Montbéliard
Franche-Comté

The many charms of Franche-Comté

Carte Franche Compté In the shadow of its castle, the historic town and region of Montbéliard is made up of brightly coloured houses, giving way here and there to temples, museums or thousand other treasures. This ancient capital of a Principality of the Holy Germanic Empire is your setting-off point for exploring the Doubs, a river which has dug its bed out of the chalky Jura Mountains. The combination of the two has made a magnificent, deep valley where you can cruise far from the hectic rhythm of city life and enjoy the wild countryside and wildlife, or the charm of the villages and market-towns.
The Doubs is lined by a string of feudal ruins slowing down a bit at Baume les Dames. The town’s Benedictine history presents a fascinating tale. Further along, Besançon, set in a bend in the river, offers its own marvellous sights – the citadelle de Vauban embankments, the museum-town with its lovely fountains, its nobles’ houses and the lively town centre. Your cruise will take you as far as Dole, the town with 12 convents, known as “La grande dame comtoise” (The Great lady of Franche-Comté).
Heading East, towards Mulhouse and Niffer, you’ll leave the wild Doubs valley for calmer waters. In a rural setting, towns and villages bedecked with flowers in the colours of Alsace will invite you to make a stop and taste the local specialities in one of the waterside cafés or small restaurants. In Franche-Comté, hospitality is a pleasure and a way of life.