Franche-Comté

The Solid mass of the Jura offers great winter sports with more than 3500 km of marked out ski slopes. The Great Crossings of the Jura in the winter season is an exceptional ski slope that is continuous for more than 200km.

Known as the Monkey Bridges, scale the mountains using over hangings and bridges along the rocky route sites of the Via Ferratas in Franche-Comté. These challenges are perfect for all the family adding that bit of fun and sport to the rugged but impressive scenery.

The regions large lakes become remarkable skating rinks in winter. The principal sites are the lake Saint-Point in Doubs, the lake of Russet-red or that of Combe.

For those who love nothing more than speeding around a track in a go-kart or for those who have always wanted to give it a go, Franche-Comté has a treat for you.

The rivers and streams which race down the wild slopes of Franche-Comté are dotted with small corners of heaven for fly fisherman. Each waterway has its own discovery to offer.

The restaurants of the region will extend to you the warmest of welcomes, ensuring the time spent here is unforgettable. Relaxing over a great meal, discover the wonderful local wines and give your holiday glasses an inimitable ruby red colour.

Franche-Comté’s large green areas have spawned many golf courses. Saint-Claude has, for example, a course of 9 holes on a mountain, with bunkers and water levels. The course is at the root of a forest, with views on the neighbouring area.

A flag of true importance! Paintball is a painfully great experience at the best of times but given this location it just gets better. Bookings are essential but well worth it. Take a stroll in a forest full of people with paintball guns, safe in the knowledge that you’re locked and loaded.

Listed as a 3-star "Grand Site National", Saut du Doubs and its natural pools are some of the most remarkable locations in the entire region.

The Franche-Comté region has marked out thousands of kilometres of paths for walking. There are many options from tracks abounding with flower beds, the stony paths of the Jurassic heights to the flowing waters of Haut-Doubs. Take your time to discover the local flora and fauna and landscapes, from lakes to forests to peaks and valleys.

Franche-Comté is awash with cultural riches, which give it its special soul. Roman, Gaulish, Spanish and finally French, the region has been fashioned by an impressive history. The architectural diversity and the talent of its creators alone are enough to make a visit worthwhile.

Built at the entrance to the "Pontarlier Gap", with the Swiss border on the horizon, this proud imposing castle is hard to miss. The Château de Joux stands around three hundred feet above the international commercial route which, as early as under Roman occupation, linked the Jura, Burgundy, Flanders and Champagne to Italy.

Set high up on its anticline, Besançon Citadel features a magnificent fortress is one of Vauban's masterpieces, and it is said that its construction was so costly that Louis XIV enquired as to whether the walls had been made out of gold.

Notre-Dame-du-Haut, standing atop Bourlémont Hill, is a major example of contemporary religious art, a place of worship conceived of by the imagination of Le Corbusier.