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Start off from the Place de la Comédie, walking past the Ibis Montpellier Comedie hotel (the tall step hotel), through the interior of the Centre Commercial le Polygone (the large shopping mall), and down the entire Antigone district, until you reach the river (around 20 minutes walk). Enjoy the tremendous neo-classical architecture, the symmetries, the patterns and the scale of it. At the end you can look back at the beautiful semi-circle buildings folding around you from where you came, and ahead is glossy and stylish the regional council building (Languedoc-Roussillion region). There are several restaurants at the banks of the river.
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Neo-classical architecture district. Built on the site of the former Joffre Barracks and designed by Ricardo Bofill.
Take a walk on the Esplanade Charles-de-Gaulle one day when the weather is nice (it is most of the time). It's lined with trees, benches, a couple of outdoor restaurants, and often the tents of a market selling clothing and food and is a lovely place to spend the afternoon. Keep to the well-lit part at night unless you wish to buy drugs or be mugged or both (this has improved since a new police station was opened close by). The police station is next to the tourist information building.
The main focal point of the city and contains the Three Graces fountain.
An art museum established in 1825. It underwent a €61.2-million renovation which was completed in 2007.
A tower that was built as an observatory on top of the ramparts of Montpellier, it's an interesting building and contains some good restaurants.
The largest private mansion in the old town, owned by successive treasurers of the stock exchange, it has a grand courtyard, staircase, and garden.