Since then the collection has swollen to more than 800 works, donated by names like Frédéric Bazille later that century, and Pierre Soulages more recently. Shopping for souvenirs, eating macaroons, tasting some crêpes or even just practicing French in these tiny streets will make for an unforgettable evening.Montpellier has four tramlines, and the city is aiming to expand this by adding at least one more in the next couple of years. France is known for its artwork and Montpellier is no different. It is the work of Etienne Giral and his son Jean-Antoine, although the castle-like building with Corinthian pillars that stands on top of the romantic pond was designed by Henri Pitot in 1768. In Montpellier this is particularly easy to do, as visitors will soon become enthralled by the picturesque cobbled streets that wind around the city center, lined by quirky French cafes and cute little stores. So there are many mansions to be seen around the extensive old quarter, as well as exalted monuments like the Promenade de Peyrou, fit for a regional capital.There are 13 mansions in all, and you can get hold of a full itinerary from the tourist office.There are more than 750 animals at the zoo, from 140 species including giraffes, white rhinos, cheetahs and Syrian brown bears.There’s also a 30-hectare vineyards on the estate, belonging to the Côteaux du Languedoc region, and the Château holds a tasting session as part of a tour.The cathedral may catch you by surprise as it’s hidden among the nest of streets in the old quarter.Flaugergues was established in the late-1600s and today has been enveloped by the city, sitting incongruously in a modern district of warehouses and commercial estates.On a rare rainy day you can easily spend a couple of hours at Montpellier’s aquarium, which is about to mark its first decade and has 400 marine and freshwater species in tanks totalling almost three million litres.The 18th-century Château d’Eau is a monumental water tower fed by the Saint-Clement Aqueduct, which is 14 kilometres long and crosses the square.Spend some time on these sleepy stone streets, where the houses are set off by the dramatic limestone landforms around them.For a present, bring home a box of Grisettes, honey and liquorice candies, claimed to have been made in Montpellier since medieval times.You can also see a relief showing the constriction of the Canal des Deux Mers, a colossal engineering project that connected the Bay of Biscay with the Mediterranean during the 1600s.The traditional packaging is a big part of the charm. The Top 8 Things to Do in Montpellier. The last stop on tram number three takes visitors to the beach for a very modest price. This put the city in the service of the king and attracted the gentry who built themselves neighbourhood brimming with cultured homes. The most famous museum in Montpellier is the Musée Fabre which houses Europe’s richest art collection. There they can rent some of the city’s Velomags (bicycles to hire by the hour or by the day) and either cycle to the shore, or opt for a leisurely stroll. story of the main events in his reign.In a distinguished spot on the Esplanade Charles de Gaulle is a beautiful art nouveau building built at the end of the 19th century.The 19th century is well-represented too, with Renoir, Courbet and, as you’d expect, four works by Bazille.At night the restaurants and the imposing neoclassical buildings around the Place de la Comédie, like the Opéra national are illuminated with deep blue lights, creating a strange effect, like something out of Blade Runner!The museum’s paintings and sculptures are displayed in chronological order, and there’s lots of baroque art to savour: Rubens, Veronese, Rigaud and Zurbarán are all here.Louis XIV may have had the biggest hand in Montpellier’s history, when he appointed it capital of Bas Languedoc in the 17th century. Discover hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Montpellier, France from Villa Des Cent Regards to Musée d’Anatomie de Montpellier. Discover the cool sights, unusual things to do and see in this buzzing, youthful and historic city. There are over 10 different museums in the city center alone. The cloister and the garden in the middle are as peaceful as you’d hope, while inside, the 18th-century organ is was designed by the revered master-organ maker Jean-Pierre Cavaillé.After a restorative coffee, continue your tour along the leafy walkways of the Esplanade Charles-de-Gaulle, fringing the square to the north.It’s squeezed into a slender valley beneath a gorge where the Gellone meets the Hérault.But Montpellier is also a cosmopolitan place with large Vietnamese and North African communities, which have brought their own flavours.The peak is visible from much of the Hérault department, and will inspire hikers and climbers.Just to pick the closest, Palavas-les-Flots has long sweeps of sand and pebbles totalling seven kilometes, shielded from the open sea by breakwaters.This is a superb red, while if you’d like a seafood accompaniment Picpoul-de-Pinet is a sufficiently-crisp white.Since then the collection has swollen to more than 800 works, donated by names like Frédéric Bazille later that century, and Pierre Soulages more recently.The French Wars of Religion in the 16th century took their toll on Montpellier’s churches, but despite sustaining damage the gothic Cathédrale de Saint-Pierre survived.One of the things that gives Montpellier’s old centre its class is a profusion of hôtels, extravagant 17th and 18th-century mansions.Artists from around Montpellier have helped turn the Fabre Museum into a tremendous art attraction, starting with François-Xavier Fabre, whose donation in the 1820s led to its foundation.The Pic Saint-Loup wine terroir is one of the most acclaimed in Langudoc-Roussillon, so after your descent you have a catalogue of caves and vineyards to discover.It shows him on horseback extending his arm towards Spain.The zoo has been around since 1964 and is bordered by a nature reserve on the rugged banks of the Lez River.You can be at the beach within 20 minutes of Montpellier, and the Hérault coast has an unbelievable choice.The Three Graces fountain in the middle was built in 1790, and shows the Charites from Greek mythology, which are an emblem for Montpellier.Most of these make fabulous red, with syrah, grenache and mourvèdre blends.As for creatures, you’ve got penguins from South Africa, a large range of sharks and rays, plus a touch pool where little ones can find out what a starfish’s back feels like.There’s the Capture of Namur from the Nine Years’ War, with a figure representing the Netherlands bowing in deference to the king.There are lots of interesting details, like the statue of Louis XIV, which is from 1828, replacing an earlier version that had been melted down to make cannons.It’s the best-preserved of any he made, and one of the last church organs built in the region before the Revolution.The tour also leads you through recreated tropical rainforest, with monkeys, iguanas and tanks containing piranhas.For the littlest visitors there’s an educational farm with tame goats and sheep to feed.Then pay a visit to the village’s Benedictine abbey from the early-ninth century.At the highest part of Montpellier and just west of the old walls, this square was designed during the reign of Louis XIV, although because of a period of unrest at the start of the 18th century it wasn’t completed until the middle of the 1700s.The density of blue flag beaches in the area is astonishing: In 2016 there were 19 inside a 40-minute drive from the Old Montpellier.So whenever you come to Montpellier there will be something different for you if you’ve got an eye for the art form.Most are from when Montpellier was the capital of Languedoc during Louis XIV’s reign, and were built for members of his court and government.The headline is the central pool, 10 by 18 metres, the largest in France.The most arresting feature is that imposing portal with its twin pillars that are more than 4.5 metres in diameter.Montpellier is in the world’s largest wine region in the world: Languedoc-Roussillon produces more bottles than many whole countries.Les Halles Castellane is Montpellier’s superb covered market, and the streets and squares around it are flooded with restaurant tables in summer, giving the centre a joyful and sociable atmosphere.Henri de Lunaret, who owned the Hôtel des Trésoriers, also possessed the historic estate where Montpellier’s zoo is set, and he bequeathed the land to the city on the condition that it should have a charitable purpose.The 658-metre peak is in a stirring landscape of limestone cliffs, sunflower fields and vineyards, the trademark of the South of France.Pic Saint-Loup is a jagged mountain around 20 kilometres north of Montpellier.The eastern link between Old Montpellier and the newer city districts beyond the old walls, the large Place de la Comédie has a lively ambience for its many bars, restaurants and shops.It had often been thought of as more about quantity than quality, but as we mentioned, Pic Saint-Loup is very highly regarded.On Sundays there’s a flea market beneath the arches of the aqueduct, which is modelled on the legendary Pont du Gard.Yes, the local diet draws on the Mediterranean, and there are lots of restaurants in the city serving mussels, crab, oysters and fish stews.Just in the eastern suburbs of the city is a glorious estate , built as a “folly”, one of several summer residences around Montpellier for 17th and 18th-century aristocracy.Among the standouts are the Hôtel des Trésoriers de France, which is from the 15th century but has an extravagant facade added in 1675, and Hôtel de St-Côme, which contains an anatomical theatre built with funds donated by François Gigot de la Peyronie, the Royal Surgeon for Louis XV.Most of the apartment buildings and houses are historic, dating from the 1600s and 1700s, and if you can see past the sturdy wooden doors, many of these residences have internal courtyards.On foot you can conquer Pic Saint-Loup from the south side, on a six-kilometre trail from Cazevieille, while the sheer bluffs on the north face can be tackled with the help of a guide.For a rural day-trip in a supreme natural setting, the medieval settlement of Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert is one of the “most beautiful villages” in France.It hasn’t actually always been a cathedral either, as it started out as a monastery chapel until the diocese of Maguelone was switched to Montpellier during the reign of Francis I in the mid-1500s.Take a turn around the neatly-trimmed gardens and go inside to see the exquisite interiors with paintings, historic furniture and five Flemish tapestries from the 1670s portraying the life of Moses.For more than a hundred years it’s been the site of all sorts of public exhibitions, but in the 90s it became devoted solely to fantastic temporary exhibitions of photography, put on for free.There are three exhibitions a year, showing the most celebrated 20th-century photographers like Brassaï, Bernard Plossu or Jakob Tuggener.At resorts like Palavas-les-Flots, Carnon and La Grande Motte the beaches are sandy spits or barrier islands, suspended from the coast by lagoons.From the Promenade de Peyrou in the west to the Place de la Comédie in the east, Montpellier has an irregular maze of fresh, shaded streets (handy in a city where there are 300 sunny days a year) that have followed the same pattern for hundreds of years.Enclosures are in six different “biozones”, synthesising habitats from around the world.The regal entranceway to the Promenade de Peyrou was modelled on the Porte Saint-Denis in Paris and completed in 1693.
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