Ranchot-Jura France
4
Cruises availables
At departure or passage at this port
Frequently Asked Questions
Alongside the village, on the Rhône-Rhine canal that follows the Doubs, near lock number 61. Ranchot lies between Dole and Besançon. Here you count in locks rather than kilometres.
No, and it is better to know before going ashore. No landmark to tick off and no queues: Franche-Comté houses with steep roofs, vegetable gardens sloping to the water, a green island between the two channels. What Ranchot offers is rural France of river and forest.
The Royal Saltworks at Arc-et-Senans, about fifteen kilometres away. A masterpiece by the visionary architect Claude-Nicolas Ledoux built under Louis XVI, its semicircular plan conceived as an ideal city earned it UNESCO World Heritage status. Allow half a day including transport.
Yes, about fifteen kilometres downstream. The former capital of the Comté, Dole layers a Gothic collegiate church, fine townhouses and canals lined with tanneries. Louis Pasteur was born there in 1822 in a house on the tanners' canal, which is open to visitors. Allow an hour or two to wander.
One of the largest broadleaf forests in France: tens of thousands of hectares of oak, beech and hornbeam a few kilometres south. It once fuelled glassworks, forges and saltworks; today it shelters roe deer and wild boar. Marked trails start at its edges.
Yes, and it is the best way to see the surroundings. The towpath is now part of the cycle route linking the Atlantic to the Black Sea. The terrain is flat and right at the water's edge, leading to neighbouring villages and to the forest edge.
Caves visited by the curious since the 16th century, about ten kilometres away. Their coloured chambers follow an underground river where cave bear bones were found. It is a short outing, well suited to a port call.
Yes, depending on the cruise programme: about thirty kilometres upstream. The old town sits in a loop of the Doubs beneath Vauban's citadel, a UNESCO World Heritage site. But Besançon and Arc-et-Senans in one call is too much. You have to choose.
The euro. In a village this size shops are few and a card terminal is not guaranteed. Bring cash, especially for taxis and small sites.
Nothing spectacular, and that is the point. As the light fades the Doubs turns pewter and kingfishers dart under the arches of the bridge. You dine aboard, moored metres from the vegetable gardens, in a quiet that big ports never know.
