Montpellier is a teeming, energetic city on the south coast of France, which competes alongside Toulouse as the most dynamic city in the south. With the atmospheric pedestrianised streets of the Old Town to explore, and the large student population setting the cultural and intellectual tone of the city, you can understand why the city is renowned for it’s cultural life. The city hosts a variety of annual festivals, including Montpellier Danse (late June to mid-July), and for music, Le Festival de Radio-France et de Montpellier (second half of July).

The nearest beaches for a dip are at Palavas (tram direction “Odysseum” to Port Marianne, then bus #28), but the best are slightly to the west of the town.

Getting to Montpellier

The city is served by railway, including TGV highspeed trains.

The Montpellier – Méditerranée Airport is located in the area of Fréjorgues, in the town of Mauguio, southeast of Montpellier.

Benjamin of Tudela, a 12th century Jewish traveller, reported the streets of Montpellier to be crowded with traders from every corner of Egypt, Greece, Gaul, Spain, Genoa and Pisa. After the King of Mallorca sold it to France in 1349, the city became an important university town (the university is one of the oldest in the world established in 1289), counting the radical satirist François Rabelais among it’s alumni.

Periodic setbacks, including almost total destruction for its Protestantism in 1622, and depression in the wine trade in the early years of the twentieth century, have not hindered the growth of this now bustling city on the southern coast of France.