Montpellier is very much like any other city when it comes to transport in that the main source of transport for the public is the bus or the tram. Both of these services are ran by a company called TaM and provide frequent services every day.
For my usual commute into university and into the city centre, I used the tram. It was extremely easy, not too expensive and there was a stop right outside my university accommodation which was very handy. The tram in Montpellier has 4 lines and goes to each major district of the city, so depending on where I was headed I was able to get transport directly to the place or a short walk away from it. The only downside to the tram was the sparse timetable in the later hours – the majority of my friends and I lived in university accommodation so this affected us after nights out. As our accommodation was situated 15 minutes by tram or an hour’s walk away from the centre, it was imperative we caught the last tram which left Comédie (the main stop in the centre) around 1am. If we missed it we would have to wait until the first one the next morning at around 5am! It was manageable though and I would have preferred to wait until then than order an Uber as they were extortionate and often quite unreliable.
As for the bus, I only used it twice. The first was in my first week in Montpellier when Erasmus ran their own pool party quite far out the city so a bus was arranged to take the students. They piled about 150 of us onto a bus that should have only taken about 70 people so that was an experience to say the least. The second time using the bus was to get to the beach at Palavas-Les-Flots which served as a connect between the end tram stop and the main promenade. Even though it was around a 35 minute walk between the two, the irregularity of the bus meant making the trek by foot became the norm.
In Montpellier there’s also a bike service called Vélomagg which is essentially a bike sharing scheme that allows you to ride and park throughout the city. There was bike stations on many streets, often near the tram or bus stop to make them easily accessible for the public. I used this bike service once when my family came to visit and I couldn’t recommend it more enthusiastically. We cycled to the coast along the main route through Lattes which was incredibly picturesque and really easy to follow – I don’t think I would have coped having to cycle on the other side of the road! Along the way we lucked out in passing a ‘flamboyance’ of flamingos, a sighting which we were told was rare at that time of year (October). Seeing them was a pleasant surprise as it’s not the first thing you expect to experience when you come to study / go on holiday to a city in the south of France. You needed to give a deposit for the bike along with around 50 cents an hour while using it, which you pay at the end when you park again. On the whole the bikes are something I really recommend; however, try and avoid damaging them as I remember the fine was around €250 – not ideal when you’re a poor student!
My only other form of transport in France was by plane, which I used to get there in the first place. Montpellier has an airport in the city but it wasn’t ideal for me as the airports near me in England didn’t fly there. However, there are are many other airports relatively nearby such as Carcassonne, Béziers, Nîmes and Marseille which are all around an hour away depending on the mode of transport. When I travelled I mostly used the train to get to the airport and Gare St Roch provided a good service to all these destinations which was extremely useful.
The only issue I had with transport was on my way back to England at Christmas when I and two others ended up missing our flight, which as one can imagine did not go down well with the parents or do wonders for the bank account. The most frustrating thing about it was that we had made it to the airport in time and used a BlaBlaCar (a carpooling service for medium to long distances) to get from Montpellier to Carcassonne which gave us plenty time before our flight. Despite our efforts, we were just too relaxed (and probably too excited to get home for Christmas) and didn’t take the initiative to check in on time when we actually arrived at the airport. Looking back it was extremely stupid and entirely our own fault, which makes the situation worse, but in the end we made it back to England… it just took longer than expected.
So on the whole, transport in Montpellier is more than satisfactory. There are many ways to get around the city and every mode was mostly convenient provided you planned head. I would tell anyone going to make use of the tram as looking back it really did make everything a lot easier and didn’t break the bank too much!
George's Year Abroad in Montpellier 