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Narbonne, Montpellier, Béziers for October Visit

Posted by (Sapulpa, OK, USA) on

We're going to be in Southwest France for a few days in October, before joining a Mark Seymour tour in Carcassonne. We will have completed a Rick Steves Best of Spain, adding a few days after the tour in Sevilla and Toledo.

We'd like to spend about 3 or 4 days (probably 4 nights) somewhere in France, on the train line between Madrid and Carcassonne. I'm most intrigued by Narbonne, but am also looking at Montpellier and Béziers. We enjoy history, archeology, art, museums, local markets, and of course good food.

Does anyone have a favorite town to visit in this area? Does anyone have a favorite B&B or Guesthouse, with the owners on the premises?

I realize this is pretty open ended, but we've had some great recommendations from folks on this Forum for places to visit and stay, and I could use some help narrowing down our choices.

Thanks for sharing your ideas and experiences.

Edit to add: We will NOT have a car. Lol. My stance is this: We'd rather stay married.

Posted by
93 posts

I stayed in Narbonne in an Airbnb in May 2019 for about 6 days. I had a rail pass so used it to make day trips to Carcassonne, Montpellier and Collioure.
Montpellier was a bit ho hum but Collioure was very nice. Great little town for strolling around with a lot of choices for restaurants.
Carcassonne was interesting with some fantastic views from the fortress. Good to wander around.
It is a fair walk from the rail station and it was hot the day I visited. A lot of heat reflected off the stone buildings.

Narbonne is very nice. Interesting to wander around and a fantastic food market, reputedly one of the best in France. I had a couple of nice meals in the central part of the town. I later found out it is where famous French singer, Charles Trent, was born. You may be familiar with his most famous song 'La Mer'.

I then took a TGV to Barcelona which is only about 90 minutes from Narbonne. I would certainly recommend the town. The train service is good but the trains are fairly crowded and some are a bit grubby.

Posted by
277 posts

Jane, our daughter lives in Montpellier so we have spent several summers wandering the area. Montpellier has several very good restaurants and two excellent museums, the arches, botanical garden and a lovely park and is an easy train ride to Avignon, Agde (quite nice) and Beziers. Unfortunately, we can't suggest lodging because we stay with our daughter.

We loved Narbonne (and would recommend the Hotel Mosaique) but, in October, found less to do (the market is great but, as we weren't cooking, we could just wander through) - there is also a little train, a very brief canal cruise, the bishops palace and Narbo - a good museum with Roman ruins.

It really depends what you are interested in - but you can't really go wrong anywhere on the train line.

Posted by
8637 posts

We stayed in an apartment hotel right on the tram line in Montpellier while visiting friends and used it as a base to visit Carcassonne and also for a small van tour of nearby villages and an abbey. It is pretty centrally located to visit other cities in the region. If you do stay there, get a drink here:
https://www.montpellier-france.com/stay/places-to-eat/all-restaurants/larbre-bar-rooftop-montpellier-en-3835105/
It was lovely at sunset.

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