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Are you planning a protracted weekend journey to France and searching for concepts? On this weblog publish, I’ll share our itinerary for 3 days in Burgundy, visiting lovely villages and tasting superb wine.
If you’re new to this weblog, hello, my title is Liza! I like planning complicated journey itineraries and escaping London not less than as soon as a month. Should you’re additionally working full-time and don’t have an excessive amount of annual depart, you will discover loads of activity-packed itineraries on Tripsget!
Every time a financial institution vacation approaches, I panic. As somebody who runs a journey weblog, I really feel immense strain to journey at every alternative. Isn’t a financial institution vacation an ideal alternative for a weekend journey? Typically, I handle to grab actually well-priced tickets, and my accomplice simply flies off to a brand new vacation spot. Extra continuously, particularly in summer time, flights value like a brand new kidney, so we attempt to search for new locations round us. That’s precisely how the concept of spending 3 days in Burgundy was born!
Whereas Burgundy will not be across the nook from London, it’s undoubtedly reachable with an in a single day keep someplace on the best way, for instance, on the outskirts of Paris.
Right here is the quick overview of our 3-day itinerary for Burgundy:
Day 0: Departing London after work at 4pm, taking Eurotunnel to Calais, evening in Greatest Western Paris Sud
Day 1: Driving to Dijon within the morning. Wine tasting close to Beaune at Santenay citadel, evening in Beaune at La Maison de Maurice
Day 2: Chateauneuf-en-Auxois, Semur-en-Auxois, evening at Noyers-sur-Serein at Cote Serein
Day 3: Chablis + Wine tasting, a cease in Troyes (Champagne), drive again to London
Overview of hyperlinks for the journey to Burgundy
I’m typically requested to summarise all of the really helpful lodging and excursions in a single place so it’s simpler to seek out them, so I began including them to the beginning of the article.
Accommodations for this journey: La Maison de Maurice, Cote Serein in Noyers-sur-Serein
Excursions: tour of Maison Champy cellar,
Wine tastings: Santenay Citadel Tasting close to Beaune, Maison Regnard in Chablis
Do you want a automobile for exploring Burgundy?
By the best way, in the event you’re questioning whether or not you want a automobile for exploring Burgundy, the reply is sure. Sadly, it’s very troublesome to get to most of those locations with no automobile. Should you don’t have a automobile, I like to recommend both taking a Eurostar to Paris and hiring one there (we all the time use Rentalcars.com) or hiring a automobile in London and taking this route. Nonetheless, needless to say not all automobile rental businesses permit for automobiles to be taken outdoors the UK.
Our excellent itinerary for 3 days in Burgundy
Day 0: Driving to France
As we didn’t take any break day and simply departed London after work on Friday, I included this present day as a day 0. Site visitors to the Folkestone Eurotunnel terminal was average. Relying on the place you’re primarily based, it could possibly take from 45 minutes to 2.5 hours to get to Folkestone from London, and also you additionally have to arrive not less than 50 minutes earlier than the departure time indicated in your ticket.
It takes round 3 hours to drive to Paris from Calais within the night when the visitors isn’t too dangerous anymore. Since driving all the best way to Dijon would have been too tiring and we might have arrived too late at evening, we determined to cease in a single day simply outdoors Paris. Some of the handy inns could be Greatest Western Paris Sud.
Day 1: Dijon. Wine tasting at Santenay citadel, Beaune
Dijon is situated greater than 3 hours away from Paris; nevertheless, staying outdoors Paris reduces this time to 2.5-2.45 hours, which is a lot better. There are tolls on the best way to Dijon, and I bear in mind paying one thing like 15 euros for them (this could be a bit inaccurate, however it undoubtedly wasn’t low-cost).
Dijon
Dijon affords an ideal mix of historical past, meals, and tradition – it’s the largest metropolis in Burgundy and doubtless essentially the most touristy one. Dijon has a protracted and storied historical past courting again to Roman occasions when it was often called Divio. It later grew to become the capital of the Duchy of Burgundy within the Center Ages. Due to that, the town is fairly wealthy and has loads of spectacular architectural landmarks.
Even in the event you’re not very accustomed to French cities, the title “Dijon” all the time rings a bell due to the mustard. Dijon is legendary for its mustard, which is famend for its sharp and tangy taste, and you should purchase it just about in all places all over the world.
Additionally, Dijon is surrounded by vineyards! Nonetheless, Beaune is a greater metropolis to go to for wine tastings, and our subsequent vacation spot on this journey was Beaune, really!
In Dijon, we walked across the metropolis centre, purchased a set of miniature mustard jars with completely different flavours and took loads of pictures. We additionally had late breakfast in Dijon – a typical French breakfast is a pastry (croissant or pan au chocolat); nevertheless, in Burgundy, you can too strive a well-known native savoury bun referred to as gougers. It has a pleasant tacky flavour, and it’s really empty inside! Its texture jogged my memory of profiteroles.
Wine tasting on the Santenay citadel close to Beaune
Our subsequent vacation spot was simply outdoors Beaune – it took us round 1 hour to drive there from Dijon. We determined to have a wine tasting in a shocking Santenay Citadel that belongs to the Philippe Le Hardi group. You possibly can discover extra particulars concerning the citadel & the tasting right here – whereas it was completely empty once we visited, I nonetheless advocate reserving it prematurely as there could be giant teams arriving.
In whole, we tried 3 completely different wines, 2 crimson wines and one white wine and all of them had been pretty! The tasting was additionally very reasonably priced – simply 10 EUR per particular person! There may be additionally a bit of store on the citadel the place you should purchase the wines you tried (in addition to another wines they produce) and we really purchased a bottle there.
Beaune
After tasting superb wine, it was lastly time to go to Beaune. Beaune might be the second hottest metropolis in Burgundy and the primary vacation spot for winery excursions and tastings of crimson wine. Beaune is specialising in producing famend wines reminiscent of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.
Town itself can be very fairly. Its foremost landmark and essentially the most well-known and iconic constructing is the Hôtel-Dieu Museum – Hospices de Beaune. It was based in 1443 as a hospital for the poor and it seems completely gorgeous – the tile-glazed roofs are distinctive to this area of Burgundy and are prominently featured on Lodge Dieu. Once we visited Beaune, the doorway charge there was 12 EUR, however it may need modified since then.
Beaune affords quite a few alternatives for wine tasting and cellar excursions. Many wineries and wine retailers have cellars on the town the place you possibly can pattern and buy Burgundy wines.
Some wine cellars are situated within the coronary heart of Beaune. If you’re eager to strive extra wines and study extra about wine manufacturing in Burgundy, I like to recommend this tour of Maison Champy cellar.
Beaune can be the place I like to recommend staying in a single day – these two inns are the most effective choices: La Maison de Maurice or Lodge Belle Epoque.
Day 2: Chateauneuf-en-Auxois, Semur-en-Auxois, Noyers-sur-Serein
Our second day of this 3-day journey round Burgundy was jam-packed with lovely cities. Our first cease was only a quick, 40-minute drive away from Beaune.
Chateauneuf-en-Auxois
Chateauneuf-en-Auxois is a really small fantastically preserved medieval village situated on prime of a hill surrounded by lovely surroundings. It’s recognized for its Twelfth-century hilltop château providing gorgeous views. It’s open to guests as a museum. In addition to the château, there are many lovely cobblestone streets, photogenic homes and good boutiques.
Chateauneuf, surprisingly, had a fairly large car parking zone simply outdoors the village centre, and we didn’t have any difficulties discovering a spot. Nonetheless, it’s all the time higher to reach early because the possibilities of discovering a parking spot are larger!
Semur-en-Auxois
Our subsequent cease, lovely Semur-en-Auxois, was situated one other 40-minute drive away. Semur-en-Auxois seems very spectacular from far-off if you find yourself approaching the city. Just like Châteauneuf-en-Auxois, it’s famend for its well-preserved historic structure. Nonetheless, the principle distinction between these two cities is that Semur is way bigger, and there may be additionally a good looking river, Armançon, that flows by way of the town. Semur can be very hilly – the picture-perfect views of the city will be seen from the bottom level of Semur, simply subsequent to the river.
Semur additionally has an attention-grabbing historical past. Like many medieval cities in France, Semur-en-Auxois noticed its justifiable share of battle in the course of the Hundred Years’ Struggle between England and France. The village confronted a number of sieges and battles throughout this time, with the fortress (Thirteenth-century Château de Semur-en-Auxois) enjoying a important position within the city’s defence.
Total, we felt like each nook in Semur was completely gorgeous, and it was undoubtedly considered one of our favorite locations on this journey.
Should you’re hungry and eager on grabbing one thing for lunch, contemplate visiting the restaurant referred to as La Parenthese within the coronary heart of Semur. That’s the place we ate and cherished the expertise! Every part was very reasonably priced and it was additionally the friendliest service we had on this journey!
Noyers-sur-Serein
Our ultimate cease for immediately was in one other charming city, Noyers-sur-Serein. Noyers is completely different from Chateauneuf-en-Auxois and Semur-en-Auxois, because it seems like a film set of The Magnificence and the Beast. Once we arrived in Noyers-sur-Serein, we couldn’t imagine how fairly the city was!
Noyers is understood for its half-timbered homes with vibrant facades. The city’s historical past dates again to the eleventh century, and there may be additionally an outdated chateau that, sadly, didn’t survive till our days, and all you possibly can see instead are the ruins of the outdated citadel. The citadel stands on a hill above Noyers, and with a purpose to get to the ruins, it is advisable exit the village, stroll for a couple of minutes and climb a small hill. There are many indicators indicating the place it is advisable flip and begin climbing, and there may be additionally loads of details about the historical past of Château and the city on the highest of the hill.
Regardless that Noyers-sur-Serein is tiny, you possibly can simply spend a couple of hours within the city, particularly in the event you determine to hike as much as the chateau as properly! I like to recommend staying in Noyers in a single day at a shocking lodge referred to as Cote Serein – it actually seems like a citadel!
For dinner, there usually are not that many choices, so your greatest guess might be – Restaurant de la Vieille Tour. As with most eating places in France, I like to recommend reserving it prematurely!
Day 3: Chablis + Wine tasting, a cease in Troyes (Champagne), drive again to London
Our ultimate day in Burgundy began with a brief, 30-minute drive to Chablis.
Chablis
Chablis is a captivating city situated within the Northern a part of Burgundy, surrounded by plenty of vineyards. It serves as the center of the famend Chablis wine-producing area. The city itself can be very fairly – it has a country attraction, completely different from all the opposite cities and locations on this journey. Chablis has wine estates and wine cellars round each nook – and it’s in all probability probably the greatest locations on the earth to strive white wine.
After all, everybody has completely different tastes in white wines, however to me, wines from Chablis are superior. Chablis has fairly distinctive soil – Kimmeridgian limestone, wealthy in marine fossils and minerals. It supplies glorious drainage, imparts minerality to the grapes, and contributes to the wines’ distinctive flavours of flint and moist stones.
After I attempted a tremendous wine from Chablis in a wine bar in London, I needed to return to Chablis ever since and check out different wines. Actually, I ended up liking just about each white wine from Chablis that I attempted!
Sadly, on Sunday, plenty of wine estates had been closed, however we managed to seek out a couple of that had been open and picked Maison Regnard for our wine tasting. The tasting was fairly reasonably priced, we paid 15 EUR per particular person to strive 5 completely different wines, together with a Gran Cru, which was superb!
Troyes
Our subsequent and ultimate cease for the final day of this 3-day Burgundy street journey was Troyes. Troyes will not be a part of Burgundy anymore; it’s really situated in Champagne, however we needed to cease some place else on the best way to London, which appeared like a really lovely metropolis. Troyes is situated 1 hour away from Chablis and on the best way again to the UK.
Troyes is a historic metropolis recognized for its well-preserved medieval structure and wealthy cultural heritage. Troyes seems like outsized Noyers! I’ve by no means seen as many half-timbered homes in my life as I’ve seen in Troyes (not even in Colmar and Strasbourg)!
Troyes is usually referred to as the “Metropolis of Artwork and Historical past” as a result of its quite a few medieval buildings and Gothic church buildings. Troyes performed a big position within the Center Ages as a buying and selling hub, and its charming outdated city displays this historical past. Moreover, Troyes is legendary for its manufacturing unit outlet shops (there are a few large retailers), making it a well-liked procuring vacation spot.
Driving again to London
The drive from Troyes to Calais takes round 4 hours if there may be not a lot visitors on the best way, and it passes by way of Reims, the capital of Champagne. If you wish to break up the drive in two and you continue to have a little bit of time, you can too cease in Reims! Reims is legendary for its gorgeous cathedral, which was the place of coronation for nearly all of the French monarchs for the reason that 14th century!
Town itself will not be as spectacular as different locations on this itinerary, nevertheless, Reims is surrounded by vineyards and you can too strive some nice champagne there in the event you nonetheless have time left!
The place I’d advocate for attempting champagne is Mailly! We had an exquisite expertise there.
Abstract of the 3-day itinerary for Burgundy
I hope you discovered this 3-day itinerary for Burgundy helpful and located some inspiration in your potential journey to France. After all, in the event you can keep in Burgundy for longer than 3 days, I’d completely advocate it, as there are extra superb locations that you may go to. Nonetheless, in the event you’re trying to spend a protracted weekend in Burgundy, this might be simply the itinerary!
As I discussed earlier than, in the event you don’t have a automobile or wouldn’t get pleasure from driving that a lot, you possibly can both take a Eurostar to Paris and rent a automobile there or, alternatively, you possibly can fly to Besancon and rent a automobile there!
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