Montpellier

Head for the sun and soak up 1,000 years of history in Montpellier. Explore the labyrinthine lanes and shady courtyards of the pedestrianised old town or take advantage of the city’s 2€ a day bike hire scheme, and pedal off to the newly refurbished Fabre museum of fine art, before sitting back and sampling the local wines on a sun-drenched terrace.

With the town’s new gigantic aquarium and Amazonian Greenhouse, as well as the nearby beaches and Les Rochers de Maguelone, a forest adventure park with vertiginous tree trails and thrilling 200m long zip wire, there’s plenty to keep everyone happy.

For more information on Montpellier, including an events calendar and great Eurostar tips, click here.

How to get there

With 7 daily high-speed connections from London to Montpellier, changing in either Lille or Paris, your client can get to Montpellier in just over 6 and a half hours.  Changes in Lille are easiest with just a platform change, whilst there is more choice and quicker journey times via Paris. For Paris transfers, your client would need to take the RER high-speed commuter train line D (or taxi) to Paris Gare de Lyon where the Montpellier services depart from.

Example journey times
Dep London St Pancras 08.53
Arr Lille Europe 11.24
Dep Lille Europe 11.56
Arr Montpellier 16.57

For booking details, see How to Book below.

Tours

For a shorter summer break, romantic Tours is peppered with châteaux and crossed by the wild River Loire. An ancient Gallo-Roman city, it was once capital of the Kingdom of France. Stroll the medieval hub or wander through some of the city’s many parks and public gardens. Tours is known for its gastronomic delights, so make time to sample its specialities, not forgetting of course the renowned local wines.

With time to venture out of the city, take a refreshing tour of the region’s winemaking plateaux and sample wines from sparkling to semi-dry and sweet on the underground caves at Vouvray. Or take a romantic trip, floating over the picturesque countryside spotting the region’s famous chateaux from a hot-air balloon that can be booked at the local Tourist Office.

For more information on Tours, including an events calendar and great Eurostar tips, click here.

How to get there

With 13 daily connections from London to Tours, the fastest can whisk your client into the centre of Tours in just 4 hours 46 minutes. Connections are via Paris with a metro (line 4 in the direction of Porte d’Orleans) or taxi journey to transfer to Paris Montparnasse station from which the onward train to Tours departs.

Example journey times
Dep London St Pancras 07.30
Arr Paris Nord 10.56
Dep Paris Montparnasse 12.25
Arr Tours 13.35

How to Book

Fares to Montpellier and Tours are a snip. Seat only prices start from £79 to Tours and £109 to Montpellier, costing only slightly more than journeys to Paris, with great rates too if you are booking RIT. For more information on seat only prices, see Fares.

If you book on Elgar, through fares to Montpellier, Tours and over 100 other Connections destinations can be booked in your system. For a step-by-step booking guide, please click on the appropriate link.
For Galileo or Elgar Direct, click here.
For Amadeus, click here.
For Sabre, click here.
For Worldspan, click here.

If you do not have access to Elgar, and would like to book to one of our Connections destinations, please call Continental Trade on 08705 553 366.