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Sights & Attractions in Burgundy

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Burgundy Sights

Arriving in Burgundy from Paris by car, we suggest you grand-tour it from Sens to Autun. In northern Burgundy, the accents are thinner than around Dijon, and sunflowers cover the countryside instead of vineyards. Near Auxerre, many small, unheard-of villages boast a château or a once-famous abbey; they happily see few tourists, partly because public transportation is more than a bit spotty. Highlights of northern Burgundy include Sens's great medieval cathedral, historic Troyes, Auxerre's Flamboyant Gothic cathedral, the great Romanesque sculptures of the basilica at Vézelay and the cathedral at Autun.

Go next to the wine country in the southeast of Burgundy, which begins at Dijon, home to three noted churches and some fine museums, including the Chartreuse de Champmol and its great Well of Moses sculpture, and stretches south down the Saône Valley through charming Beaune to Mâcon. The area includes the prestigious Côte de Nuits and Côte de Beaune, where great wines are produced from the pinot noir and chardonnay grapes. Next comes the Côte Chalonnaise, around Mercurey, then, still farther south, around Mâcon, the fine white wines of St-Véran and Pouilly-Fuissé. Throughout this killer countryside, small towns with big wine names draw tourists to their cellars.

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