Burgundy itinerary
 

Based on suggestions received here and on TA, I have prepared a revised itinerary for our May visit to Burgundy and would love any comments or suggestions:

Day 1 – overnight in Dijon

Pick up rental car at Paris Orly airport at 10:30 am.
Travel to Abbaye de Fontenay; explore abbaye and grounds 2-3 hours.
Drive to Dijon; arrive 5-6 pm. Explore town until sunset, dinner.

Day 2 – overnight in Dijon

Spend day exploring Dijon: Owl’s Trail, lunch, churches, shopping, dinner.

Day 3 – overnight in Beaune

Travel to Beaune via la route des Grands Crus. Tour Hospices and town, visit caves if have time, dinner.

Day 4 – overnight in Beaune

Cycling through vineyards between Beaune and Santenay. Stop at Le Rochepot. Dinner in Beaune.

Day 5 – overnight in Beaune

Travel to Autun with possible stops at Couches or wineries in the morning. Spend afternoon exploring Roman theatre, Cathedrale St. Lazare, archways, maybe Musee Rolin. Return to Beaune via Nolay.

Day 6 – overnight in Auxerre

Travel to Auxerre and spend day exploring the town.

Day 7 – overnight in Auxerre

Visit Vezelay and explore town, especially the Basilique Saint Madeleine. Possible stops at Bazoches, Avallon, or Chablis before returning to Auxerre.

Day 8 – overnight in Sens

Spend morning exploring Auxerre further if desired. Travel to Sens via Villaneuve-sur-Yonne. Explore Sens in afternoon. Spend night in Sens.

Day 9:

Return rental car at CDG at 10:30 am for 2:50 pm flight home.


When I posted a different proposed itinerary on TA in October (with way too many 1-2 night stops), people suggested we stay overnight in Dijon or Beaune, but not both, because they are close. Happyindijon was kind enough to post a detailed itinerary for me using Dijon as a base. Unfortunately, we have 2-3 days of activities that are on the opposite side of Beaune from Dijon, so it does not make sense to us to use Dijon as our only base and have to keep repeating the drive to Beaune. I am trying to figure out if what I posted above (2 nights in Dijon and 3 in Beaune) makes sense, or if we should just stay in Beaune for 5 nights and devote a full day to visiting and exploring Dijon.

I would not mind spending a 3rd night in Auxerre rather than switching to a hotel in Sens, but my husband is nervous about the drive to the airport because it would be quite costly to miss our flight if we had car trouble or something else went wrong.

I admire your ability to make such detailed plans. But when you get your feet on the ground be flexible and be prepared to detour.

I suggest that you limit your bases to 2. Stay in Dijon or Beaune (Dijon to Beaune is 20 miles) and then Auxerre. All your moving around will waste time and you don't have much.

I agree. Auxerre vs Sens to CDG is not that big of a difference.

Just a few comments:

Of all the major cities you mentioned, Dijon was the most interesting to us - so I'de spend the most number of days overnighting there.

We were quite underwhelmed with Sens - Troyes was much more interesting - it's even closer to Paris.

I think Fontenay is much closer to 2 hrs than 3.

Stu Dudley

Oops - just checked the map. Sens is closer to Paris.

Stu Dudley

You're welcome Kay :-)
ttt
coco/happy ;-)

Your trip from Orly to Fortenany is probably going to get you there when the Abbaye is closed for a few hours. I'd drive right on to Dijon or Beaune and base myself there or somewhere in between. We stayed in Aloxe-Corton, at Les Paulands, and it is a very easy drive to either place and you are right in the middle of Le Route de Grand Crus.

Basing in Auxerre, it is also a very easy drive to Vezelay and Fortenay. You can stop in Avallon on the way from Dijon or Beaune.

Can't help on your last night because we dropped our car in Auxerre and trained into Paris for a few days . Trains leave as early as 4:45 AM

Thank you everyone for your replies. I am having such a hard time making decisions about booking accommodations. The more I research, the more I really wish we had an extra 2-3 days in Burgundy because there is so much we want to see.

Jody -- I did not realize the Abbeye closes during the day -- thanks for the warning. Unfortunately, we do not have the option of taking the train back to Paris because our great rental car rate was dependent upon pick up and drop off in Paris.

It sounds like we could just skip Sens and spend the last night in Auxerre. I would prefer not to switch hotels again (but I had a hard time convincing hubby to drive 1.5 hours to the airport, the extra 40 minutes might be a deal breaker).

Kay,
you will probably be alright with the abbey, I didn't realize you were going in May. We were there in November and they were on their fall and winter hours. They do have a website so you can check the times

Hi Kay,

If the scheduling for Fontenay doesn't work, you might want to consider Tanlay.

http://tinyurl.com/yawzng

I would stay in Beaune and drive up to Dijon - cost with parking fee is about the same as the train. Saves packing and unpacking.

>...my husband is nervous about the drive to the airport because it would be quite costly to miss our flight if we had car trouble or something else went wrong.<

I strongly suggest that you be in Paris the night before your flight home. There is a very small probability that something on the road would make you miss your flight, but the consequences are very large.

((I))

The tourist brochure we picked up at Fontenay in Sept says it's open continually from 10 to 6 most of the year. Nov. 12 to the end of March, from 10 to 12 and 2 to 7.

We enjoyed Tanlay & some of the other Chateaux more than Fontenay.

We drove from the Beaune area to Dijon three times this past Sept & never had trouble finding a place to park. As I recall, two of those times parking was free, and may have been free the third time. Once we parked very close to the train station, and the other times close to Stephane Detourbe restaurant - which is about a 10 min walk from the Place de Liberation. I think you'll find much more to do in Dijon than in Beaune, so I would stay there and use it as a base if you want to minimize hotel moves. Beaune is small, and has much less ugly urban sprawl than Dijon has, if that is important to you

Stu Dudley

The OP has a car rental deal, thus the start at Orly and dropoff at CDG.

Others might take notice that it is usually better to first work out the itinerary, then arrange the transportation, be it by train or car.

We based ourselves in Beaune this past Sept and spent a day in Dijon. We loved Dijon and I think next time we will base ourselves there. Its beautiful and quite a bit larger, so there are more things to do.

However, we did the drive between Beaune and Dijon a couple of times and its a very easy, beautiful drive. I wouldnt hesitate to stay in Dijon and drive to Beaune. I dont think I would bother changing hotels.

You cant lose really using either as a base. :)
Jamie