Hi, I am in early stages of planning a trip to Montpellier, France, sometime in late 2018. My friends are spending their sabbatical there and I can crash with them. I don't have an itinerary. What sights are around Montpellier? What would you suggest? I will fly from Seattle to Paris and then to Montpellier. Thank you!

Your friends may answer your question better than anybody else, because they probably know your interests.

Popular places around Montpellier:
Grotte des Demoiselles
Palavas Plage
Nimes
Pont du Gard
Ste Marie de la Mer
Aigues Mortes
Avignon
Tarascon
Sete
Narbonne
Milliau Viaduct
Carcassonne
Salses Castle

The official website of the city of Montpellier and a guidebook or two should give you plenty of ideas.

There's the Aveyron and Cevennes/Grandes Causses. Indeed, Millau, with the Gorge du Tarn and Gorges de la Dourbie (from Nant to Millau)
Also the Aveyron has numerous templar citadels that are certainly worth a visit, like La Couvertoirade and La Cavalerie. There's a bus service from Montpellier to Millau that will allow you to visit these.

Within the city itself, there are plenty of things to see. If you exhaust those, the regional train commuter lines and bus services can take you to many other places. Have you examined a map yet?

check www.oui.sncf for train schedules - lots of places to go easily by regional train - just buy tickets day of travel (buses too).

Thank you for your generosity of time and advice!

Take a train one day all along the Med down into Collioure and then into Spain. Magical!

Again, thank you all! The tickets are booked for November. It is not the best time of the year but it is the only time I can get away. I am so looking forward to it, weather notwithstanding. I might have more questions as I prepare but Allez-Vouz, La Belle France!

Lovely that you'll have a place to stay. DH and I were in a hotel just steps from "the egg" and loved that area for breakfasts and returns from touristy days. Easy tram access to the gare from there. We loved shopping one Saturday---amazing cheese shop. I'll see if I can find it in my notes.

But by all means get thee to a travel book to see what calls out to you.

I bought a travel book, but it is still pretty limited. I guess I will rely on the advice of my friends, who have been living there since September 1st. Is Avignon or Aix en Provence within reach? Worth visiting? I am on the ground for about 9 days.

Yes, they are both well within reach. Go for it!

Why is your travel book limited?

My book is Frommers' France 2017. It gives Montpellier and the whole Languedoc region a short shrift. It focuses on Paris and other regions, like Provence and French Riviera. You are right, I can invest in a better one, but I am just going to wing it.

Carcasonne is amazing but try to be there early to avoid all the tourists!
You are going to love it there!

A lot of the region is still trying to recover from the terrible floods earlier this month. Carcassonne was particularly hard hit, albeit not the walled city. Check the latest information about various places before going there.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/vi...t-france-video

A lot of very mainstream guidebooks that cover ALL of France, will not have tons of pages on cities of lesser interest to Americans, that's all.

However, now that we have the internet, you can supplement general info with detailed information on specific sites of interest on the city's own website, many tourism sites are excellent.

https://www.montpellier-france.com/

Be sure to try the grisettes de Montpellier.

I really enjoyed the one day I spent in Montpellier. It's a very interesting urban area where many prominent architects and planners have worked to create contemporary spaces adjacent to the historic city center neighborhoods. In addition to some background and historical information, this article suggests some neighborhoods and other places of interest to visit. I saved it because I do plan to go back to Montpellier someday. Hope you enjoy your stay.

https://www.francetoday.com/culture/..._architecture/

Montpellier is, I believe, the oldest university town in France and, as such, has everything a university town should have in spades: theatre, music, dance, art, great cafés, nightlife....

And then there are the waterfront seafood shacks in nearby Bouzigues, featuring among other things France's finest oysters.

The latest French soap opera (Un si grand soleil) is based in Montpellier, which is always a way of validating a city in France.