Tip: A car is essential; the domaines sit in villages the regional bus network does not reach.
Location
Address: Terrasses du Larzac, 34150 Aniane, Montpellier
More food day trips in Montpellier
Sète is the Italian-accented fishing port half an hour from Montpellier, home of the tielle, the octopus and tomato tourte that defines the Hérault coast.
Tip: Trains run from Saint-Roch all day, so this works as an evening trip as easily as a full one.
The Étang de Thau spreads oyster tables across 7,500 hectares of tideless lagoon, and the mas between Bouzigues and Marseillan sell them from the water.
Tip: Many oyster huts open only in season or at weekends, so ring ahead before you drive out.
Pézenas bakes 250,000 petits pâtés a year, spool-shaped lamb pastries sweetened with lemon and brown sugar, a recipe the town has held since the 1700s.
Tip: Eat them warm as a starter with a glass of muscat, which is how the town serves them.
Noilly Prat has aged vermouth in the open air at Marseillan since Louis Noilly built the chais in 1850, and the tour ends at a bar pouring all four.
Tip: Marseillan sits at the far end of the Thau lagoon, so pair the cellar visit with an oyster lunch.
Mèze is the working shellfish town of the Étang de Thau, a port where the oyster and mussel boats unload and the quayside kitchens cook the catch.
Tip: Less polished than Bouzigues and correspondingly cheaper for the same lagoon shellfish.
Palavas-les-Flots is the seaside village Montpellier treats as its beach, a canal lined with seafood terraces twenty minutes from the city centre.
Tip: The riverside cycle path from Montpellier reaches the sea in about an hour of flat riding.
See every food day trips pick in Montpellier →