Discover Chalon-sur-Saône : its port, the museums and galleries, the street festival

The barge port 

With nearly 1,200 km of rivers and canals, Burgundy is the ‘eldorado’ of pleasure tourism. The barge port of Chalon-sur-Saône allows you to rent boats with docks. Take a simple tour or sail for a week on the canals or on the Saône, discover adventure getaways for families, couples or group of friends, all this in favour of routine escape and change of scenery! Located on the edge of the Place of Port Villiers, suitable for bucolic walks, walks and idleness, this marina has been designed for river tourism. Close to the heart of the town, the Quai Gambetta and the Quai des Messageries, this port sees 6000 boats passing each year, of which 5000 are private German, American and Swiss liveaboards. The marina of Chalon-sur-Saône is an international appointment of yachtsmen and cruisers.

Museums and Galleries The Denon Museum

One of the French museums located in Chalon-sur-Saône and among the most frequented in Saône-et-Loire, the Denon Museum highlights archaeology, decorative arts, Fine Arts and History. The museum is named after Dominique Vivant Denon, a French designer, engraver, writer, diplomat and administrator. Considered a great forerunner of museology, art history and Egyptology, the Denon Museum is listed as a historical monument. Apart from the museum, a mansion in the region also bears the name of the one who was the first director of the Louvre.

Nicephore Niépce

The inventor of photography, Niépce, was born on March 7th, 1765. He grew up in Chalon-sur-Saône and developed here an eponymous museum devoted to the art of the image, its history and to the materials of the "mechanical image". This museum offers a collection of 20000 free pictures. Among the many devices displayed, the Daguerreotype is not to be missed. Compare it to the small spy-devices by the end of the XXth century! More than two million images and objects are found, including the first camera model ever created. Inventor of genius, Niepce died while most of his inventions were still unknown to the general public.

Festival Chalon in the street

Every year, a reunion of street artists from all over the world takes place in Chalon. An unmissable event for more than 25 years now, the organizers of Chalon in the Street ensure an eclectic and unusual agenda, source of discoveries for people from all over the world. A thousand performances over three days, 300.000 festival-goers, Chalon in the Rue brings together the spectators who rub shoulders, both at the ‘In’ as at the ‘Off’. One offers a program that brings together a large audience, while the other, although more intimate, remains nevertheless a source of beautiful discoveries. This street festival is one of the major events of the Big East. At the Chalon street festival one can follow the artists across the city. It is a beautiful introduction to your visit to the Côte Chalonnaise along the ‘Route of great wines’.