City of Art and History, Dole forms a beautiful and harmonious group of buildings with its canals, its old houses and its collegiate church dominating the whole scene. The particularly well-preserved historic centre of Dole is listed as conservation area. Very romantic, the short walk going along the Tanneurs canal is the perfect place for a stroll. It is in this district that was born in 1822 Louis Pasteur, the inventor of the rabies vaccine. Today, Pasteur's birth house is a museum, which describes the life and scientific work of the famous scholar.

Along the walk, numerous period buildings can be observed: the 16th-century Notre-Dame collegiate church, the Hôtel-Dieu now sheltering the media library, Collège de l'Arc secondary school transformed into a sixth-form college, the former Carmélites convent, the Jesuits chapel, the Palais de Justice (law courts) (former Cordeliers convent) and several mansions such as the Froissard mansion and the Champagney mansion.

The Fine art museum situated in the former Officers pavilion has displays of the region's archaeology, sculptures from Burgundy and Franche-Comté, and paintings.

Capital of the Jura wines, the town of Arbois boasts a beautiful architectural heritage. Its houses sitting along the picturesque Cuisance river are very charming. The Saint-Just church dating from the 12th and 13th centuries boasts a 60-metre high bell tower. The latter is accessible in July and August, offering then a magnificent view of the vineyards and the roofs of the city.

Open to visitors, the Pasteur House, in which Louis Pasteur used to stay regularly, is home to personal souvenirs, objects, devices and instruments of the famous scientist.

Also not to be missed, the Vineyards and Wine museum situated in a part of the Pécauld castle, introduces visitors to the history and traditions related to wine-growing, as well as presenting the region's grape varieties and wine-making methods.

Built from 1774 to 1779 by the architect Claude Nicolas Ledoux, the former royal saltworks of Arc-et-Senans constitutes a remarkable example of the French industrial heritage. Of Neoclassical style, this group of 11 buildings is today a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Visitors can look around the Guards' building, Director's building, blacksmith's workshop and cooperage. There is also a salt museum and the Claude Nicolas Ledoux museum.

Situated in the Bresse countryside, the Château de Pierre-de-Bresse is an elegant brick building dating from the 17th century that is home to the Burgundian Bresse heritage museum. Through its permanent exhibitions, this place takes in the history, the arts and popular traditions, the natural environment, and the current economy of this area. Temporary exhibitions are also put on. Around the castle, the pleasant 30-hectare park is great for a promenade.

Situated in Arlay, in the heart of the Jura vineyards, the elegant 18th-century castle is dominated by the remains of the medieval fortress. It is home to furniture of the Bourbon Restoration period. Its romantic park, which extends over the hill, as well as its Jardin des Jeux garden featuring flowers, plants, fruit and vegetables, is a lovely place for a walk.

Dominated by the silhouette of the Belin fort, Salins-les-Bains is a charming and pleasant spa town benefiting from a beautiful natural environment.

Open to visitors, the former saltworks, a listed building, are home to underground galleries dating from the 13th century and a hydraulic pumping system, still in service today, which enables salt water to be extracted.

In the heart of the town, the thermal baths offer medical cures and a wellbeing space.

From the surrounding hills, there's a wonderful view over the roofs of the town and the unspoiled setting.

Overlooking the famous Jura vineyards from its rocky mountain spur, the picturesque village of Château-Chalon is the perfect place for a stroll: Romanesque church dating from the 10th century, beautiful wine-growers' houses and tremendous viewpoints offering an exceptional view of the vineyards, can be observed along the walk.

The vineyards of Château-Chalon, carrying the AOC quality label Château-Chalon, is renowned for its yellow wine.

Nestling in the heart of a magnificent cirque, the village of Baume-les-Messieurs, listed as one of the Most Beautiful Villages of France, takes advantage of an exceptional natural setting. The famous high cliffs can be contemplated off several viewpoints dominating the roofs of Baume-les-Messieurs. In the village itself, you mustn't miss the Benedictine abbey founded in the 6th century. Its Romanesque abbey church is unusual in that it is home to a magnificent Flemish altarpiece dating from the 16th century.

Famous for its poultry that carries the AOC quality label, the Burgundian Bresse, situated on the east side of the département, boasts water mills and typical brick-built and timber-framed farms. The peaceful Bresse countryside, with its landscapes of hedged farmlands, rivers and ponds, is a perfect place for the freshwater fishing. Not to be missed: the renowned and picturesque poultry market, which takes place every Monday morning in Louhans. Also unmissable, the visit of the Burgundian Bresse heritage museum in Pierre-de-Bresse.

The Cistercian abbey of Cîteaux is located near Nuits-Saint-Georges, in the municipality of Saint-Nicolas-lès-Cîteaux in the department of Côte-d'Or, Burgundy.

The birthplace of the Cistercian order, the Abbey of Our Lady of Cîteaux was founded in 1098 by Abbot Robert de Molesmes. It was here that the famous St. Bernard began his monastic life, before becoming the first Abbot of Clairvaux in 1115.

The public can see a permanent exhibition based in the old Définitoire and a film about the life of the Cîteaux monks, take a guided tour of the historic buildings with a look at the 13th-century scribes' cloister and the 15th-century library, and buy products such as honey sweets and cheeses from the abbey.

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Capital of the Jura and spa town, Lons-le-Saunier is also the native town of Rouget de Lisle. The picturesque Commerce street, lined with arches, and the Liberté square decorated with fountains and surrounded by beautiful buildings, such as the theatre and the clock tower, are among the town's key attractions.

The birth house of Rouget de Lisle, situated in the Commerce street, is today home to a museum that recounts the life of the composer of La Marseillaise, the French national anthem, through an exhibition of documents and personal objects.

Also to be discovered: the 18th-century Hôtel-Dieu and its magnificent apothecaries, the Cordeliers church, the Saint-Désiré church, the charming fountains, the Fine art museum home to paintings and sculptures and the Archaeology museum exhibiting collections of mineralogy, paleontology and archaeology.

The thermal baths (Thermes) offer courses of hydrotherapy in the salt- and trace element-rich water, as well as wellbeing breaks. In front of the establishment there's a beautiful park for walkers.

The River Lison rises in beautiful verdant surroundings in Crouzet-Migette near Nans-sous-Sainte-Anne.

Situated in the northeast of Champagnole, the Joux forest extends over 2,660 hectares. It is one of the most beautiful fir plantations in France. Some of its firs reach a height of more than 40 metres. According to the tradition, the most remarkable firs are elected president. The current president fir, is more than two centuries old and measures 45 metres high for a 1.20 metre diameter!

A signposted tourist trail and numerous footpaths let you discover the wonders of this forest massif.

Based in the magnificent palace of the Dukes and States of Burgundy, the Dijon Museum of Fine Arts, founded in 1787, is one of France's most prestigious museums. Its exceptional collections, which have been added to continuously over time, now comprise around 130,000 works, ranging from Antiquity to the contemporary era through the Renaissance: paintings, sculptures and drawings, but also decorative arts, make up the museum's fabulous treasure trove. The remarkable medieval collections, consisting of art objects, sculptures and Italian, Flemish, Swiss and German paintings, canvases by such famous painters as Delacroix, Titian, Champaigne, Géricault, Manet and Monet, as well as works by Burgundian artists like François Rude and Jean-Baptiste Lallemand, are among the gems you can admire on your visit.

The museum's centrepiece, the large and impressive palace hall, in the Flamboyant Gothic style, contains the tombs of the Dukes of Burgundy, Philip the Bold and John the Fearless! Masterpieces of medieval funerary art, these two sumptuous tombs are adorned with pleurants, finely carved alabaster statuettes of weeping figures, made in the 15th century.

The museum offers free access to the permanent collections and many activities all year round: themed tours, creative and fun activities, night events, etc.

Occupying a strategic location between Northern Europe and the lands of the South, the capital of Burgundy was home to one of Europe's most brilliant courts in the 14th and 15th century: the court of the Dukes of Burgundy. An exceptional architectural ensemble that testifies to this splendid past, the built heritage of Dijon, a City of Art and History, consists of superb monuments and picturesque old half-timbered houses. In the Renaissance, as well as in the 17th and 18th centuries, elegant mansions were built: the Esterno mansion, Coeurderoy mansion, Legouz de Gerland mansion, Bouhier de Lantenay mansion, etc.

You can explore the city on foot, by tramway, bike, shuttle bus or Segway, and there are many guided tours for you to learn about its history and its well-preserved neighbourhoods. The Owl Trail, a 22-step walking circuit to take at your own pace, will show you the essential sights of the historic centre. So take the time to stroll around its pedestrian streets and pleasant squares, then make the most of the lovely shops and delicatessens that you'll find along the way.

Based in the Palace of the Dukes and States of Burgundy, which also houses Dijon City Hall, the Fine Arts Museum has remarkable collections ranging from Antiquity to the 21st century through the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. In what was once the great ceremonial hall, you can admire the sumptuous tombs of the Dukes Philip the Bold and John the Fearless. Dating from the 15th century, the Philip the Good Tower, which stands 46 metres tall and overlooks the palace, will offer you stunning views of the city and its surroundings!

The city's many churches, spanning every era from the Middle Ages to the present day, have earned Dijon its moniker of "city of a hundred bell towers". The Church of Our Lady, the oldest, is a Gothic masterpiece with its remarkable gargoyle-adorned façade. Its unusual sculpted owl, located on one of the building's buttresses, is thought to bring good luck. You have to stroke it with your left hand while making a wish! Inside the church, at the south apsidiole you can see the very old statue of Our Lady of Good Hope, a wooden Virgin from the 11th century.

Other sights to see are the Cathedral of St. Benignus in the Burgundian Gothic style, the old Church of St. Anne that is now a religious art museum, the Church of St. Michael in the Flamboyant Gothic style, the Church of St. Stephen, where the choir and transept house the Rude Museum devoted to the Dijon sculptor François Rude, etc.

A masterpiece of Burgundian medieval sculpture awaits you at the hospital centre, in the former cloister of Champmol Charterhouse: the Well of Moses, the base for a cross that has now gone, made between 1395 and 1405.

Le Dijon contemporain se dévoile à travers plusieurs espaces dédiés à l'art : des galeries privées ; l'Atheneum, lieu d'exposition ; le Consortium, centre d'art contemporain.

À faire avec les enfants, le musée du cerf-volant, à Perrigny-lès-Dijon, où se dévoilent plus de 1 000 cerfs-volants venus du monde entier !

Porte d'entrée des prestigieux vignobles de Bourgogne, et notamment de la Côte de Nuits, Dijon est la ville de la moutarde, du pain d'épices et de la crème de cassis, qui possède son musée, le Cassissium, à Nuits-Saint-Georges, à une trentaine de kilomètres au sud de Dijon. Son volet gastronomique, incontournable, passe aussi par le boeuf bourguignon, les oeufs en meurette, le jambon persillé, le coq au vin et bien sûr les grands crus... Aux halles, près de 250 stands vous proposent produits frais et spécialités locales. Ce marché des saveurs a lieu les mardi, jeudi et vendredi matin, ainsi que le samedi toute la journée.

Dijon est aussi une ville verte avec ses 700 hectares de parcs et jardins, dont le très beau parc de l'Arquebuse avec son arboretum, sa roseraie et son jardin des Sciences qui réunit un planétarium, un muséum et un jardin botanique dédiés à la biodiversité. À voir également, le parc de la Colombière, un jardin à la française classé aux monuments historiques, riche de plus de 6 000 arbres.

An unspoilt natural site, the Saône Valley is located in the department of Haute-Saône, in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The valley is protected natural territory and is remarkable for its considerable biodiversity, due to the area's moist environment: wetlands and alluvial forests. It is a sanctuary for abundant wildlife , which thrives there.

The banks of the Saône, which used to be towpaths, can be travelled on foot, by bike (there are several bike hire shops between Gray and Port-sur-Saône), or on horseback. Along the way, you can discover rustic, characterful villages such as Chemilly, Scey-sur-Saône, Traves, Saint-Albin, with its canal-tunnel that's a listed Historic Monument, built during the time of Napoleon III, Soing-Cubry-Charentenay, etc. Don't miss the Baignes forges, the 12th-century Rupt-sur-Saône Castle, Ray-sur-Saône Castle, and the Cistercian Abbey of Neuvelle-lès-la-Charité. There are many fountains, washhouses and drinking troughs in the region, completing the civil architectural heritage.

Water tourism is popular on the river, and is a great way to see the region from the water, in a habitable boat. Canoe, kayak, boat and pedalo rides are also available, departing from Traves in particular.

Nestling in a green environment, the Chalain lake is a magnificent water pond of glacial origin that is 2,9 kilometres long and 1 kilometre wide. This lake is particularly well-suited for watersports activities. Its sandy beaches are perfect for those who love lounging around.

On-site excavations uncovered the remains of lake dwellings. These findings can be observed in the archaeology museum of Lons-le-Saunier.

A beautiful footpath situated on the municipality of Bourg-de-Sirod, leads the walkers to a particularly wild site in which the River Ain crosses a very narrow gorge. This place is especially impressive during the rainy period when the water flow increases.

Capital of the Franche-Comté region, the City of Art and History of Besançon is built on a loop of the River Doubs and is dominated by the imposing silhouette of its citadel. Masterpiece by the engineer Vauban, the citadel of Besançon constitutes a remarkable example of the 17th-century military architecture. Besides its fortifications and its magnificent panoramic view of the roofs of the city and the Doubs valley, the citadel is home to many museums: the Comtois museum, the Vauban centre, the Resistance and Deportation museum, and the Natural History museum complete with zoo, evolution trail, insectarium, aquarium, noctarium and climatorium.

The visit of Besançon continues with the discovery of the historic centre situated below the citadel. The Saint-Jean cathedral and its magnificent astronomical clock made of 30,000 pieces; the very lively Grande-Rue and Revolution square; the Granvelle palace, a magnificent building of the Renaissance period today home to the Time museum dedicated to clock-making; the Vauban quays and its arcaded houses along the River Doubs; the birth house of the famous writer Victor Hugo, and the beautiful mansions of the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries are some of the many places of interest to be discovered on a walk round the town.

Not to be missed also, the Fine art and Archaeology museum, situated on the Revolution square in a former 19th-century corn exchange which houses archaeology and art collections.

Boasting numerous green spaces, the town of Besançon also appeals to park and garden lovers, with the botanical garden and its numerous sorts of plants, trees and flowers, and the Micaud Promenade, a pleasant three-hectare park situated along the River Doubs.

A Town of Art and History and the capital of Burgundy wine, Beaune is located forty kilometres or so south of Dijon and boasts some exceptional heritage. Surrounded by old ramparts, it is known as the centre for the Burgundy wine trade, as evidenced by the famous auction at the Hospices de Beaune every third Sunday in November.

The old town contains some remarkable monuments and has some beautiful Renaissance mansions for visitors to admire, as well as pretty half-timbered houses and charming inner courtyards. Take the time to stroll around, to see Beaune's architectural treasures at your own pace or using an audioguide.

The first stop along the way: the Hôtel-Dieu, a gem of Burgundian medieval architecture, built in the 15th century at the request of the Duke of Burgundy's Chancellor, Nicolas Rolin, to come to the aid of the poor and sick. A listed Historic Monument, this superb complex with its famous varnished tile roofs has become a museum of medical history. On your visit, you can in particular admire the magnificent ceremonial courtyard (cour d'honneur), the impressive Hall for the Poor (Salle des Pôvres), the Gothic chapel, the kitchen and the apothecary, as well as a masterpiece of Flemish painting dating from the 15th century: the polyptych of the Last Judgment, attributed to the artist Rogier van der Weyden. The world's biggest wine auction takes place here in November, with part of the proceeds going towards the upkeep of the Hôtel-Dieu.

Not far from there, on Rue Paradis, is the mansion of the Dukes of Burgundy, which you can visit. A listed Historic Monument, this old ducal palace from the 14th century now houses the Museum of Burgundy Wine, where the history of the vineyard and winemaking is told through ethnographic and artistic collections, tapestries and everyday objects used by winegrowers.

All around the Beaune region, there are cellar tours, tastings and organised excursions in the vineyard so you can learn about Burgundy's winegrowing heritage.

Another unmissable monument is the Cluniac-inspired Collegiate Church of Our Lady. This superb 13th-century edifice, one of the last big Romanesque churches in Burgundy, possesses a Gothic portal and chevet, as well as a Renaissance bell tower. Inside is a collection of five tapestries from the 15th century illustrating the life of the Virgin, a Renaissance chapel and a black Virgin from the 12th century.

Beaune has a busy and lively cultural life all year. One of the most prestigious Baroque music festivals in Europe takes place there in July.

À ne pas manquer, les Lumières à Beaune qui permettent durant tout l'été d'admirer des projections monumentales sur les monuments et sites emblématiques de la cité comme l'Hôtel-Dieu, la collégiale, le musée du Vin, la chapelle Saint-Étienne, le beffroi, le rempart des Dames et la porte Marie de Bourgogne.

Crowned by a lavish glazed tile roof, now emblematic of the region, the Hôtel-Dieu of Beaune is renowned throughout the world for its traditional, prestigious charity wine sale, which takes place on the third Sunday of November. A remarkable example of Burgundian medieval architecture, it was built in the flamboyant Gothic style in the 15th century, at the request of Nicolas Rolin, Chancellor to the Duke of Burgundy, to help the poorest people in times of illness. A listed Historic Monument, nowadays it houses a museum of medical history, with a collection of around 5,000 items of furniture and objects, ranging from tapestries and paintings to sculptures and pharmacy pots, through chests and beds. One notable item amongst all these treasures is the famous polyptych of the Last Judgment, a masterpiece produced in the 15th century by the Flemish artist Rogier van der Weyden.

On your tour of this bastion of French heritage, you can see the impressive Hall of the Poor, with its magnificent oak-panelled ceiling and two rows of beds with red curtains, the chapel, St. Hugh's Hall and its mural paintings, St. Nicholas' Hall and its exhibition on the history of the Hospices, the kitchen and its beautiful Gothic fireplace with two hearths or the pharmacy and its collection of 130 earthenware pots from the 18th century. The tour ends with the polyptych by Rogier van der Weyden, which once hung above the chapel altar, and a superb collection of old tapestries from Tournai, Brussels and Aubusson.

Nestling in the heart of Burgundian Bresse, the city of Louhans is renowned for its famous poultry market, which takes place every Monday morning. An event not to be missed under any circumstances! Besides its authentic traditional market, Louhans can also be proud of having the longest arcaded street in France. Extremely picturesque, the Grande-Rue street is lined with 157 arches! A visit of the historic centre also takes in the Saint-Pierre church, covered with a roof of glazed tiles; the Bailli house, building dating from the end of the 16th century; and the apothecary shop of the Hôtel Dieu hospital with its splendid old Italian-Spanish Moorish vases.