Montpellier

Montpellier was founded relatively late, in the tenth century, as a trading town rather than a Roman one, and it grew around teaching: its medical faculty received statutes in 1220 and has taught continuously since, making it the oldest medical school in Europe still operating. Rabelais studied there. The Jardin des Plantes, laid out in 1593 for the faculty, is the oldest botanical garden in France. The Ecusson, the medieval core, is a knot of narrow lanes hiding seventeenth and eighteenth-century mansions with courtyards and stairs. The Musee Fabre holds a strong painting collection, and the city is a third students by term time.

What you actually see

• The medical faculty - Europe's oldest continuously working medical school.
• The Jardin des Plantes - France's oldest botanical garden, from 1593.
• The Ecusson - medieval lanes concealing grand private courtyards.
• The Musee Fabre - a substantial fine art collection.

When to go

April to June and September to October; summer is hot and the students are gone, which changes the character. The medical faculty's anatomy museum keeps very limited hours.

Honest expectations

Private mansion courtyards are mostly closed except on guided tours or heritage days. The old lanes are confusing and poorly signed. Summer heat is heavy inland from the coast.

Nearby

Saint-Guilhem-le-Desert lies northwest; the coast is ten kilometres south.