Montpellier

The charming university town of Montpellier offers grand, belle-époque hotels as well as modern choices in the centre, close to the town’s focal square, the Place de la Comédie. Upper-end hotels include the comfortable, contemporary Mercure Montpellier (6 rue de la Spirale), or the grander, more atmospheric Oceania Montpellier (3 rue Clos René). Central La Villa Nova (9 rue Bornier) is an even more luxurious choice, a designer option centred on a courtyard. For those on lower budgets, there’s still plenty of choice, such as the simple yet pretty Hotel Des Arts (6 boulevard Victor Hugo).

The charming university town of Montpellier offers grand, belle-époque hotels as well as modern choices in the centre, close to the town’s focal square, the Place de la Comédie. Upper-end hotels include the comfortable, contemporary Mercure Montpellier (6 rue de la Spirale), or the grander, more atmospheric Oceania Montpellier (3 rue Clos René). Central La Villa Nova (9 rue Bornier) is an even more luxurious choice, a designer option centred on a courtyard. For those on lower budgets, there’s still plenty of choice, such as the simple yet pretty Hotel Des Arts (6 boulevard Victor Hugo).

Montpellier proffers a fine range of restaurants, running the gamut from student-friendly budget haunts to exponents of haute cuisine. At the upper end, there’s Les Bains de Montpellier (6 rue Richelieu) which has a courtyard where people once splashed in the pool, and booths and bars arranged in the surrounding changing rooms. Tamarillos (2 place du Marché aux Fleurs) is a similarly special restaurant, with dishes based around fruit, created by renowned chef Philippe Chapon. At the other end of the scale, simple restaurants such as Le Cyrilou (15 rue Aristide Ollivier) provide delicious traditional French cooking at extremely reasonable prices.

FISE Montpellier

May

The FISE (International Festival of Extreme Sports) brings together the best international riders in skateboard, roller, BMX, Mountain Bike and wakeboard for a huge actions sports event.

Festival des Architectures Vives

June

Around 70 mansions in the city that are usually off limits to the public throw their doors open to visitors; but this event also celebrates the work of the new generations of architects, landscape architects, urban planners, and designers with exhibitions all over Montpellier.

Montpellier Danse

June-July

This annual dance festival is one of Montpellier’s major cultural events, where the world’s best choreographers meet and more than 30 companies perform, celebrating all forms of dance, from classical to contemporary.

Festival de Radio France et Montpellier Languedoc-Roussillon

July

A classical music and jazz festival featuring opera, concerts, films, and talks, around 90% of which are free, taking place in Montpellier’s historic courtyards and concert halls – there are over 200 events attracting more than 130,000 spectators.

Cinemed

October-November

Annual meeting place for the best Mediterranean films, featuring competitions, tributes, retrospectives and conferences with a lively programme of more than 200 films catering to 75,000 visitors.