kansas

I am starting to plan a trip to Burgundy and Alsace. I am having difficulty determining the best direction in which to travel. My thoughts are: fly to Lyon, spend two nights. Then get a rental car. Spend 3 nights near Auxerre, 3 nights staying between Dijon and Beaune, 1 night in Besançon (seeing the citadel there), and finally 5 nights in Alsace, taking a day trip or two to Strasbourg.
I must have read somewhere to take a train from Lyon to Maçon and pick up rental care there. Is this a good idea? Or is it no problem to drive out of Lyon? I also plotted this trip starting in Strasbourg. Perhaps it is 6 of one and half a dozen of the other…?
Finally, the best way to return to USA? I believe the only option from Strasbourg is to take a train to Paris. I imagine this would have to be the day before our return home flight.
Any suggestions are most welcome. Thank you.

nytraveler

Not sure what you mean by staying 5 nights in Alsace with a day trip or 2 to Strasbourg - which is IN Alsace - it's largest city. Not sure where in Alsace you plan on staying - Colmar? Or one of the wine towns?

We stayed near Avallon in a charming converted mill - Moulin des Ruats - which has an excellent restaurant, is right on the edge of the national forest to walk off some of those calories and good for visiting Vezelay (the Abbey is not to be missed) etc.

kansas

Thanks, nytraveler. Yes, I did mean that we would stay in one of the small villages near Colmar. The reason I have had a hard time organizing this itinerary is that I had wanted to train to Dijon and start there. But, not wanting a car in either Strasbourg or Lyon, I just could not make it work.

And from some of your previous responses to other posts, I do have Moulin des Ruats on my list of possibilities.

Any advice on the rental car from Lyon or Macon?

StuDudley

We drove out of the Lyon Perrache station - and it wasn't fun. Take the train to Macon or Dijon to pick up a car if there is a good schedule and cars available. I don't think the car rental offices are close to the Beaune train station - or you could train there. If you pick up the car in Lyon or Macon, be sure to visit Ch Courmatin - our favorite Chateau in the region.

Stu Dudley

kansas

Thanks, Stu! Macon it is. If driving from Lyon was not fun for a seasoned traveler like you and your wife, I know we would certainly NOT enjoy the experience. We had a hard enough time leaving Montpellier last September.

Have a great trip.

kansas

I forgot to mention that I have read many posts on Burgundy and Alsace. I do have the Chateau de Cormatin on my list as a place to see between Lyon and Auxerre area. Stu, you have lots of great information here at Fodors.

I also used Nukesafe's terrific information on Besancon for my planning. There is no shortage of helpful advice here.

StuDudley

Besancon is one of the "hidden gems" in France. We've visited it three times. Lots of stuff to do there.

Stu Dudley

FrenchMystiqueTours

If you want some research material for Burgundy you can look at this thread, which will list most of the major towns/villages/sites in Burgundy and provide links to the tourist office websites or official websites. It's also got links to châteaux, abbeys, wine, biking etc.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic...-Burgundy.html

kansas

What a terrific list of websites, FMT! That will indeed keep me busy for quite some time. Thank you very much.