Drove to Montpellier at the beginning of August ... easy drive of about 2 hours from Villa Failte. Used Sat Nav but wasn't that difficult. We followed signs for city centre parking and parked right next to the main square (Place de Comedie) in an underground car park. Can't remember price but was reasonable.
There is also a park and ride tram service that is well signposted as you enter the city.
Came out of the car park directly onto the main square, Place de Comedie ... WOW ... fantastic place to sit and people watch with loads of outside cafes / restaurants, fountain, opera house, tourist office and tourist trainbus ... all in a huge open square surrounded by beautiful buildings. Walk a few hundred yards and you are in a myriad of old streets lined with chic and artisan shops as well as al fresco dining on every corner / mini square. In fact, in hindsight maybe better to have a wander and then eat at one of those.
We had a light lunch then hopped on the train bus for a tour around the city. This goes through the aforementioned streets as well as up through the Arc (like Arc de Triumphe) to the highest point in the city. The trainbus is effectively the same as those found in Perpignan, Argeles Sur Mer and Collioure ... seem to be an ever present but excellent feature of many of the towns and cities throughout the Languedoc region.
After that we spent the afternoon walking around the streets before finishing off with a visit to the Musee Fabre which is very close to Place de Comedie and where there was an excellent exhibition of the life of Frederic Bazille including many paintings from most of the famous Impressionists of his time including Renoir and Monet.
Below are some of the pictures of our trip ...
There is also a park and ride tram service that is well signposted as you enter the city.
Came out of the car park directly onto the main square, Place de Comedie ... WOW ... fantastic place to sit and people watch with loads of outside cafes / restaurants, fountain, opera house, tourist office and tourist trainbus ... all in a huge open square surrounded by beautiful buildings. Walk a few hundred yards and you are in a myriad of old streets lined with chic and artisan shops as well as al fresco dining on every corner / mini square. In fact, in hindsight maybe better to have a wander and then eat at one of those.
We had a light lunch then hopped on the train bus for a tour around the city. This goes through the aforementioned streets as well as up through the Arc (like Arc de Triumphe) to the highest point in the city. The trainbus is effectively the same as those found in Perpignan, Argeles Sur Mer and Collioure ... seem to be an ever present but excellent feature of many of the towns and cities throughout the Languedoc region.
After that we spent the afternoon walking around the streets before finishing off with a visit to the Musee Fabre which is very close to Place de Comedie and where there was an excellent exhibition of the life of Frederic Bazille including many paintings from most of the famous Impressionists of his time including Renoir and Monet.
Below are some of the pictures of our trip ...
