Go out in Montpellier

Located in the south of France, it’s easy to fall in love with Montpellier’s mediterranean touch and nice weather, at any time of the year. At night, the city beats to the rhythm of its huge student population. Student parties mainly happen between Wednesdays and Thursdays. Montpellier also has a strong background in underground electronic music and welcomes techno and house parties during the weekends. Montpellier doesn't betray the habits of the big French cities in terms of outing times: people often start the night with a drink around 6 pm, go to dinner around 8 pm, the "before" starts usually between 9 and 10 pm, in an apartment or a bar and then everyone goes to the club around 1 am. Here clubs generally close at 6 am. During the week, it is also easy to find afterworks in the many bars in the city centre, or the huts near the beach during summer. Of course, when you come to Montpellier, you won't forget that there are rules to follow. The volume in the huts on the beach are limited to 80db, which gives more the impression of being in a lounge than of participating to a real party. Also, you won't be able to be drunk in public spaces or buy alcohol after 10 pm. As we said before, the clubs close at 6 am, but if you want to keep dancing, it won't be hard for you to find an after party as they are very common in France, and Montpellier is no exception.

As mentioned, Montpellier has an important student life and, therefore, you’ll find many clubs with commercial music. Also, the city has an important background in underground music like techno, drum n’ bass and deep. A lot of bars are located around the Jean-Jaurès square, in the center of the city. Concerning the clubs, here are our picks: La Dune, located in La Grande Motte close to the sea, it welcomes headliners during the weekend and its famous Kitsch party on Thursdays; in Tournezy district, the south of the city there is Le Dièze Warehouse, a techno temple which has welcomed artists like Amélie Lens; Le PZ City Club with its electro line-ups in the center of Montpellier; L’Antirouille, with its underground techno, always in the city center; Le Rockstore, with its rock DJ sets or concerts located behind the central station Saint-Roch.

Going out in Montpellier is more affordable than in other cities like Lyon or Paris, probably thanks to the students! It’s likely to find clubs with free entrance, but if you get to see a headliner in one of the clubs mentioned above, the average price should be around 10€. To enter the club at the best price you can get early birds, if they do online pre-sales (which is common). Concerning alcohol, the average price of a long drink is the same as mostly every big cities in France: 10€ for a long drink, beer usually costs around 7€ and a shot 5€. If you extend your pre-party, a drink in a bar should cost around 8€ and a beer around 5 or 6€. If you prefer to warm-up at home instead, the 75cl bottle of alcohol in a supermarket will rarely exceed 25€. If you like to smoke, you have to know that the French government is increasing the price more and more, and a pack of 20 cigarettes now costs between 8 and 9€.

When you’ll come to Montpellier, keep in mind that the city has one of the best weather in France. Spring and summer are usually hot, so you won't have to overdress. As everywhere, if you go to underground places to listen to some electronic music, you won’t have to focus too much on the size of your shirt or on the color of your shoes, you’ll be fine anyway. But if you go to chic clubs, we recommend that you get well dressed with heels for girls, and shirt and nice shoes for boys.