Beaune -- what to do with a free day!
 

We have a couple of other posts on a May trip to France.

We will be eating in Volnay one day at Le Cellier VOLNAYSIEN. We also have reservations on Sunday at Ecrit'Vin. We plan on attending the market in Beaune as well as visiting the Chateau de Pommard. We are also eating at Le Bistrot du Bord de I'eau in Levernois. We are staying in Aloxe-Corton.

We have a relatively free Sunday. We have a car and would like some suggestions! We enjoy wines and country French cooking. Driving the area? Other wineries? What do you suggest?

Thanks!

A day trip to Dijon would be fun, you can easily spend 3-4 hours wandering around town, do the Owl Trail and sample some fiery moutarde.

In Beaune itself the Hôtel Dieu is a gorgeous building and museum, a must-see IMO. We also enjoyed the wine tasting at Marché aux Vins, takes place in the crypt of the Eglise des Cordeliers.

Unfortunately I don’t have any dining suggestions but others will surely chime in...

""A day trip to Dijon would be fun""

Not so much fun on a Sunday - which is the day they will be there. We reserve Sundays for chateaux visits (many in the area), and scenic drives.

Attached are many ideas for things to do. We were there for 2 weeks about 10 years ago.

1) drive through Orches.
2) drive to Semur-en-Auxois.
3) return to Volnay, specifically to do the easy walk down to Meursault.
4) get slobbering drunk at Bistro Bourguignon on main drag in Beaune--perhaps the best by-the-glass selection of A-listers that one might see on any menu there.

PS That Volnay restaurant is a nice one.

I am done. The end.

Consider Vezelay.

Both the basilica at Vézelay (of great historic importance besides its beauty) and the cathedral at Autun would fit nicely into one day. If you wanted to push it a bit you could also visit the ancient abbey at Fontenay or the Renaissance château of Tanlay.

What's wrong with Dijon on a Sunday? Doesn't matter which day you do the owl walk, and the museums will be open.

Have you visited Dijon on a Sunday??? We have - but we were there for the mid- September Patrimoine events. The city was quite dead - except for the houses, sites, museums, etc open for Patrimoine. Dijon is tied with Toulouse as our second favorite city in France. But go there Tues through Sat if you want to discover what makes Dijon so special.

Stu Dudley

Not only on a Sunday, but Easter Sunday and Monday, grey days. Still enjoyed myself.

Loads of things to do. I second Autun, with its fantastic walls and beautiful cathedral. Also Vezelay, small and atmospheric beyond belief. And also: Noyers sur Serein (with its half-timbered houses and its beautiful walk along the river outside the walls), Semur en Auxois, Flavigny, the tiny village of Montreal, Chateauneuf-en-Auxois with its fairytale castle, the village of Epoisses, with its castle and its famous stinky cheese, the chateau de Sully. I realize these are in all different directions, but they're all wonderful places to wander and pass a couple of hours. Or head up toward the pretty village of Chablis and visit the nearby chateau at Tanlay. Get a map and stick a pin in it; you'll be fine.

I love Burgundy and never tire of visiting the area. Have a great time.

Do you have suggestions for the car-less?

I stayed in Dijon without a car. I took the train to/from Beaune, and I took a couple of tours run by the tourist office: https://en.destinationdijon.com/ That included a vineyard/wine tasting tour that ran with just one participant (me).

The Transco #44 bus (aka the Burgundy Express) represents outstanding value, costing less than 2 euros to go from Beaune to Dijon and some points between. As I've observed in our old TR, its value reminded us of Vaparetto #1 along the Grand Canal in Venice---best sightseeing transit value imaginable. Note that the daily dep. time for #44 to go from Dijon over to Semur-en-Auxois in 7 am, *or at least that was the case 3 yrs ago.
Bon Chance tous.

I am done. The end.

I've stayed in Dijon without a car, also. There is nothing wrong with it on Sunday, just like most French cities on Sunday. It might make more sense to claim Tuesdays are dead in many cities as a lot of museums are closed on that day (or Mondays which are often more dead in various ways). Museums aren't closed on Sunday, generally, and some special patrimoine days have nothing to do with it, they are normally open on Sunday in Dijon. LIke the Musee des Beaux Arts, the Musee Magnin, the Musee de la Vie Bourguigonne, the archeology museum, plus attractive streets and parks and of course churches. It didn't affect me at all being Sunday, I think Sundays are relaxing and pleasant. I think Stu is mainly concerned about shopping a lot as he likes to shop and buy things, and that may be a problem on Sundays, I don't know as I detest shopping so don't recall.

Thanks. We are actually staying in Beaune and I was wondering about getting out in the country.

Yes - OK to visit Dijon on a Sunday if you want to spend most of your time visiting museums & churches. However, if you want to browse through shops, see some street life - don't go on a Sunday.

This is from my Provence itinerary - but it applies to Dijon too:

In many towns & villages, shops are closed on Sunday & Monday. Some shops open on Monday afternoon. We never plan to visit a town (for shopping) on a Sunday or Monday unless we know in advance that the stores will be open. Most non-food stores in Aix, Nimes, and Avignon are closed all day Sunday, and Monday morning. While in Aix in late June ’17, I did a “survey” of 27 shops that had opening & closing days & times posted on their storefronts, and were not on the Cours Mirabeau (lots of chain stores there). Of these 27 shops, 7 were open all day Monday, 8 were closed all day Monday, and 11 were open Monday afternoon only. Only 1 shop was open on Sunday. In Avignon, of the 17 shops I surveyed, 7 were closed all day Monday, and 10 were open Monday afternoon only. None were open on Sunday. Shops in very “touristy” towns like St Paul, St Tropez, and Gordes are always open. We were recently in St Remy on a Sunday. My wife visited 11 shops that interested her (she likes housewares – no clothes or souvenirs). Two other shops looked interesting from the outside, but were closed on Sunday. Of these 11 shops, 5 were closed all day on Monday, 2 were only open Monday afternoon (around 2:30), and 4 were open all day Monday. The very touristy shops that are prevalent in almost every tourist destination village in Provence (Olivades, Souleiado, Terre de Provence), are usually open on Sunday & Monday.

http://about-france.com/holidays-sundays.htm

Most shops & sites close for lunch – usually from 12:30 to 2:00, or 3:00, or 3:30, or 4:00. If you really want to “shop” a town, do so in the morning as soon as the stores open (usually at 10:00). If you roll in at 2:30, the shops might be closed for another hour. I’ve had numerous people tell me how disappointed they were when they drove to a town to shop, only to find almost all the shops closed – something that doesn’t happen in the US.

Stu Dudley

Stu: We were in Montefalco (Italy) at lunch time when a bus load of my fellow Americans drove up. The shops started closing their doors for lunch and we heard loud complaints about "What's wrong with these people?", and, "Don't they want our money?" So we are aware of that... LOL

Unfortunately, we will be there over a weekend, so we will have to plan for something on Sunday. I was hoping for a tour or something outside the ramparts.
Thanks everyone....

Agree the hotel Dieu is definitely worth a visit. We were in Beaune last August and two of our favorite experiences were 1) a visit to Olivier Leflave winery. In the morning we did a tour of the vineyard followed by a walk through of the wine making process. Then we had a wonderful tasting lunch.

https://www.olivier-leflaive.com/en/

Second experience was absolutely surreal. The Chateau Savigny les Beaune is maybe 15 minutes out of town. It's a lovely old chateau and the owner has a passion for planes, motorcycle, etc and has amassed quite the collection on the grounds and in the outbuildings of the chateau. It has the world's largest collection of fighter jets! It was definitely interesting and a huge hit with my husband who is a motor and aviation fan.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/...gny-les-beaune