The best museums Hérault

Historically, the region is a land of craftsmanship and one of the main skills developed over the centuries is that of glassmakers. Housed in a former glassworks, this atypical museum invites you to discover the origins of their techniques, from Antiquity to today, and to understand the link between the area, its men and glass. The interpretation area retraces this history through visits, exhibitions, animations... A beautiful play of lights and colours highlights the different elements.

In the heart of an exceptional landscape, the access to the abbey founded by William of Orange and classified today as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, is through the cloister. The museum is located in the former refectory of the monks. Its collections bring together pieces from the old abbey and cover fifteen centuries of sculpture, since the Gallo-Roman era. An amphitheater allows visitors to travel through twelve centuries of history thanks to a 17-minute film and a virtual reconstruction allows visitors to imagine the cloister as it was in its original state.

It took two years of work to transform the Museum of Prehistory (created in 1952) into a museum of art and archaeology. 3,500 objects from the excavations carried out in the surrounding scrublands, most of them dating from the Neolithic period, are displayed in twelve themed showcases. There are flint and bone tools, ceramics, arrows, etc., as well as a variety of other objects. Projected films explain how they were made and a touch screen displays clips.

Discover in the heart of the Beaux-Arts district of Montpellier an important collection of creators from the naive art movement, singular art and others, visionaries, surrealists from all walks of life, from the "historical" period of the early 20th century to today's international outsider art. This museum showcases major works by self-taught, inventive, inspired genius, primitive, obsessive creators, each with a very personal universe, including the icons and fundamentals of naive art: Aloïse Corbaz, Martin Ramirez, Johann Hauser, Adolf Wölfli, Madge Gill, Augustin Lesage, Oswald Tschirtner, August Walla, Carlo Zinelli, Gaston Chaissac... The work of the zinc worker-artist Fernand Michel is also available to visitors (home and workshop) as part of the museum's tour. This space is part of one of the most beautiful museums in France in its "naive art" section and actively contributes to the international cultural and tourist recognition of Montpellier and its great region.

The Car and Train Museum was inaugurated in the summer of 2019. The establishment is built around the Petit train de Palavas, a famous means of locomotion that brought the Montpellier bourgeoisie from the city to the sea until the end of the 1960s. The museum allows you to contemplate one of the authentic locomotives of the time and to discover the history of the coast. Just a few metres from the train, visitors will be able to admire an impressive collection of scale models. Nearly 5,000 vehicles of great renown are presented in 45 showcases. A year-round attraction.