isLoop 2024 Venue: Montpellier, France
On 5-9 August 2024, the isLoop summer school will be held in Montpellier, a city in southern France, near the Mediterranean sea. Established in 1220, the University of Montpellier is one of the oldest universities in the world and has the oldest medical school still in operation. Above the medieval city, the ancient citadel of Montpellier is a stronghold built in the seventeenth century by Louis XIII of France.
Montpellier is the third-largest French city near the Mediterranean coast, behind Marseille and Nice. It is the seventh-largest city of France, and is also the fastest-growing city in the country over the past 25 years.
School Venue: CIRAD Campus Lavalette
Our summer school will be hosted by CIRAD – a French agricultural research and international cooperation organization working for the sustainable development of tropical and Mediterranean regions.
The complete address:
Room 15, building 6. CIRAD Lavalette. 389 Av. Agropolis Montferrier-sur-Lez 34980 France
When you arrive at the reception, please state your name and the event's name (isLoop 2024 Summer School) and ask them how to get to building 6.
Reaching the Venue
You can reach the meeting venue from the city center of Montpellier (Place de la Comédie) by taking Tram 1 in the direction of Mosson.
Then you have two options:
- Descend at the station Universités des Sciences et Lettres. Then take the bus La Navette (13) and ride it until you reach the Campus Agropolis stop.
- Descend at the station Occitanie and take either bus 23 or bus 26 to reach the station, Vincent Auriol.
See the instructions below on how to buy tickets for public transport in Montpellier.
Reaching Montpellier
You can reach Montpellier either by flying directly to Montpellier airport or one of the two larger airports in Toulouse and Marseille.
Montpellier-Méditerranée Airport (MPL)
To reach the city center of Montpellier from the airport (Place de la Comédie), take bus 620 which stops right in front of the airport. This bus will take you to Place de l’Europe where you can take Tram 1 in the direction of Mosson. Ride 3 stops on the tram and arrive at Place de la Comédie.
Bus 620 does not belong to the city network of Montpellier. The single-ride ticket costs 2 euros. You can buy it from the bus driver (they only accept cash) or through an application:
See the section below for the instructions on how to buy tickets for public transport in Montpellier.
Toulouse-Blagnac Airport (TLS)
To reach Montpellier from the airport of Toulouse, you must first take the airport shuttle bus that would take you from the airport to Toulouse Matabiau - the central train station. The shuttle should cost around 10 euros.
Then you can take a train from Toulouse Matabiau to Montpellier Gare Saint-Roch - République, the central train station of Montpellier which is 5 min away from Place de la Comédie. Use this website to purchase the train tickets. You can also use the smartphone app:
Marseille Provence Airport (MRS)
To reach Montpellier from the airport of Marseille, you can take a Flixbus. It stops right in front of the airport. The travel duration should be around 2 hours. You will arrive at Sabines bus station in Montpellier. From there, you will need to take Tram 2 to reach the city center (Place de la Comédie).
Alternatively, you could take the airport shuttle (bus L091) to the central train station of Marseille and then travel to Montpellier Gare Saint-Roch by train. The airport shuttle leaves every 10 min but it takes 45 min to get to the train station.
Public Transport in Montpellier: Tickets for trams and buses
You might have heard that since December 2023, all public transport in Montpellier is free. Be careful because this only concerns people who live in Montpellier. Tourists and visitors still have to buy transport tickets. Although there is no ticket controll at the doors, from time to time, the TaM inspectors enter the transport and check everyone's tickets. If you are caught without a ticket, you will have to pay the fine of 50 EUR.
You can buy a ticket for public transport in the ticket machines that can be found on many tram stops. A single ticket costs 1.6 EUR. You can also buy a bundle of 10 tickets for 10 EUR. Be careful because there are no ticket machines near our venue, so you will have to buy them in advance.
Alternatively, you can use the M'Ticket application to buy and validate tickets for public transport in Montpellier:
Be careful because there are no ticket machines near our venue, so you will either have to use the app or buy your tickets in advance near the city center.
If you decide to go to the seaside, you should know that the closest you can get by public transport of Montpellier is the last stop of Tram 3: Pérols - Étang de L'Or. From there, you can either walk for 30 min, take a city bike that are available at the tram stop, or use the public transport of Pérols. The network is called Transp'Or. The single trip costs 1 EUR and you have to pay directly to the driver who only accepts cash. If you take the bus, I suggest that you take Line 1 and go to Palavas-les-Flots. If you decide to walk, you should go to Carnon Plage.