Plan your visit
Grottes d’Osselle is one of France’s great natural sites — bring good shoes and a camera. Locate it on the map, book a room nearby in a click, or add it to your travel list to build your itinerary.
About Grottes d’Osselle
On the banks of the Doubs not far from Besançon, the Grottes d'Osselle are among the oldest show-caves in the world, opened to curious visitors as early as the 15th century — long before caving became a science. This eight-kilometre network, of which a fine section is guided, winds through galleries hung with colourful concretions stained ochre and red by the surrounding earth, past an underground river crossed by an old stone bridge. The cave is famous among scientists for the countless bones of cave bears found in its depths, relics of the Ice Age. Steeped in centuries of history, richly decorated and pleasantly cool, the Grottes d'Osselle offer an atmospheric and historic underground journey in the heart of Franche-Comté.