offwegooo.com
Travel guide
Montpellier
4 days · 8 things to do
Best time to go: May to June, and early September
offwegooo.comPrint it, fold it, take it with you
Welcome
Montpellier, in a few days
A city with no Roman past and no port, founded in the 10th century around a spice trade and made famous by its medical school, the oldest still working in the Western world. Today it is young and lively, with a medieval centre closed to cars, the sea about fifteen kilometres away and trams heading towards it.
- Day by day
- D1 Day 1 2 things
- D2 Day 2 2 things
- D3 Day 3 2 things
- D4 Day 4 2 things
- Worth sorting before you go
- Words that help
- The practical page
- Packing checklist
The trip
Day by day
Map of the sights (numbers follow the suggested order). It prints with the base map.
D1
Day 1
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Place de la Comédie free · about 30 minThe large pedestrian square between the medieval centre and the 19th-century city, closed by the 1888 opera house with the Three Graces fountain in front.
- Afternoon · Musée Fabre · 2 to 3 hA fine art museum founded in 1825, from 17th-century Flemish and Dutch painting to a major Courbet collection and Soulages works given by the artist.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hôtel du Parc€110 a night
D2
Day 2
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Saint-Pierre Cathedral and the medical school free · about 1 hA former monastery chapel with a porch on two huge conical pillars, beside the medical school descended from one founded in 1220.
- Afternoon · Montpellier Botanical Garden free · about 1 hFrance's oldest botanical garden, created in 1593 under Henri IV to teach medical botany, with its original terraces, 19th-century glasshouses and orangery.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hôtel Oceania Le Métropole€135 a night
D3
Day 3
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Promenade du Peyrou and the Saint-Clément aqueduct free · about 1 hA two-level terrace above the city, with a triumphal arch and Louis XIV on horseback, ending at a water tower fed by a two-tier aqueduct.
- Afternoon · Antigone free · about 1 hRicardo Bofill's kilometre of neoclassical squares in precast concrete, begun in the late 1970s, where the columns and pediments front social housing and offices.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hôtel Le Guilhem€130 a night
D4
Day 4
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Château de Flaugergues · about 1 h 30The oldest of Montpellier's country houses, begun in 1696 among vineyards, with a hanging staircase, Flemish tapestries and formal gardens leading into an English park.
- Afternoon · Maguelone Cathedral and Villeneuve beach free · about 2 hA massive 12th-century Romanesque church alone among vines, pines and lagoons on a former island, seat of a bishopric for nearly a thousand years.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hôtel Ulysse€90 a night
Before you go
Worth sorting before you go
📶 eSIM data
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
🛡️ Travel insurance
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
💳 Fee-free card
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
🚐 Airport transfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
Some links are partner links: we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.
Good to know
Flavours & local habits
🍽️ Worth tasting
- Baguette: the daily bread, bought fresh from the boulangerie. Ask for a "tradition", made with nothing but flour, water, salt and yeast.
- Croissant and pain au chocolat: breakfast pastries, best in the morning while still warm.
- The cheese course: served after the main dish and before dessert, from Comté to Camembert.
- Steak frites: the bistro standard. Order it "saignant" for rare or "à point" for medium.
- Galettes and crêpes: savoury buckwheat pancakes from Brittany filled with ham, egg and cheese, then sweet ones for pudding.
- House wine: ordered by the carafe or the "pichet" at lunch, and often better value than a bottle.
⚠️ Best avoided
- Say "bonjour" when you walk into a shop, a bakery or a café, and "au revoir" as you leave. Skipping it comes across as rude.
- Lunch runs from about noon to 2pm and dinner starts around 7.30pm. In between, most restaurant kitchens are closed.
- Most shops close on Sunday, and many small towns shut on Monday too. Bakeries and markets open on Sunday morning.
- Do not pay for bottled water at the table: ask for "une carafe d'eau", tap water that is served free with a meal.
- Around the big Paris sights, walk past anyone with a petition or a friendship bracelet. They are there to distract you while someone else takes your wallet.
Getting by
Words that help
English ↔ French
| English | French |
|---|---|
| Hello | Bonjour |
| Thank you | Merci |
| Please | S'il vous plaît |
| Yes | Oui |
| No | Non |
| Excuse me | Excusez-moi |
| Goodbye | Au revoir |
| Do you speak English? | Parlez-vous anglais ? |
| I don't understand | Je ne comprends pas |
| How much is it? | Combien ça coûte ? |
| Where are the toilets? | Où sont les toilettes ? |
| The bill, please | L'addition, s'il vous plaît |
| Help! | Au secours ! |
| Cheers! | Santé ! |
The essentials
The practical page
CurrencyEuro (EUR, €)
BudgetAbout €105 a day, mid-range
Best seasonMay to June, and early September
PlugC/E · 230V
Tap waterSafe to drink
TippingService is included by law, round up
Emergency112
EntrySchengen area: an ID card or passport for EU citizens, 90 days visa-free for UK, US, Canadian and Australian passports.
HealthNo specific vaccination needed. Check that tetanus, diphtheria, polio and MMR are up to date.
Scan to open this guide online, always up to date.
https://offwegooo.com/en/guides/montpellier
Don't forget
Packing checklist
Have a good trip.
Guide made on offwegooo.com · Photos via Pexels · Details are indicative, check before you leave.