Montpellier

A broad pedestrian square with the Three Graces fountain before the opera house, nicknamed the Egg for the outline of its paving. Several tram routes skirt its edge, so watch the rails while you wander.

A raised royal square around an equestrian Louis XIV, with the Saint-Clement aqueduct striding off from its far end. On Tuesday and Saturday mornings stalls fill the space beneath the aqueduct arches. Plenty of people sit on the balustrade at sunset.

A fine-arts museum in a former Jesuit college, rich in Bazille, a painter from around Montpellier, and in Courbet. Separate rooms hold Pierre Soulages, who worked light out of black alone, and many visitors linger longest there.

France's oldest botanical garden, laid out in 1593 so the medical school could grow its herbs. Entry is free, and it sits right behind the university buildings, so the cathedral fits into the same visit. Deep shade from old trees makes it a refuge at midday.

Two fat round pillars topped with stone cones hold up the porch, so the front looks more fortress than church. It began as a monastery church, and the medical faculty next door occupies the old monastery.

In the basement of an old-town building survives the ritual bath used by the 12th-century Jewish community. Groundwater still pools inside. It cannot be visited alone; the tourist office runs guided visits that need booking.

Public housing by architect Ricardo Bofill, with columns and pediments blown up to temple scale. A straight axis of squares leads out of the historic centre down to the Lez river. Across the water, a city hall by Jean Nouvel closes off the axis.

A residential tower co-designed by Sou Fujimoto, its balconies sticking out in every direction like branches. A bar on the top floor lets non-residents ride up and look over the city and the Lez. Around sunset a seat is hard to get.

A lone Romanesque church stands on a thin sand spit between sea and lagoon. Cars stay in a distant car park; in summer a little road train runs out, and in other seasons you walk. The vineyards in front are tended by a work scheme for disabled people.

A stone village gathered around Gellone Abbey deep in a gorge, UNESCO-listed among the Santiago pilgrim routes. In summer the car parks at the entrance fill early, which makes a morning visit wiser. People swim in the river below the nearby Devil's Bridge.

Raised in the last years of the 1600s where an old town gate once stood, this arch honours Louis XIV. Reliefs on its faces show wars of his reign and the digging of the Canal du Midi. It fronts the Peyrou, so leaving the old lanes you meet it head on.

The medieval core is shaped like a shield, hence the name, and cars barely enter its lanes. Merchant mansions of the 17th and 18th centuries abound; an open wooden door may reveal a stone stair in the courtyard. Rue de l'Ancien Courrier is the prettiest.

A port about twenty minutes from Montpellier on the train, laced with canals that earn it the label Venice of Languedoc. Mont Saint-Clair looks over both the Thau lagoon and the sea. In late August, jousters fight with lances from boats on the canal.

Louis IX built this walled town in the 13th century as a port for crusades, and visitors can circle the whole square of its ramparts. In the salt works outside, the water turns pink in some seasons. It is about forty minutes from Montpellier by car.

A 658m limestone peak rising alone from the plain north of Montpellier, its sharp ridge visible from town. Hikers from Cazevieille reach the chapel and cross on top in over an hour. The trail has no shade, so in summer they begin in the early morning.

A beach village roughly a dozen kilometres south of Montpellier, the nearest Mediterranean sand to the city. One canal splits it in two, with seafood restaurants down both banks. On summer weekends half the city pours in, so claim a spot in the morning.

A limestone cave in the uplands north of Montpellier, reached by a funicular bored through the mountain. Inside is a vast hall hung with stalactites and nicknamed the rock cathedral. The air underground is chilly in any season, so pack a jumper.