Domaine La Roche d'Ully

The military and religious architecture of the Doubs is famed throughout France, as spotted in the town of Besançon, the Royal Saltworks at Arc-et-Senans, Montbéliard and the castle of Joux. (And do try as much as poss of the local specialties like Comté cheese and Morteau and Montbéliard sausages too.) The town of Ornans, Domaine La Roche d’Ully's local, is a mighty handsome sight, with old houses on stilts rising right out of the Loue river. Take snaps of the same from the Grand Pont bridge and the footbridge, before a canoe trip down the Loue to see it all up close, and an amble around the Courbet Museum, also right on the river. The fab 17th-century citadel of Besançon has smashing views of the city roofs and the Doubs valley, and is home to several museums including the Comtois, the Museum of French Resistance and Deportation, and the natural history museum with zoo, aquarium and wriggling insectarium. Also on a must-see list should be the splendid cliffside viewpoint of the Roche du Prêtre in Consolation-Maisonnettes; 14th-century Château de Cléron to Ornans's south west; the village of Lods, one of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France, and the many Jura cheese dairies open to the public where Comté is made.