Dijon

Understand

thumb|250px|The Porte Guillaume The surroundings is also an important wine production region, and Dijon has historically been the centre for regulatory bodies for wine production (some wine classification systems were invented here) and therefore the historical centre of Dijon forms part of the UNESCO World Heritage site "Climats, terroirs of Burgundy".

Dijon was for some time the capital of the Dukes of Burgundy. Burgundy was a great power during the 14th and 15th centuries, when the dukes controlled a large part of what is now northeastern France, western Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands.

The dukes were great patrons of the arts, so Dijon was a major centre of Gothic and early Renaissance music, painting, and sculpture, attracting some of the greatest and most famous artists and musicians from Flanders in particular. The music the great composers left behind can be performed anywhere, but it is particularly in the fields of sculpture and architecture that masters left a lasting mark on Dijon.

Today, Dijon is a cosmopolitan city, with universities in the centre and industrial plants on the outskirts. Traffic is restricted in the centre of the city, so many parts of central Dijon are quiet and relaxing.

See

thumb|250px|Saint Bénigne Cathédral thumb|upright 1.5|Palais des Ducs et des États de Bourgogne There is a self-guided walk in the city, called Parcours de la chouette, shown by owl arrows and numbered owl plates in the ground. There are 22 stops of interest. The book with the description of stops is available at the tourist office for €2.50, there is also an app on the Google Play store for €2.99 or on the App Store for €1.99. But it's not mandatory.

Do

Promenade de l'Ouche (or Coulée verte) is a walking and cycling trail which starts near the Cité internationale de la gastronomie et du vin (International City of Gastronomy and Wine, rue du Faubourg Raines, 10 minutes walk south-west from city centre) and follows the Ouche river upstream to the Kir lake. On the way to the lake you can stop at the Well of Moses (30-min walk). Lac Kir (Kir lake) is an artificial lake just bit outside the city, created by Félix Kir and inaugurated in 1964 to create a site for nautical activities and as a tool to prevent most of the Ouche river floods. There you can walk or cycle around the lake. In the summer days there's plenty of people on the beach (you can swim in the lake, although the water is a bit dark). Football: Dijon FCO were promoted in 2026 and now play soccer in Ligue 2, the second tier. Their Stade Gaston Gérard (capacity 14,500) is 1 km east of the railway station.

Buy

Rue de la Liberté, which extends east from Place Darcy to the Palais des Ducs (on Place de la Libération) is a main shopping street with all types of shopping for locals and visitors. Dijon mustard is no longer produced in Dijon. In fact, 80% of the mustard seeds used to produce mustard in France (including the Maille brand which is owned by Unilever) are imported from Canada. Edmond Fallot is an independent family business that has been producing authentic Burgundy mustard (i.e., they use mustard seeds from Burgundy, not imported from Canada) since 1840. They have a boutique on Rue de la Chouette where you can taste their many mustard varieties, but their factory in Beaune sells them for a few cents cheaper. Les Halles, an indoor marketplace, has many stalls for fresh produce, meat, and seafood. The Toison d'Or shopping mall, the biggest of the entire region and 20th largest in France, is farther north, about a 12-minute tram ride from the city centre on the T2 line.

Eat

Many of the dishes that Americans think of as traditionally French originated in Burgundy, for example 'coq au vin'. One great strategy is to order the fixed-price (prix fixe) menu, usually three courses including dessert. It provides a good sense of what the restaurant is like.

Jambon persillé (terrine/meatloaf of parsleyed ham) and pain d'epices (gingerbread) are local delicacies of the region.

There are 23 Michelin-starred restaurants in the area.

Drink

thumb|Place François Rude Dijon is well known for cassis, a sweet black current liqueur that is a bright reddish-purple in colour. If you are of legal drinking age in France a traditional Dijonnaise cocktail is called a "Kir", a blend of cassis and a local white wine (traditionally "Aligoté") - you can also order it made with champagne for a tasty and festive "Kir Royale". Make sure that you try the wonderful local wines - Burgundy has the highest number of Appellations of any French region. Of course the reds are terrific, and Americans unfamiliar with wine history might be surprised to find that white burgundies compare favorably with California chardonnays - they are, after all, from the same grape.

Go next

You can reserve vineyard tours through the Dijon Tourist Office to visit the Côte de Nuits and participate in wine tastings in some of the most famous wine-making villages of Burgundy. Wine and Voyages has the longest running tours available and are wine experts.

Besançon, the capital of the region Franche-Comté before it was administratively merged to Burgundy in 2015 to form the "Bourgogne-Franche-Comté" region. Located at about 90 km east by road from Dijon, Besançon has beautiful old city, great art and architecture, with Vauban-designed citadel which is surrounded by beautiful green hills, and the atmosphere of a university city as well as one of history and commerce. Beaune at 40 km south of Dijon, is a beautiful town with many wineries and excellent examples of typical regional architecture. In particular, make sure you see the Hôtel-Dieu.