Besançon, France

Besançon on the oxbow of Doubs River
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2011-06-12_15-48-27-vue-doubs.jpg
Author: Bresson Thomas



Besançon (German: Bisanz, Spanish: Besanzón) is the capital and main city of the Franche-Comté region in eastern France. Located near the border with Switzerland, the city covers 65.05 sq km (25.12 sq mi) and has a population of 118,000 (2011 estimate) and a metropolitan population of around 220,000. Its old town features 17th century buildings often enriched with beautiful wrought-iron work.

Loop of the Doubs River in Besançon
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2011-06-12_14-18-42-vue-doubs.jpg
Author: Bresson Thomas

Besançon on Google Maps Street View

View Larger Map Besançon is located on a loop of the river Doubs. Within then inner loop, the ground has a maximum elevation of 250 m (820 ft) To the south of the loop is 371 m (1,217 ft) Mont Saint-Étienne, while surrounding Besançon are other hills rising to 500 m (1,640 ft).

Besançon experiences an oceanic climate with cold winters and warm, dry summers. The warmest month is August, when the average high temperature rises to 26.1°C (79°F). January is the coldest month, when the average low temperature drops to -0.8°C (30.6°F). November is the wettest month in Besançon, receiving some 96.7 mm (3.8 in) of precipitation.

Cathédrale Saint-Jean in Besançon
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cath%C3%A9drale_Saint-Jean_Besan%C3%A7on.jpg
Author: Wikipedro


Besançon is today a modern city specializing in microtechnology, precision engineering and watch making. The watch industry of Besançon, relying on the traditional method of watch making, suffered a terrible blow when cheap quartz watches from Asia flooded the market. The city watch makers persevered to ride through the lean years until the industry eventually recovered.

The history of human settlement on the oxbow of the Doubs River, where present-day Besançon is located, goes back to the Bronze Age, around 1,500 BC. Its location made it of military importance to the ruling powers. The area was a Gaulic settlement until conquered by the Romans under Julius Caesar, who name the site Vesontio. That name has since permutated to Besantio, Besontion and Bisanz in Middle High German, to arrive as Besançon in modern French.

Musée du temps, Besançon
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mus%C3%A9e_du_temps_Besan%C3%A7on_1.jpg
Author: Arnaud 25

Visiting Besançon

Besançon is about three hours by high-speed train from Paris. You can also get there from Lyon and Strasbourg.

The grand old Hôtel de Bains in Besançon
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:H%C3%B4tel_des_Bains_Besan%C3%A7on.jpg
Author: Wikipedro

World Heritage Sites in Besançon

Places of Interest in Besançon

 Latest updates on Penang Travel Tips

About this website

Thanks for reading this page. My name is Timothy Tye. My hobby is to research information about places, and share the information with people on this website. I started this website on 5 January 2003, and since then, have written about over 20,000 places, mostly in Malaysia and Singapore.

Please use the information on this page as guidance only. While I try my best to provide you information that is as accurate as I can get it to be, I do apologize for any errors. Also, as I might not be able to update some information on time, some of these pages may contain outdated information.