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Besançon

The gare SNCF is at the end of avenue Maréchal-Foch, while the gare routière is at 9 rue Proudhon off rue de la République; buses for Pontarlier and Ornans leave from here. The best way to reach the town centre from the train station is to take the underground passage (next to the monument in front of the station) and cut across the park down to the quais – the old town is on the other side of the river. The tourist office is upstream on the right bank by the Pont de la République on place de la Première Armée-Française (April–Sept Mon 10am–6.30pm, Tues–Sat 9.30am–7pm; mid-June to mid-Sept also Sun 10am–noon & 3–5pm; Oct–March Mon 10am–6pm, Tues–Sat 9am–6pm; tel 03.81.80.92.55, www.besancon.com). On the other side of the Pont de la République from the tourist office is the departure point for the bateaux-mouches (daily April–Oct; €8), which tour round the outer limits of the town centre.

Hotels include the comfortable and friendly family-run Granvelle, 13 rue Lecourbe, close to the Citadel (tel 03.81.81.33.92, fax 03.81.81.31.77; €30–40); the central Regina, 91 Grande-Rue (tel 03.81.81.50.22, fax 03.81.81.60.20; €30–40); the Hôtel de Paris, 33 rue des Granges (tel 03.81.81.36.56, fax 03.81.61.94.90; €40–55), with free parking for guests; and the Hôtel du Nord, at 8–10 rue de Moncey in the centre (tel 03.81.81.34.56, fax 03.81.81.85.96; €40–55). For something more upmarket, the Castan, 6 square Castan (tel 03.81.65.02.00, www.hotelcastan.fr; €100–125) is housed in a beautiful seventeenth-century town house and offers supreme comfort. Besançon's hostel, Les Oiseaux, is a couple of kilometres northeast of the train station at 48 rue des Cras (tel 03.81.40.32.00, fax 03.81.40.32.01; bus #7, stop "Les Oiseaux"; €17 single, €25 double). The Centre International de Séjour at 19 rue Martin-du-Gard, 4km northwest of the centre (tel 03.81.50.07.54, www.cis-besancon.com; bus #8, stop "L'Épitaphe"; €8.30–17.50 without breakfast), fulfils the same function. Alternatively, there's the Foyer de la Cassotte, 18 rue de la Cassotte (tel 03.81.80.90.01; €13.50 including breakfast), for 16–25-year-olds. Camping is at Plage de Chalezeule, 5km out on the Belfort road (tel 03.81.88.04.26; April–Oct; bus #1 towards Palente).