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Geonivora
District

Saône-et-Loire

Located in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, France Coordinates: 46°38′11″ N 4°35′17″ E

Saône-et-Loire
Mâcon · Luciani71 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Population
549,136
549.1K
Elevation
268 m
above sea level
Local time
UTC+01:00
Europe/Paris · UTC+01:00
Places inside
108
listed under Saône-et-Loire
When to go
May–September
See the climate
Airports
DLE Dole Tavaux Airport78 km
LYS Lyon Saint-Exupéry Airport108 km

About Saône-et-Loire

Saône-et-Loire is a district. Location: Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, France. Population: 549,136.

From Wikipedia

Saône-et-Loire (French pronunciation: [son‿elwaʁ]; Arpitan: Sona-et-Lêre; lit. 'Saône and Loire') is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in France. It is named after the rivers Saône and Loire, between which it lies, in the country's central-eastern part. Its prefecture is Mâcon, with subprefectures in Autun, Chalon-sur-Saône, Charolles and Louhans-Châteaurenaud. Saône-et-Loire is Bourgogne-Franche-Comté's most populous department with a population of 550,310 as of 2023.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

At a glance

Built
1790
Area
8,575 km²
Official website
saone-et-loire.gouv.fr

Source: Wikidata

Travel notes for Saône-et-Loire

From Wikivoyage

Saône-et-Loire is a department in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. Tourism in this region is founded on its varied landscape (the Saône plain, the Mâconnais, and the Charolais), its gastronomy with the prestigious Mâconnais wines, the charolais beef, the poulet de Bresse (Bresse chicken), and its rich architectural sites (Autun, Cluny, Paray-le-Monial, and Tournus).

Understand+

The department is home to the Charolais cattle, which not only look beautiful but also produce particularly tender and tasty meat.

Get in+

Mâcon is 90 km from Lyon-Saint Exupery Airport (IATA:LYS).

By car, it takes about an hour. Alternatively, you can take the "Rhônexpress" tram to Lyon-Part Dieu station (every 15 minutes, journey time half an hour) and from there take the TGV (approximately half an hour to Mâcon-Loche, 40 minutes to Le Creusot, and one hour to Chalon-sur-Saône) or the frequent regional train (TER) that runs approximately 50 minutes to Mâcon-Centre and 1 hour 20 minutes to Chalon-sur-Saône.

By train:

TGV stops are in Mâcon, Chalon-sur-Saône, and Le Creusot. TGV trains run from Paris and Lyon to Le Creusot every two hours, taking 1 hour 20 minutes from Paris and 40 minutes from Lyon. There are four direct TGV trains to Mâcon daily from Lyon, taking 24–34 minutes; two TGV trains run daily to Chalon-sur-Saône, taking one hour. However, the extra cost is hardly worth it on this route: the TER regional trains, which run at least once an hour, only take 48 minutes to Mâcon and 1 hour 22 minutes to Chalon-sur-Saône. Five TGV trains run daily from Paris to Mâcon, taking just over 1.5 hours, and one daily to Chalons-sur-Saône (2.5 hours).

By car:

The A6 motorway runs through the department.

Source: Wikivoyage · CC BY-SA 4.0 · abridged

Places bordering Saône-et-Loire

  • Allier
  • Nièvre
  • Jura
  • Ain
  • Rhône
  • Loire

Twin towns and sister cities of Saône-et-Loire

  • Yamanashi· Japan

Source: Wikidata. Only places with a page on this site are shown.

Population of Saône-et-Loire over time

Population of Saône-et-Loire over time
2013 556,622
2015 555,408
2017 553,595
2018 552,185
2019 551,493
2020 551,063
2021 549,288
2022 549,136
2023 550,310

Censuses and official estimates; source: Wikidata.

Climate of Saône-et-Loire

Best months for sightseeing

Best months for sightseeing: May–September.

This month · November

A cold month

Day 9° · Night 3° · Rain 76 mm

Hottest month
July (day 25°)
Coldest month
January (night 0°)
Wettest month
June (82 mm)
Driest month
March (50 mm)

Bars: average monthly low and high temperature. Below: precipitation. Monthly averages for 1970–2000 at about 18 km resolution, adjusted for elevation. Highlighted months are mild and relatively dry. Source: WorldClim 2.1 (CC BY 4.0).

Show values as a table
Climate of Saône-et-Loire
Month JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Average high (°C)5°7°12°14°19°22°25°25°21°15°9°6°
Average low (°C)0°0°3°5°9°12°14°14°11°7°3°1°
Precipitation (mm)665650617982637082727666

Other places to visit in this season: May June July August September

How to get to Saône-et-Loire

The nearest airport is Dole Tavaux Airport (DLE), 78 km to the northeast as the crow flies. For international flights: Lyon Saint-Exupéry Airport (LYS) (108 km). The nearest large city is Dijon, 82 km to the northeast.

Airports

  • Dole Tavaux Airport (DLE) Dole 78 kmnortheast
  • Lyon Saint-Exupéry Airport (LYS) Colombier-Saugnieu, Rhône 108 kmsouth
  • Geneva International Airport (GVA) Geneva 125 kmeast

Nearby large cities

  • Dijon Population: 159.9K 82 kmnortheast
  • Villeurbanne Population: 131.4K 99 kmsouth
  • Lyon Population: 520.8K 101 kmsouth
  • Besançon Population: 128.4K 128 kmnortheast
  • Geneva Population: 201.7K 129 kmeast

Straight-line distances; road distances are longer. Airport data: OurAirports.

Day trips from Saône-et-Loire

Within 100 km: 168 historic and cultural sites, 404 natural sites, 219 lakes, rivers and coasts.

0–25 km32 places

  • Étang de Torcy-Neuf Lake 19 kmNW
  • Étang Neuf Lake 15 kmSW
  • Étang de Montaubry Lake 17 kmN
  • Grand Étang de Torcy Lake 19 kmNW

25–60 km207 places

  • Bois Dieu Natural site 34 kmSW
  • Étang de la Toison Lake 38 kmNW
  • Étang de Poisson Lake 47 kmNW
  • Étang de la Noue Lake 30 kmNW

60–100 km552 places

  • Parc de la Tête d'Or Natural site 97 kmS
  • Étang des Vavres Lake 74 kmSE
  • Lake Sylans Lake 98 kmSE
  • Lac des Settons Lake 73 kmNW

Straight-line distances.

Places in Saône-et-Loire

108 places

Mountains & nature14

Lakes, rivers & coasts34

Nature and heritage in Saône-et-Loire

Sources & licences

Data last updated: · 2 independent sources