Dijon.

Dijon (September 2024).

This was the last stop on a two-week road trip that started with the F1 at Zandvoort, took in Heidelberg and Monza, and finished here on the way home. In between the madness of two F1 weekends I wanted quiet, historic, beautiful places that were slightly less obvious, and Dijon delivered.

Where we stayed.

A gorgeous old timber-framed guesthouse right in the middle of the old lanes. Step out the door and you're in it, which is exactly how a town like this should be done.

The centre.

Everything starts at the Palace of the Dukes of Burgundy, with its great curved square out front, pale stone and big skies. From there it's a maze of streets lined with medieval half-timbered houses, an old carousel turning in one of the squares, and the covered market for picking up lunch.

The mustard.

Yes, we did the touristy mustard shop. Shelves of jars, more flavours than you'd think possible, and we came home with some genuinely weird ones. I couldn't tell you now what they were.

Flannery's.

I didn't expect to find an Irish pub in the middle of Burgundy with my family name over the door. Once we had, it was a must-stop. Guinness on a green table, a long way from home, and it felt like it was meant to be.

The rest.

Ice cream with a macaron on top, slow lunches and evening walks through the old streets once the day-trippers had gone. It's a properly lovely, unhurried city.

Dijon is small enough to walk, old enough to keep surprising you, and it has a pub with my name on it. What more do you want?

Getting there.

Dijon was the last stop of the road trip, driving up from Monza. Home from Dijon is about 570 km to Calais, five and a half hours on the A26, A5 and A31, then LeShuttle. French tolls run to roughly €70 to €100 each way.

Other options: Eurostar to Paris, across to Gare de Lyon, then a TGV to Dijon in about 1 hour 40, five to six hours door to door. Or fly easyJet from Gatwick to Lyon and take the train up.

Where to stay.

We had two nights at the Hôtel des Ducs, in its Maison des Ducs annex in the old centre.

Budget: Hôtel Le Jacquemart on Rue Verrerie, around £70 a night. Mid-range: Maison Philippe Le Bon on Rue Sainte-Anne, around £125. Fancy: Grand Hôtel La Cloche on Place Darcy, from around £180.

Worth doing.

Lunch at Les Halles, the Palace of the Dukes, and a Guinness at Flannery's, obviously.

With more time: the Owl Trail through the old town (booklet from €4, and touch the owl on Notre-Dame for luck), the Cité Internationale de la Gastronomie et du Vin, and the Route des Grands Crus down to Beaune.