Dijon’s Old Town Owl Walk

Nature
The wow factor for nature - does it show nature at its best? Doesn't need to be the wildebeest migration or diving with hundreds of hammerheads. Rather make you pause as you realise just how awesome the natural world can be
3
Culture
How much does this experience showcase some of the better and finer things that us humans can offer? Sure, it can be ancient ruins and renaissance churches, but it can also be festivals or soaking up some of the great modern cities of the world
7
Fun factor/activity
Very simple - was it fun? This is usually linked in with doing some kind of activity - i mean, walking along some cliffs is nice, but paragliding from them, now that is fun. Its a vastly underrated factor in a truly great experience
7
Avoid the crowds
Big tour groups and being surrounded by loud fellow tourists can sap the life out of even the greatest of travel experiences. This score is to reflect just how much you can avoid this. But. . . The score also takes into account if the crowds actually add to the experience, such as with a party town or a bustling local market
7
World famous
How world famous is the experience?
4
unique
How hard is it to have a similar experience in other places round the world?
5
Overall TE Score
The overall travel experiences score:  fun factor + avoid the crowds + (best of nature or culture) + (best of world famous or unique). Then convert into a score out of 100
65 *What the scores mean and where do they come from
RANKING
How this travel experience ranks compared to all the other experiences on this site, based on the travel experience (te) score
228th/454
Top 50%
continent
Europe
country
France
Length of time
1 day or less
Typical daily price
This gives you a rough idea of the daily price based on 2 people travelling where they can split costs like accommodation. It excludes travel there and back, and factors in inflation the numbers in brackets show the price range for the full time of the experience (so not necessarily daily). It is a range to reflect different budget vs higher end
$40 ($10-$75 in 2025 prices)
Time of year visited
September
Primary Tags
Click on any of the tags to see all travel experiences with the same tag
Bustling restaurants Christian site Old town
All Tags
Palaces Restaurant recommendations UNESCO world heritage site
Wow Factor
The wow factor reflects just how much you’re likely to say “wow”. As there’s a lot of experiences in the world, and a lot of wows, i’ve gone with a simple ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ to ⭐️ score, and a separate category for the truly "gash"
⭐⭐

Summary

Typically visited en route through to other parts of France, Dijon is well worth a half day visit mainly for its surprisingly cool La Chouette (Owl) City Walk. 1600 small bronze owls are paved into walkways across the city, showing a 22-stop self-guided walking tour – known as Le Parcours de la Chouette – that takes you past each of the major attractions of Dijon’s beautiful old city.  Dijon’s unofficial symbol is an owl, inspired by the small owl carved into the façade of a chapel annex to the Notre-Dame de Dijon, hence the owl fascination.

 

In a nutshell, reasons to visit . . .

  • Central France – it really does feel outrageously French at times.
  • Effortlessly beautiful city centre – the white stone buildings with sprinklings of gold and blue are gorgeous.
  • Great food – Lyon gets all the fame for the gastronomic centre, but Dijon is just as high standard.  We ate at Bouillon Notre Dame and would recommend for ticking that “outrageously typically French” food vibe.
  • The Owl City Walk – fun, easy to follow 3km walk done well.

 

Definitely worth the stop . . . we had a great time even with it hammering with rain.

 

Dijon's La Chouette (Owl) City Walk - 1600 bronze owls paved into walkways across the city, showing a 22-stop self-guided walking tour

One of the Owl markers as part of Dijon’s La Chouette (Owl) City Walk

 

Highlights of Dijon for a day

Dijon #1 Wandering through the Old Town, following the Owls on the Le Parcours de la Chouette. Surprisingly good fun

#1 Wandering through the Old Town, following the Owls on the Le Parcours de la Chouette. Surprisingly good fun

Dijon - #2 The wonderfully coloured roof of the Saint-Benigne de Dijon Cathedral (photo definitely doesn't do it justice)

#2 The wonderfully coloured roof of the Saint-Benigne de Dijon Cathedral (photo definitely doesn't do it justice)

Dijon - #3 The city centre / old town itself - the white stone buildings with sprinklings of gold and blue are stunning and pretty much everywhere

#3 The city centre / old town itself - the white stone buildings with sprinklings of gold and blue are stunning and pretty much everywhere

Dijon - #4 The Notre Dame de Dijon, beautiful inside and out

#4 The Notre Dame de Dijon, beautiful inside and out

Dijon - #5 The cobbled streets everywhere

#5 The cobbled streets vibe throughout the town

Dijon - #6 The parks - it really is a gorgeous city to walk through

#6 The parks - it really is a gorgeous city to walk through

The Owl City Walking Route

 

I won’t regurgitate the full route.  Offbeat France do a good job – Offbeat France Dijon route – so have a scan, but the map is below to give you an idea of where it meanders.

 

Dijon Owl Walking Route Map

The Owl Walking route for Dijon

 

Experiences Nearby

The below map shows experiences nearby with a colour that reflect the Overall Score of those experiences

Other Beautiful Old Town Walks

Nights out and soaking up Havana
⭐⭐⭐

Pintxos in San Sebastian
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Driving through the White Towns of Parque Natural Sierra de Grazalema
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Zanzibar’s 5 highlights
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Sibilini Mountains and hilltop villages of Marche
⭐⭐

Wandering the Old Towns of Eastern Sicily
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Historic Seville
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Bologna – Italy’s gastronomic capital
⭐⭐⭐

A couple of days in Arequipa
⭐⭐

Score Detail

The scores above are the real point of this site.

Over 20+ years and 100+ countries, I’ve tried to rank the world’s best travel experiences — from genuinely mind-blowing ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to the properly gash.

Every one of the 500+ places on this site has both a Wow Factor rating and a more analytical Travel Experience (TE) score based on the things that actually make travel memorable.

If you're curious about the thinking behind it, head to the About page.

Otherwise, explore the map above or on the Home page and see which places truly deliver maximum wow.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *