea.
Comédie and Gare
Transport and valueAround the main square and Saint-Roch station: trams to everywhere and cheaper rooms.
Beaux-Arts and Boutonnet
Local and quieterNorth: a residential quarter with good restaurants, markets and fewer visitors.
Antigone
Modern and spaciousEast: a neoclassical postmodern district of the 1980s, walkable to the centre and the river.
Orange labels are neighbourhoods, dots are the 4 top-rated hostels. Map data from OpenStreetMap contributors.
Things to do
Things to do in Montpellier
Walk the Écusson. It is a medieval street plan almost entirely free of cars, full of small squares, seventeenth-century mansions with courtyards, and the kind of wandering that does not need a map.
The Musée Fabre, about €8, is a serious fine art collection — Courbet, Delacroix, Soulages — and considerably better than a city this size would normally hold.
The Jardin des Plantes, founded in 1593, is the oldest botanical garden in France and is free.
The Place de la Comédie is the social centre and one of the largest pedestrian squares in Europe, running into the Esplanade and the Corum at the top.
Then go to the beach: tram to Port Marianne or Pérols and a bus onward to Palavas or Carnon, about forty minutes and a couple of euros. Or go inland instead — the Pic Saint-Loup, a limestone ridge with vineyards below it, is an hour away.
Free things
Free things to do in Montpellier
The Écusson costs nothing and is the main attraction — lanes, squares, courtyards and a total absence of traffic.
The Jardin des Plantes, founded in 1593, is free, as is the Promenade du Peyrou with its arch, aqueduct and view towards the sea and the Cévennes.
The Place de la Comédie and the Esplanade are free and are where the city actually spends its evenings.
The cathedral and the medical faculty buildings beside it are free from outside, and the anatomy museum is free on certain days.
The beaches at Palavas and Carnon are free, and the walk along the étangs — the coastal lagoons full of flamingos — costs only the bus fare.
Food and drink
Eating and drinking in Montpellier
Cheap, because of the students. A lunch formule is €12 to €17 and plenty of places do less.
Halles Castellane and the Halles Laissac are the covered markets, with counter lunches at €8 to €14 and the Mediterranean catch on display.
Languedoc food is southern rather than Provençal — brandade de morue, a whipped salt cod and olive oil dish, plus Bouzigues oysters from the étang de Thau just west of the city at €10 to €16 a dozen.
Pâté de Montpellier and the local tielle, a small octopus pie from Sète, are worth trying once.
Languedoc wine is the other advantage: Pic Saint-Loup, Faugères, Picpoul de Pinet, at €3.50 to €5.50 a glass and consistently better value than its neighbours.
Nightlife
Going out in Montpellier
One of the best student nights in the south, and cheap with it.
The Écusson squares — Place Jean Jaurès, Place Saint-Roch, Place de la Canourgue — fill with people drinking outside from early evening, which is the local pattern and costs almost nothing.
Rue de la Loge and the lanes off it have the bars, and a handful of clubs sit east near the river.
A beer is €4 to €6 and cocktails €7 to €11, with student nights lower again.
Summer moves the whole thing to the beaches at Palavas and La Grande-Motte, which have their own club scene from June to September.
Trams run to about half past midnight, later at weekends.
Getting around
Getting around Montpellier
Trams cost about €1.60 with day tickets, and four lines cover the city. The trams are individually decorated — one set was designed by Christian Lacroix — which is a small thing that makes the city feel like itself.
The Écusson is almost entirely pedestrian, so walking is the default in the centre.
There are two stations: Saint-Roch in the middle of town for most services, and Sud de France outside the city for some TGVs. Check which one your ticket says, because they are a tram ride apart.
Paris is three and a quarter hours by TGV, Barcelona about three hours, and Marseille an hour and a half.
For the beach, tram then bus to Palavas or Carnon, roughly forty minutes in total.
Costs
What Montpellier costs
Cheap for the French Mediterranean. Dorms are €20 to €35, a lunch formule €12 to €17, and a beer €4 to €6.
A day is €45 to €80, which is well under Nice and slightly under Marseille.
The Écusson, the gardens, the Peyrou and the beaches are all free, and the beach costs only a tram and bus fare.
The Musée Fabre at about €8 is the main entry.
Term time keeps prices honest; July and August push beds up as the coast fills, though less sharply than on the Riviera.
Safety
Staying safe in Montpellier
Montpellier is a safe city and the crime affecting visitors is petty theft.
Pickpocketing happens around the Comédie, on trams and in the Écusson at night.
The Écusson squares get very drunk at weekends in term time, which is the main source of trouble and mostly avoidable.
At the beaches, the Mediterranean here shelves gently but the étangs and the channels between lagoon and sea have real currents. Swim on the patrolled beach sections in season.
Summers are hot, regularly above 32°C, and the Écusson holds the heat. The tramontane wind blows hard for days at a time and drops the felt temperature noticeably. Emergency number is 112.
Day trips from Montpellier
A beach, a gorge village, an oyster lagoon and a Roman aqueduct.
Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert
A medieval village in a gorge on the Santiago pilgrim route, with an abbey and the Pont du Diable nearby.
Pont du Gard
A three-tier Roman aqueduct bridge, UNESCO-listed, with swimming in the river beneath it.
Nîmes
A Roman amphitheatre in better condition than the Colosseum, still used for concerts and bullfights.
What's on
What is on while you are there
A dance festival in June, and water jousting along the coast in summer.
Staff pick
27 Nov – 31 Dec
Montpellier Christmas Market
Each winter, Montpellier, France, hosts the Hivernales Christmas Market, transforming the Promenade du Peyrou into a festive wonderland. Visitors can stroll among charming wooden…
Staff pick
20 Nov – 6 Dec
Eat As We Sow: Festival of the 4 Seasons (Autumn-Winter)
Eat As We Sow: Festival of the 4 Seasons (Autumn-Winter) in Montpellier, France, invites visitors to explore the world of sustainable agriculture and local…
Staff pick
30 Jan – 14 Feb
Les Myceliades
Les Mycéliades in Montpellier, France, is a unique cultural event that brings together cinema, literature, comics, and video games to explore the theme of…
Staff pick
27 November
World Magic Festival
Experience the wonder of the World Magic Festival in Montpellier, where some of the most acclaimed magicians from around the globe gather to present…
Staff pick
29 November
20 km de Montpellier
The 20 km de Montpellier is a celebrated charity race that invites runners of all levels to tackle a scenic and challenging course through…
Staff pick
1–6 December
Festival Sud de Sciences (South Science Festival)
Festival Sud de Sciences in Montpellier, France, invites the public to explore the latest scientific discoveries through a curated selection of thought-provoking films, all…
Staff pick
4 December
Kid Francescoli
Kid Francescoli, the acclaimed Marseille-based electro-pop artist, brings his signature blend of retro synths, modern grooves, and mesmerizing vocals to Montpellier, France. Known for…
Staff pick
4–6 December
L’Illuminé Festival
L’Illuminé Festival in Montpellier, France, is a celebration of animated film that welcomes audiences of all ages to experience the magic of animation. The…
Hostels
Where to stay in Montpellier
A modest scene around the Écusson and the station, at low southern prices. Live from Hostelworld.
When to go
April to June and September to October. July and August are hot and the students are gone.
Jan
Mild and bright. Cheapest, students in, bars full
Feb
Mild and quiet outdoors
Mar
Warming. Squares filling again
Apr
Very good. Warm days and everything open
May
Excellent. Terraces, and the sea starts to work
Jun
The best month. Students still in until late June
Jul
Hot and busy. The coast is where everyone goes
Aug
Hotter. Students gone and many cheap places closed
Sep
Superb. Warmest sea, term restarts, city refills
Oct
Very good value and still warm
Nov
Wetter. Quiet and cheap
Dec
Mild and bright, with a Christmas market on the Esplanade
Bar height is temperature. Colour is how busy it gets:
quiet
busy
peak
Average highs. September is the best single month here — the sea is at its warmest, the students come back, and the July crowds have gone.
What your trip will cost
Pick how you travel. Per person per night, in euros.
The beach costs only a tram and bus fare, which keeps the doing line low. July and August run above these figures.
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- Beds—
- Food and drink—
- Getting around—
- Doing things—
Montpellier travel questions
The ones we get asked most.
Is Montpellier on the sea?
No, and this surprises people. It sits about ten kilometres inland. The beaches at Palavas and Carnon are a tram then a bus away, roughly forty minutes and a couple of euros, with flamingo lagoons on the route.
Is it cheaper than Nice or Marseille?
Cheaper than both. Dorms €20 to €35, beer €4 to €6, a day around €45 to €80. Seventy thousand students in a city of three hundred thousand keep the prices down.
What is the Écusson?
The medieval centre, named for its shield shape — a knot of narrow lanes almost entirely free of cars, full of small squares and seventeenth-century courtyards. It costs nothing and it is the main reason to be here.
When should I visit?
September. The sea is at its warmest, the students return and the city refills, and the July and August crowds have gone. April to June is the other good window.
What is worth a day trip?
Sète, thirty minutes away, a working fishing port built across canals with the best seafood on the coast. The Pont du Gard, a three-tier Roman aqueduct with swimming underneath it, is an hour.
Which station do I arrive at?
Saint-Roch is in the middle of town and handles most services. Sud de France sits outside the city and takes some TGVs. They are a tram ride apart, so check your ticket.
What wine should I drink?
Languedoc — Pic Saint-Loup from the ridge an hour north, Picpoul de Pinet from beside the oyster lagoons, Faugères. At €3.50 to €5.50 a glass it is consistently better value than the more famous regions.
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