We stayed at Centre de Rencontres Internationales and had a nice time. The receptionists, who speak excellent English, are very helpful -- we called the hostel when we arrived at the train station and they told us exactly how to get the bus to the hostel because we were pretty confused. The Dijon bus system is pretty simple, and buses are frequent (and free if you're sneaky). There is a bus stop just over the road from the hostel itself, which is actually about ten to fifteen minutes from the centre of town. The bus drivers are all friendly and helpful (we got lost a few times).
The hostel is very clean, almost hospital-like, and pretty quiet. The room we stayed in was huge. We had two showers for four of us, and they are amazing (high pressure, warm, relatively clean). There’s also a great view of Dijon from our window (our room was on the second floor). Sheets are provided, and the beds are pretty comfy, with individual bedside lamps, which is nice. Also there is a lot of wardrobe space, and desks/chairs. There are laundry facilities -- 6 Euros for soap and washer/dryer.
The included breakfast is amazing -- a bread roll, a croissant, butter, orange juice, fruit, cereal, cheese, yogurt, butter, and a hot drink. It’s enough for a packed lunch as well. The hostel also has hot lunches and hot dinners, but these are 4 or 5 Euros per meal.
In all, though the facilities are great and it is really cheap, there is a slightly cold institutional feel to the place. We don’t recommend the hostel to backpackers traveling alone, because it's not really the kind of place where you will meet lots of young people. We were lucky when we there and managed to meet some cool people, but other than us and maybe two or three small groups of young travelers, it was mostly old people, school groups, or families with small children.
At night it's completely dead, and there doesn't seem to be much of a nightlife in Dijon either. But the town is very pretty (good for shopping as well), and the surrounding countryside is gorgeous. Rent bikes from the tourist office for the day and cycle through the vineyards.
— Exclusive Hostelz.com Review
September 2006
Location/Contact
2.5 Average from 2 Ratings
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