Spend an exceedingly magical day in Anis country
Just follow your nose and let the gentle aroma of aniseed lead you through the streets and into the heart of the historic Benedictine monastery. Step inside and absorb the beauty of the abbey, the abundance of tins and packets of sweets, and the confectioners coming hither and thither.
CONTACT / BOOKING
For groups (more than 15 people)
Please book your visit in advance
+33 (0)3 80 96 29 01
magasin@anisdeflavigny.com
No booking required for individuals and families.
Where can you stay, and where can you eat?
Visit the Flavigny town hall website.
Enjoy a sneak preview of the tour by clicking this link:
The Anis Factory
The Abbey crypt
The Anis Museum
The flavour laboratory
The bar
The Bookshop
The Anis Boutique
The Anis workshop, with its traditional panning basins
Step into the panning workshop and let your senses take over. The fresh, spicy aniseed scent is everywhere, infusing everything around you while your ears take in the clatter of the candy as it rolls around the copper drums. Look inside and you’ll see how each aniseed is delicately coated in sugar and essential oil. Once you’ve visited the workshop and sneaked a quick look through the glass door into the packaging workshop, come back down and ask any questions you may have. This is a great opportunity to talk to your guide (who’s been working here for years) or to a local youngster who knows the Factory like the back of their hand.
If you miss the visiting times for the workshop, there’s a video inside the Museum which shows the various steps needed to make our sweets – from selecting the ingredients all the way to shipping the finished sweets.
The Abbey crypt: from Charlemagne… to Anis
Take a moment to listen to the monks’ chants when you enter the Carolingian crypt – these monks prayed here for more than 1,000 years. The Chapels of Sainte-Reine and Notre-Dame-des-Piliers are testament to the Abbey’s history, dating all the way back to 719 and the reign of Charles Martel. They are all that’s left of the former Abbey church, and precious reminders of the site’s Gallo-Roman, Roman and Gothic history.
The Anis Museum
For hundreds of years, the Abbey’s attic was home to an astonishing collection of antique candy boxes, vintage adverts and the very first panning basins used to make the legendary Anis de Flavigny. These are now on show at the little Anis Museum, with illustrations dating back all the way to 1828. They show the timeless romance of the shepherd and shepherdess, with subtle variations on a theme which has been developing throughout the sweet’s history. Discover the history of sugar and aniseed from the Ancients to Flavigny, and how the very first sweets were made. Even as far back as 1591, under the reign of Henri IV, Les Anis de Flavigny® was given as tokens to the Abbey’s guests. Did you know, too, that Louis XIV was never without a box of anisse in his pocket?
Relive history as you explore the historic packing and shipping workshops. These vaulted spaces were in constant use from the French Revolution to 2019, and you can still see the old machinery and equipment from the 1930’s. Take the time to watch a video of the teams at work and see just how they brought us the product we know today. You can even discover the inner cloisters, formerly closed to everyone but the factory workers, and enjoy a breath-taking view up the main Abbey staircase.
The flavour laboratory
Here, you can discover the third vital ingredient of our Anis: natural plant extracts and flavourings. We work alongside perfumers in Grasse, allowing us to select and blend our natural flavours and develop a truly unique aroma. Test your nose with our olfactory activities – is this orange blossom? Maybe it’s mandarin? Take a deep breath and see for yourself!
Le Café des Anis, where friends come together
Take the time to sip a lemonade in the Factory courtyard. While you’re sitting at one of our beautiful enamelled tables, you can watch lifelong members of the Factory come and go with packets under their arms, pushing trolleys, delivering sugar, greeting foreign customers and welcoming the next generation of Anis lovers.
The Anis Bookshop, with all you need to feed your mind…
Packed full of recipes, architecture, mediaeval history and medicinal plants – all that’s missing is you! Browse them here or take one home with you.
The Anis Boutique, with Original and Petit Anis tastings
No visit is complete without a tasting. Right here in our little shop, each visitor can stop, relax and taste all of our naturally flavoured sweets. Did you know that Anis de Flavigny ® is also available in violet, mint, orange blossom, lemon, blackcurrant, ginger, liquorice, mandarin and rose flavours? Whoever you are and wherever you’re from, you’ll find the perfect Anis for you. We ship our Anis to more than 35 different countries. Did you know that in Asia they prefer rose, while Americans love violet? For our native French and other Latin neighbours though, there’s nothing better than an aniseed flavoured Anis!
Anis workshop opening hours
From February 3rd to November 10th, guided tours from Monday to Friday :
• in the morning between 9:00 and 11:30,
• in the afternoon between 14:00 and 16:00.
Departure every half hour.
Closed: weekends, public holidays, from January 3rd to February 2nd and November 13th to 2024 January 8th.
Reservation required for groups.
Opening hours for the Crypt, the Museum, the Shop and the Café
From 03 January to 02 February
• Closed from Monday to Friday
• Saturday: from 10:00 to 18:00
• Sunday: from 10:00 to 17:00
From 03 February to 07 April
• Monday to Friday: from 09:00 to 17:00
• Saturday: from 10:00 to 18:00
• Sunday and public holidays: from 10:00 to 17:00
From 08 April to 07 July
• Monday to Friday: from 09:00 to 18:00
• Saturday, public holidays and long weekends (public holidays on Thursday or Tuesday): from 10:00 to 19:00
• Sunday: from 10:00 to 18:00
From 08 July to 31 August
• Monday to Friday: from 09:00 to 19:00
• Saturday, Sunday and public holidays: from 10:00 to 19:00
From 01 September to 05 November
• Monday to Friday: from 09:00 to 18:00
• Saturday and public holidays: from 10:00 to 19:00
• Sunday: from 10:00 to 18:00
From 06 to 12 November
• Monday to Friday: from 09:00 to 17:00
• Saturday: from 10:00 to 18:00
• Sunday: from 10:00 to 17:00
From 13 November to 21 December
• Closed from Monday to Friday
• Saturday: from 10:00 to 18:00
• Sunday: from 10:00 to 17:00
Christmas holidays (from 22 December 2023 to 8 January 2024)
• All week: from 10:00 to 19:00 (except the 24 and 31 Dec: from 10:00 to 16:00)
Closed on May 1st, Christmas Day, New Year’s Day 2024.
Access to visits
Access to the Anis workshop must be via a staircase *. For people who cannot access the second floor, a film detailing all the stages in the making of our candy is shown in the video room located on the ground floor.
For the crypt, the Anis museum, the former workshops, the video room and the shop, there is no gauge and the spaces are without any steps.
* The Anis workshop is located within the Abbey itself, access by stairs cannot be changed.
Getting here
By car or bicycle
4 rue de l’Abbaye
21150 Flavigny-sur-Ozerain – France
GPS coordinates:
Latitude 47.5114247 / Longitude 4.5295583
Car park accessible, 220m from the Factory (suitable for campervans)
Bus parking accessible, 190m from the Factory
Bicycle parking at the Factory
By TGV or TER train
Montbard TGV station, 23km from the Anis Factory (1 hour between Paris
and Montbard)
Laumes-Alésia TER station, 8km from the Anis Factory
By boat
Via the Canal de Bourgogne: boat launch at Venarey-les-Laumes, 9km from the Anis Factory
Welcome to Anis de Flavigny, labelled Cyclists Welcome
We are happy to provide you :
• bicycle rack,
• toilet facilities and water distribution,
• useful information about cycle route.
Please, ask our staff for :
• a repair kit for the little problems,
• a electrical outlet to charge electrical equipment (telephone, electric bike, GPS…),
• to deposit your luggage inside the building.
Flavigny-sur-Ozerain is located 10 kilometers far from Venarey-les-Laumes where there is the cycle route (about 26 minutes by bike).
Further information
You can download the Vélibook « practical guide for the Burgundy Canal when roaming from Migennes to Dijon » that will answer all your questions about this route: restaurants, accommodation, type of surface…
Tourist office Pays d’Alésia & de la Seine
1 avenue de la Gare, 21150 Venarey-les-Laumes
Tel. : + 33 3 80 96 89 13
Website: www.alesia-tourisme.net
Bike rental and repair companies
Venarey Cycles
2 rue de Semur, 21150 Venarey-les-Laumes
Tel. : + 33 3 80 96 01 33
Mail : venareycycles@yahoo.fr
More informations: www.francevelotourisme.com/accueil-velo
There’s more to discover in our region: #EPIC HISTORY in Burgundy
While you’re deep in Burgundy, between Auxois and Morvan, take the time to discover some of our fabled mediaeval villages, such as Flavigny-sur-Ozerain and Noyers-sur-Serein. These have been awarded “Most Beautiful Villages in France” – and don’t miss Semur-en-Auxois, Saulieu or Avallon either. Any architecture buff will fall deeply in love with the châteaux at Bussy-Rabutin, Ancy-le-France, Tanlay and Bazoches. There’s also the unmissable basilica in Vézelay and the Abbey of Fontenay, both listed by Unesco. While going from one to the other, make sure you stop off in the town of Montbard. If features a museum and park dedicated to Buffon, the celebrated naturalist and friend of Diderot, as well as Buffon’s Great Forge. These offer a wonderful glimpse back into the Enlightenment. If this is a little too much, you can take a relaxing walk in nature, down by the Sources of the Seine. Lastly, if you’re in search of even more history, come and meet the Celts at the Trésor de Vix (at the Châtillonais Museum) and the Gauls at Muséoparc Alésia. #ÉPIQUES ÉPOQUES en Bourgogne
For visitors who’d rather follow their taste buds: Three Cheers for Bourgogne-Franche-Comté!
Or if you’d rather just get on your bike: The Tour de Bourgogne cycle route
Les Anis de Flavigny ®
4 rue de l’abbaye
21150 Flavigny-sur-Ozerain – France
Tel. +33 (0)3 80 96 20 88