A cultural and artistic city

Street Art

In the historical centre, you don’t know where to look: painted bollards on the Place Saint Roch, other trompe-l’œil, collages, bicycles in the walls… Art occupies the streets of Montpellier, street-art is everywhere.

Map in hand, go on a treasure hunt. Find the trompe l’oeil murals and the bikes embedded in the walls by Mr BMX. Go up the Verdanson quays, a veritable urban art gallery, for an underground stroll among the ephemeral graffiti. If you’re lucky, you’ll come across a graffiti artist in the middle of his work.

The tramway

Take a ride on the most beautiful tram.

Your children will love its decor of swallows, multicoloured flowers and starfish.

The designers Garouste and Bonneti and the great local couturier Christian Lacroix have made it a real star on the rails.

Like a Mediterranean haute couture model, it struts down the avenues.

Museums, exhibitions and festivals

A preference for fine art or contemporary art…? Not to be missed: the Fabre Museum, considered as one of Europe’s most beautiful Fine Arts museums, with European works from the Renaissance to the present day, and a full wing dedicated to contemporary artist, Pierre Soulages.

And the MO.CO, a brand new contemporary art centre that opened its doors in June 2019, showing temporary exhibitions from international collectors.

Lovers of urban culture must not miss the Halle Tropisme, newly installed in the Creative City which has taken up residence in a series of former army warehouses.

Contemporary Architecture

For fans of contemporary architecture, we recommend a stroll along the Lez and then in the Port Marianne district – you can admire the stunning Arbre Blanc!

At Port Marianne, immerse yourself in a science fiction setting! Sit down for a moment on the lawn of the Jacques-Coeur basin. Contemplate this urban landscape with buildings signed by great names.

The blue stained glass window of the imposing town hall designed by Jean Nouvel and François Fontès rivals the inflatable membrane of the Nuage, a dreamlike work by Philippe Starck.