A Guide to Besancon

Situated to the north of the Jura Mountains Besancon is a picturesque town in the Franche Comte region of France. It has always been a protected area even back to the Roman times when it lay on the trade routes. The architect Vauban added fortifications to the cit and a citadel to aid in the protection of the city from attacks or the river.

The citadel is approximately a fifteen minute climb from the Cathedral and there are many other notable attractions in the area such as the many museums in the town as well as the Palais Granvelle which is dedicated to telling the story of the history of clock making in the area something for which the town used to be very famous for.

The town has beautiful scenery and has fantastic and following the river to the north will eventually take you into Switzerland and upstream there is the river Loue that goes through some beautiful woodland and fantastic scenery.