Tell me about Montpellier

[Saker]

Dh has October half term off this year and we are thinking of a week in the south of France. I was initially thinking countryside gite but I have come across a really nice looking house in Montpellier. Looks as if there is lots to do there for adults and kids (am I right about this - bearing in mind that Ds2 has special needs so isn't a great candidate for museums or art galleries and also not good at walking long distances). I wondered what the city was like? What's public transport like - would we need to drive much? Is the traffic awful if we wanted to do some day trips out of the city?
Thanks to anyone who can help..

We stayed near Montpellier last summer and had a trip into the city one day. It is a lovely city with good shopping, a huge square, lots of green spaces. Not really sure about things to do there because we only had the one day. The traffic in the city was quite busy but manageable, but once you get outside the city it is quite calm. It is not too far to some lovely sandy beaches and there are lakes/lagoons nearby too.

Not sure what weather would be like in October, it was quite warm in mid August!

Thanks Bozza, that's really useful. Can't decide what's best - I'm torn between the city and the idea of a gite in the countryside with lots of space and a terrace /views etc. Also weather could be lovely or not... if not city would be better perhaps...

Starts with a M and ends with a R . LOL . We drove past it yesturday but that was on the motorway so no use whatsoever. Are there any SN webb sites you could go on to ask ?

I understand your indecision saker. We have never done October half term holidays. If you decide to go for a city, Montpellier is really nice and cosmopolitan in a Frence way from what I can gather.

Bozza - I read about the place you went to on another thread and it looks just like the sort of place we're looking for as we're spending a week with some friends in northern Spain and then wanted a week on our own not too far away.

What sort of things did/could you do in the area ? I'll have a look in my french lonely planet book later but just wondered if you could give me an idea of things to do in the area (in reality we'd probably do very little but I like to think I might do lots ).

Just found this. We were there for a fortnight so obviously had more time than you will. We pretty much alternated between beach days and days sightseeing etc. It was about 5-10 mins drive to several sandy beaches - some of them more commercialised than others because on parts of the coast it is quite built up with 60/70s style apartments (le Grau du Roi and la Grande Motte) and loads of marinas (apparently the biggest concentration in Europe)but if you drive south past the Port Camargue it is more natural.

Then we would come back, let DD have a nap and DS a rest/nap while we lazed around in the garden. Then go to the pool about 5 or 6 ish (it was just round the corner). Then walk into Aigues-Mortes and eat in the evening.

The excursions we had were:
Arles - Roman amphitheatre and Vincent Van Gough was there but we only did the ampitheatre (including spotting a naked man on a nearby rooftop showering which was a highlight for the DC), a park and a walk by the river).
Boat trip from Aigues-Mortes to see some of the scenery of the Camargue
Trip to Millau viaduct (to please DH who had been ranting about it being on Top Gear and a fantastic engineering structure etc) - was miles but fantastic roads and mountainous scenery on the way up
Montpellier - lovely city but the DC were most interested in finding a toy shop to spend their holiday money. Would be brilliant without children.
Walk round the city walls at Aigues-Mortes
Trip to Pont-du-Gard - Roman aquaduct over River Gard. I liked this but it was very hot there. Also can go in the river which has lovely clear water but is very pebbly and hard on the feet - maybe take some sort of footwear to go in the water.
A visit to the Listel vinery - about 2 mins drive from Aigues-Mortes. They have a land train that takes you round the vineyard and it is quite interesting wrt to Camargue wildlife etc with a demo of rounding up bulls (well bullocks!) using Camargue horses (basically cowboys). Tour was in French, but we got a sheet in English but presumably missed out a lot of the detail.

I think that was it.

HTH.

If you have more specific questions please ask. The accommodation was nice and clean but the master bedroom in particular was quite small. Also the indoor table was a bit wonky but we just ate outside at every meal and that table was very solid, although DD did manage to get pain au chocolat on the chair cushion.

Thanks so much Bozza - it sounds perfect but I have now hit a stumbling block of the cost of getting a hire car in Spain and dropping it back in France. It will cost us £1,000 for 2 weeks . Our other option is to drive back to Gerona but its a 3+ hour drive which I don't fancy at the end of the holiday !

Will be back to drawing board I think unforetunately ! I will bear this place in mind though for another ocassion as it sounds great.

LOL there is always a hitch, isn't there? I am trying to work out Italy for us and not getting very far.

we went to perpignan from gerona and v. much enjoyed ourselves, may want to consider that? collioures and villefranche make nice day trips, and you can also do a trip to the great safari park at Sigean (not sure how old your DC are).

.. and you could also do a day trip to carcassone from perpignan relatively easily.

LA - how long did it take you from Gerona to Perpignan ?

just over an hour from memory - so quite doable.

We bit the bullet and stayed here - www.latourapollinaire.com/en/ - not specifically designed for children, but child friendly and quiet none the less. The owners were very helpful, it was very clean / well appointed etc.

Here's the link to the safari park, btw

www.reserveafricainesigean.fr/ - I liked it enough to go twice (once when visiting Carcassone and once when visiting Perpignan - huge site, doesn't feel like a zoo, and a reasonable number of lunch options)