We are travelling from Paris to Lausanne as a leg of our journey. Our two options are to go direct or to have a stopover in Dijon of several hours. I have read that the Dijon-Ville train station is near the city center, but I'm having trouble tracking down the train station on a map.
Does anyone have any experience on whether a brief stop in Dijon is worthwhile?
According to www.viamichelin.com and www.mappy.com, the Dijon Ville station is west of and a little bit north of the intersection of Avenue Albert 1er, Boulevard Sevigne, and Rue de l'Arquebuse.
I haven't been to Dijon; but from the descriptions I've read on the Fodors board from a woman who lives there, it sounds like a great place to visit.
The station is not very near the city center, a good 15 minutes even for a fast walker. It has a pretty and interesting old center, including a large food market most mornings in season. Its size is a bit daunting for a quick visit.
I'd say you could have an interesting few hours, though a little advanced planning would help you to make the most of your time. Depending on how much time you have, you might even be able to have lunch there; certainly a snack or too.
Or you could skip it if your trip is already full.
I actually regret using Dijon only as a mere stop-off, rather than as a destination in its own right. Although the city is a nightmare to navigate by auto, on foot it is a delightful medieval labyrinth, with much to discover. Only a few real tourist attractions (like the Duccal palace), but a nice place to "experience" France. And sorry, I don't know where the train station lies.
Any keywords that make searching for the train stations easier on the maps? I used your intersection and was able to locate the train station using the hybrid view on googlemaps.com, but when I search for it by name, I'm struggling to find it. This has been an issue for me in several cities, Paris in particular.
Thanks for the help.
On the map sites I gave you I first simply entered Dijon. Then I zoomed in far enough so that when I moved my mouse pointer over the icon of any train station, the name of the station was given. I did it a second way by entering Gare Dijon Ville as the name of the station. When the map appeared, there was a circle around the station icon.
