Dijon
France
The old capital of the dukes of Burgundy, at the top of a road that runs through the most expensive vineyards on earth
Photo by Zhu Yunxiao on Unsplash
Photos by Ingeborg Korme, Richard Hedrick, Fabian Kleiser and Daniel Tischer on Unsplash
Best time to visit all of France
May to June, and September to October (the harvest is early autumn, and the villages are at their best while it runs)
Climate month by month
The next sixteen daysOpen-Meteo
Average high and low · °C
Rainfall · mm per month
Best months to visit This month · wettest 82mm in May
Where it is
47.32°N, 5.04°E Open in Google Maps
Things to do
A week easily- Follow the owl trail through the old town, and touch the owl with your left hand like everyone else
- Go to the Halles on a Tuesday, Friday or Saturday morning, when the stalls spill into the streets
- Book domaine tastings ahead; the famous names do not take walk-ins and the small ones close for lunch
- Take the train to Beaune, hire a bicycle there and ride the Voie des Vignes south through Pommard and Meursault
- Climb the Philippe le Bon tower for the roofs, which are tiled in the same coloured patterns as Beaune’s
Dijon travel tipsthe general rules
Currency budget France
Mid-rangeEuro, and cards are taken everywhere, contactless included. A small family domaine selling bottles at the door will almost always take a card too; carry a few notes for the market stalls outside the Halles.
ATMs & cards
Use a bank’s own machine — Crédit Agricole, BNP Paribas, Société Générale, La Banque Postale — and refuse the conversion when it is offered. The wine villages south of the city have few machines of any kind, so draw in Dijon or Beaune.
Avoid these
- Euronet
- standalone machines in shops and tourist streets
Use these instead
- Crédit Agricole
- BNP Paribas
- Société Générale
- La Banque Postale
French bank machines are normally free on their side for foreign cards. Refuse the conversion offer, and draw before heading into the villages.
Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.
Safety all of France
Very safeA calm, prosperous city with little crime against visitors beyond the occasional bag lifted on a café terrace. The real hazard is the wine: tastings are generous and the drink-drive limit is 0.5g/l, lower than the UK’s. Whoever drives the Côte should spit, or take the train to Beaune and walk or cycle between villages.
Where to walk, and where to pay attention (7 areas)
Comfortable, including after dark
Worth more attention
- Place de la République late on weekend nights — where the bars empty out, and the crowd is noisier than the rest of the city
- the Route des Grands Crus after tastings — the drink-drive limit is 0.5g/l, and a morning of generous pours is over it
- café terraces in the old town — a bag on the back of a chair is the one theft worth thinking about
Our own assessment, not a sourced index.
Entry & visa France visa rules
No visa needed
Freedom of movement — no time limit, and no visa. Bring a passport or national ID card.
Other passports
No visa neededup to 90 days
90 days within any 180-day period, counted across the whole Schengen area, not per country. ETIAS, a paid online authorisation, is being introduced for these passports — check the official link for whether it applies to your travel dates.
Visa required in advance€90 (Schengen short-stay visa)
A Schengen short-stay visa is applied for before travel, at the consulate of your main destination.
How to get it: Apply at the consulate or visa centre of the country you will spend most time in, typically 15 working days ahead and no more than six months before travel.
Entry rules change often and depend on your passport, not where you live — the official page above is the authority, and the airline checks before you board.
Health & emergencies all of France
Excellent and cheapRequired to enter
No vaccinations are required for entry from Europe or North America.
Jabs worth having, and what happens if you need a doctor
Worth having
- Routine vaccinations up to date
Getting treated
EU/EEA and Swiss visitors are treated on the same terms as residents with an EHIC or GHIC card; UK visitors use a GHIC. Everyone else pays, and travel insurance is worth having for the repatriation cover rather than the treatment.
Orientation, not medical advice — entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history. Check with a travel clinic four to six weeks before you go.
Food tip
OutstandingŒufs en meurette, eggs poached in red wine; jambon persillé; boeuf bourguignon; escargots; Époisses, which arrives before you see it. Kir is white aligoté with cassis and is named after a mayor. Most Dijon mustard is a recipe rather than a place and the seed comes largely from Canada; Edmond Fallot in Beaune still grinds Burgundy seed and shows you how. Pain d’épices from Mulot & Petitjean.
Travel tipsGetting around
Easy- UberWorks here
- BoltWorks here
- G7Works here
- FREE NOWWorks here
G7 the taxi fleet, by app
- Against a taxi
- Much the same. The flat airport rate is a taxi rule and the apps price against it.
Time zone and your working day
Europe/Paris — 6 hours ahead of you
2 hours of overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are — 09:00–11:00 your time, 15:00–17:00 theirs.
No overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are. Working from here means one of you keeps odd hours — their day starts at 03:00 on your clock.
office hours both at once night
Their 09:00–17:00 is 03:00–11:00 on yours.
The difference from the UK, Europe, the US and ten more
Worked out against America/New York, which is where this request looks like it came from.
eSIM
A data eSIM for France, installed before you fly and working the moment you land:
Works here
Works hereRevolutIn the app
Must-see
Travel tipsNearby day trips
Travel tipsSay a few words
French
- HelloBonjourbon-ZHOOR
- PleaseS'il vous plaîtseel voo PLEH
- Thank youMercimer-SEE
- Yes / NoOui / Nonwee / non
4 more phrases
- Excuse meExcusez-moiex-koo-zay MWA
- How much is it?C'est combien ?say com-BYEN
- The bill, pleaseL'addition, s'il vous plaîtla-dee-SYON
- Cheers!Santé !son-TAY
Open with bonjour before anything else. Launching straight into a question without it reads as rude, and explains a lot of reputed French coldness.
Travel tipsReligion
Catholic, and strictly secular
Laïcité is a constitutional principle: religion is kept out of public institutions, and conspicuous religious symbols are banned in state schools. Cover shoulders in cathedrals.
Travel tipsDo's and don'ts
Do
- Say bonjour before anything else, every single time you enter a shop
- Keep your voice down in restaurants and on public transport
- Keep both hands visible on the table while eating, wrists on the edge
- Dress a notch smarter than you would at home — it changes how you are treated
Don't
- Do not ask for a doggy bag or substitutions; the dish arrives as the kitchen intends
- Do not start with English without at least attempting bonjour, parlez-vous anglais
- Do not tip more than rounding up — service is included by law
- Do not eat while walking; it reads as slightly uncivilised
Where to stay in Dijon
No Holistay rentals in Dijon yet — the platform is just opening up. Every listing here will have a video tour and the option to negotiate the nightly price directly with the host.
In the meantime, here is Dijon on the sites that do have the inventory — each search is already filled in:
- Booking.com hotels, guesthouses and apartments — the widest coverage almost everywhere
- Airbnb whole homes and apartments, and the better option for a week or more
How to get there
Fly into Paris Charles de Gaulle CDG
3hfrom the airport· 263 km as the crow flies
About 3h: RER B into Paris, across to Gare de Lyon, then the TGV. A direct TGV from the airport runs only a few times a week.
Also worth pricing: Lyon Saint-Exupéry LYS — rhônexpress to Part-Dieu, then a regional train north; about three hours.
Google Flights · Rome2Rio for the trains, buses and ferries as well as the flights
