Forêt de Cîteaux & Abbaye de Cîteaux
Just 25 kilometres south-east of Dijon, the Forêt de Cîteaux is a vast, flat oak and hornbeam forest that shelters one of the most important monasteries in Western history — the Abbaye de Cîteaux, mother house of the entire Cistercian order, founded in 1098. It is still home to around 30 monks who make the celebrated Cîteaux cheese on site.
Cycling Through the Forest to the Abbey
The best way to reach Cîteaux from Dijon is by bicycle along the EuroVelo 6 cycle route and local lanes — a 25 km ride through flat farmland and forest that takes about 90 minutes at a gentle pace. The forest itself is criss-crossed with marked walking and cycling trails; in autumn the fallen leaves carpet the sandy paths in gold and the mushroom hunters are out in force.
The abbey church is open for Gregorian chant vespers (17:15 daily) and Sunday mass (10:00), which visitors may attend quietly. The experience of hearing plainchant echo under a Romanesque vault in a working monastery is genuinely moving and completely free.
Cîteaux Cheese and the Abbey Shop
The monks produce Cîteaux, a washed-rind semi-soft cheese made from the milk of their own Montbéliarde herd, that appears on the menus of every serious Burgundian restaurant. You can buy it directly from the abbey shop, along with honey, jams and religious books, at prices well below what you'd pay in Dijon.
The cheese has a pale orange rind and a buttery, nutty interior with a mild funk — nothing like as aggressive as Époisses. Buy a whole round (about 700g), wrap it well and it will survive a journey home in your luggage for several days.
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