Low-emission zone of Montpellier
Effective 1 July 2022, the city of Montpellier in southern France has a ZFE or low-emission zone. Within this zone, an emissions sticker is mandatory for most motorized vehicles. Read everything you need to know on this page. Will you visit another city? Then check this map with all French low-emission zones. You can read more about the sticker itself on the main page of this website.
Map of the low-emission zone in Montpellier
On the map above, Montpellier’s low-emission zone is shown in orange. In addition to the city itself, 10 municipalities surrounding Montpellier are also part of the zone. These are Castelnau-le-Lez, Clapiers, Grabels, Jacou, Juvignac, Lattes, Le Crès, Pérols, Saint-Jean-de-Védas and Villeneuve-lès-Maguelone.
In each case, the boundary of the low-emission zone is determined by municipal boundaries and not by major roads as is the case in for example Nice. Along the larger roads, the beginning of the zone is indicated by road signs.
Montpellier’s low-emission zone
Montpellier’s ZFE (zone à faibles émissions) is in fact the low-emission zone of the Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole. This is an association of municipalities that make up a large urban area. Currently, 11 municipalities participate in the low-emission zone. From 2026, all 31 municipalities of the metropolis are expected to fall within the zone. Montpellier’s low-emission zone is in effect day and night, and on weekdays, weekends and holidays. The same rules apply to passenger and freight traffic.
Through roads
In Montpellier, careful thought has been given to through traffic. There are a number of roads on which an emissions sticker is not required. First of all, these are major thoroughfares such as the A9 and A709 south and the A750 and N109 north of the center of Montpellier. On the map, they are indicated by red lines.
In addition, there are quite a few connecting roads from outside the low-emission zone to these two thoroughfares. These are indicated by blue lines. They are, in alphabetical order: the A709, the A750/N109, the A9/M986 Sud (Lattes), the Avenue Auriol, the Avenue des Moulins, the Avenue Neruda, the D66 (Pérols), the M132/M132E2/M612, the M5 (Lavérune), the M613, the M65E1, the M65 (Le Crès), the M67 (Teyran) and the Rue Blayac.
If you leave one of these roads while still within the low-emission zone, a sticker is of course required. However, this again does not apply if you are driving to a P+Tram site via these roads. This is explained below.
Parking outside the low-emission zone
As in some other French cities, a parking relais in Montpellier is not called P+R but P+Tram. This is because these large parking sites are located near stops of the city’s modern tramway. This way you can get to the city center at least as fast as by car, but you will not have to deal with hectic traffic and high parking fees. Listed below are some recommended P+Tram sites:
- Circé/Odysseum Rue Georges Méliès / 1200 spaces / line 1
- Euromédecine Route de Montpellier / 239 spaces / line 1
- Lattes Centre Avenue de l’Europe / line 3
- Mosson Route de Lodève / 328 places / lines 1 and 3
- Occitanie Route de Ganges / 615 places / line 1
- Pérols Centre Rue Georges Barnoyer / 70 places / line 3
- Pompidou Av. du Maréchal de Lattre de Tassigny / 260 places / line 2
- Sablassou Route de Nîmes / 379 places / line 2
- Saint Jean le Sec Saint-Jean de Védas / 285 places / line 2
You can find the letters on the map. Although the P+Tram sites are within the low-emission zone, you can reach them using one of the roads indicated above which do not require an emissions sticker. For each parking site, the number of spaces and tramway lines are also indicated.
Future expansion
By 2026, the low-emission zone will be extended to all 31 municipalities of the Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole. This will almost triple the size of the low-emission zone. The municipalities currently excluded are northeast, west and southwest of Montpellier. The coastal areas remain largely unaffected.
Which emissions sticker in Montpellier?
As of 1 January 2024, only vehicles with a green, purple, yellow or orange emissions sticker are permitted. If you do not have one of these stickers, you risk receiving a fine. In 2025, the rules will be tightened and even vehicles with an orange sticker will no longer be allowed to enter the low-emission zone.
Other low-emission zones nearby
The nearest cities that also have low-emission zones are Toulouse and Marseille. Toulouse is 250 kilometers west of Montpellier, also in the Occitanie region. The port city of Marseille can be found 170 kilometers east along the Mediterranean coast. An emissions sticker is required in both cities.
What to see and do in Montpellier?
Montpellier is a large city on the Mediterranean coast in southern France. With just over 300,000 inhabitants, it is the eighth largest city in the country. Sights include the old Ecusson district, the Jardin des Plantes or botanical garden and the Place de la Comédie. The latter is a large square with ornate fountains. Furthermore, Montpellier is known for its Mediterranean cuisine and pleasant beaches.