Besançon travel guide
Vauban's citadel, a river loop and an astronomical clock
Besançon is a compact old town wrapped in a loop of the Doubs, crowned by Vauban's citadel and close to the Jura and Switzerland. Visit between May and September for the boat tours and rampart walks; two days is enough, longer if you head into the Jura. Prices are high, and Schengen rules give many visitors 90 days.
Besançon sits inside a tight loop of the Doubs, close to the Jura Mountains and the Swiss border, with a rock spur closing the one gap in the river's circle. Vauban put a citadel on that spur in the 17th century, and it is now part of his UNESCO-listed fortifications. Inside the loop, the old town known as La Boucle is built from blue-grey and ochre stone. Walk it.
Climb to the Citadel first. Inside its walls you find a zoo, a Resistance museum, an aquarium and the Franche-Comté folk museum, plus rampart walks high above the town. Down in La Boucle, Saint-Jean Cathedral has a 19th-century astronomical clock with tens of thousands of parts, while the Palais Granvelle holds the Musée du Temps, a nod to the city's watchmaking past.
Victor Hugo and the Lumière brothers were born here; Hugo's birthplace is now a small museum. Nearby, Square Castan keeps the Corinthian columns of a Roman theatre, and the Porte Noire, a Roman arch, stands by the cathedral. Eat as the Jura does: comté, Mont d'Or baked in its box in winter, cancoillotte and Morteau sausage. A boat tour runs round the loop and through the tunnel under the Citadel.
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Top things to do in Besançon
A Vauban citadel, a Renaissance old town and an astronomical clock inside a river loop.
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Best time to visit Besançon
Month by month, so you can pick the weather and the crowds you want.
Boats run round the loop, the Citadel gardens are at their best and terraces fill along the Doubs.
Cold and sometimes snowy; Mont d'Or cheese season and quieter museums.
The Besançon international music festival fills September, and every other year it hosts a competition for young conductors; its concerts sell out early.
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Getting there
From the Les Auxons TGV halt to Viotte, and Basel's EuroAirport
High-speed trains stop at Besançon Franche-Comté TGV, a station out in the countryside at Les Auxons, north of the city. Some trains continue to Strasbourg, Lyon, Marseille, Luxembourg and Frankfurt, and a few Paris TGVs run right into Besançon-Viotte. A regular shuttle train links the TGV station with Besançon-Viotte, the city station on the hill just above the old town. The nearest airport is Dole-Jura, south-west of the city, with a few Ryanair routes; EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg, on French soil beside Basel, has far more flights; many visitors fly into Paris-Charles de Gaulle and come on by train. FlixBus links Besançon with cities around Europe, and drivers use the A36.
- Besançon Franche-Comté TGV
- Around seven direct trains a day to Paris, plus Strasbourg, Lyon, Marseille and Frankfurt
- Shuttle train
- Regular service from the TGV station to Besançon-Viotte
- EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse (BSL)
- Nearest major airport; Dole-Jura is closer but has few routes
- By road
- A36 motorway; FlixBus coaches from around Europe
- Buy the TGV ticket through to Besançon-Viotte so the shuttle connection is included and timed.
- Viotte sits above La Boucle, so the walk into the old town is downhill; going back with luggage, take the tram.
Where to stay
Inside La Boucle, across the bridge in Battant or up at Viotte
The old town is small, and almost every sight lies inside the river loop or on the Citadel hill above it.
- La Boucle
- The old town inside the loop, on foot to everything; parking is difficult
- Cathedral end of La Boucle
- Quieter streets at the foot of the Citadel climb, close to the Porte Noire and Square Castan
- Battant
- Old wine-growers' quarter across the Doubs, with bars and cheaper eating; livelier and noisier at night
- Near Viotte station
- Handy for trains, a short walk or tram ride uphill from the centre
Getting around
Ginko trams along the Doubs and boats through the Citadel tunnel
La Boucle is compact and best on foot, though the climb to the Citadel is long and steep. Ginko runs the buses and two tram lines, which skirt the old town and link Viotte station with the centre; buy tickets from bus drivers or the machines at tram stops. Vélocité bike-share stations are dotted through the centre, and cycle paths follow the Doubs out of town. Boat tours circle the loop through the Citadel tunnel, and canoes can be hired for a paddle of your own.
- On foot
- La Boucle is compact; the Citadel climb is steep
- Ginko trams and buses
- Two tram lines; tickets from drivers or machines at stops
- Vélocité
- Bike-share stations every few hundred metres in the centre
- Doubs boat tours
- Round the loop, through two locks and the Citadel tunnel
- Walk up to the Citadel in the cool of the morning and save your legs by walking down in the afternoon.
Know before you go
What makes Besançon worth the trip, and what catches visitors out.
Why travelers love it
- The Citadel ramparts, looking down on the Doubs curling round the old town.
- The astronomical clock in Saint-Jean Cathedral, with its moving figures and dozens of dials.
- A boat round La Boucle, through the locks and the tunnel under the Citadel.
Good to know
- Rain falls in every month, roughly 80 to 110 mm, so pack a jacket even in July.
- The Citadel takes a full day with its zoo, museums and ramparts; arrive at opening and wear good shoes for the climb.
Trip fit
BookingMentor editorial ratings out of 5, based on a first-time visitor's experience.
Weather in Besançon, month by month
Besançon sits at the foot of the Jura, with warm summers, cold winters and rain in every month. Month by month, the panel gives Météo-France averages for the city.
Climate figures are approximate long-term averages for Besançon (Meteo France, via Wikipedia).
Vauban's Citadel and La Boucle over two days in Besançon
Besançon fills two days. Spend the first at Vauban's Citadel above the Doubs, with its ramparts, Museum of the Resistance and Deportation, folk museum and zoo. Spend the second in La Boucle: the astronomical clock in Saint-Jean Cathedral, the Porte Noire, the Musée du Temps and a boat trip through the tunnel under the Citadel.
Climb to the Citadel when it opens. Walk the ramparts first, then choose inside: the Museum of the Resistance and Deportation is the most powerful, the Franche-Comté folk museum the most homely, and families will head for the zoo, aquarium and insectarium. Lunch at the café inside the walls.
In La Boucle, start at Saint-Jean Cathedral, where the 19th-century astronomical clock, built from some 30,000 parts, shows tides and world times, and its figures move on the hour. Step outside to the Porte Noire, a Roman triumphal arch, and the Corinthian columns of Square Castan.
Walk down the Grande Rue past Victor Hugo's birthplace to the Musée du Temps in the Palais Granvelle, with its watchmaking story and rooftop Foucault pendulum. In late afternoon, take the boat round the loop, then cross to Battant, the old wine-growers' quarter, for a drink.
Comté, Morteau sausage and Mont d'Or cheese in Besançon
Dairy from the Franche-Comté uplands drives Besançon's food. Taste Comté at several ages, cancoillotte melted with butter and garlic, Morbier and bleu de Gex. From autumn to spring, order Mont d'Or baked in its spruce box with Morteau sausage, and drink vin jaune from the Jura. Shop at the covered market beside the fine arts museum.
Comté, made in huge wheels and aged for months or years, ranges from mild and milky to crystalline and nutty. Cancoillotte is a runny, low-fat cheese poured warm over potatoes. Morbier has a line of ash through the middle.
Mont d'Or (also called vacherin) is a soft cheese girdled with spruce bark and sold in its wooden box. Bake it whole with white wine and garlic and spoon it over potatoes. The classic partner is saucisse de Morteau, a fat pork sausage smoked in tall farm chimneys in the mountains, recognisable by the small wooden peg at one end.
Vin jaune, aged for years under a film of yeast, has a nutty, sherry-like taste and goes into chicken with cream and morels. For dessert, try the galette de goumeau, a flat pastry topped with a cream and egg custard.
Eat in La Boucle or among the bars of Battant across the river.
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How we research our Besançon travel guide
TGV, the shuttle train, Ginko buses and the river boats are compared with the operators before each review. City facts come from besancon.fr and France.fr, entry rules from the EU's Entry/Exit and ETIAS portal.
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Checked against trusted sources:
Official website of BesançonFrance.frEU Entry/Exit System and ETIAS
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Quick answers to the questions travelers ask most before visiting Besançon.
General
Dole-Jura is closer but has only a handful of Ryanair and seasonal routes. EuroAirport has far more flights, and many visitors fly into Paris-Charles de Gaulle and continue by train.
It sits on the high-speed line north of the city, outside the town. A regular shuttle train runs from there to Besançon-Viotte, the city station.
A few do. Most of the roughly seven daily direct TGVs from Paris Gare de Lyon stop at Besançon Franche-Comté TGV, while some continue to Viotte in town. By car, the A36 is the main route.
A zoo, an aquarium, an insectarium, a museum of the Resistance and deportation, a museum of traditional Franche-Comté life and rampart walks with views over the town.
Yes: one day for the Citadel, and one for the old town, its museums and a river boat trip.
A runny Franche-Comté cheese melted with butter and garlic, eaten warm with bread or poured over potatoes.
Steep and fairly long, rising well above the river from the cathedral end of the old town. Go up in the cool of the morning.
Victor Hugo and the film pioneers Auguste and Louis Lumière. Hugo's birthplace is now a small museum.
La Boucle is compact and best on foot, though the climb to the Citadel is long and steep. Ginko runs the buses and two tram lines, which skirt the old town and link Viotte station with the centre; buy tickets from bus drivers or the machines at tram stops. Vélocité bike-share stations are dotted through the centre, and cycle paths follow the Doubs out of town.
Booking
Around 30,000. The 19th-century clock in Saint-Jean Cathedral shows dozens of readings on its dials, from tides to times around the world.
Timing & weather
From autumn to spring. Restaurants bake it whole in its spruce box with white wine and garlic and serve it with potatoes and Morteau sausage.
July is the warmest month in Besançon, with average highs of 26°C, and January the coolest, with lows of 0°C. October is the wettest month, at about 112 mm of rain; February is the driest. Besançon sits at the foot of the Jura, with warm summers, cold winters and rain in every month.
Getting there
High-speed trains stop at Besançon Franche-Comté TGV, a station out in the countryside at Les Auxons, north of the city. Some trains continue to Strasbourg, Lyon, Marseille, Luxembourg and Frankfurt, and a few Paris TGVs run right into Besançon-Viotte. A regular shuttle train links the TGV station with Besançon-Viotte, the city station on the hill just above the old town.
Visa & documents
France belongs to the Schengen area. Citizens of the EU and of many other countries, including the US, UK, Canada and Australia, can visit visa-free for up to 90 days in any 180-day period; other nationalities need a Schengen visa. The EU's Entry/Exit System (EES) records non-EU travelers' fingerprints and a photo at the border.
Health & safety
Crime against visitors to France is mostly petty. Pickpocketing is common in Paris on the Metro, especially line 1, and around the Eiffel Tower, Montmartre and Gare du Nord. Rail and air strikes and street demonstrations can disrupt transport, so check before travel days and keep away from protests.
