any advise would be appreciated

What are your interests? What time of year will you be there and how long? What price range are you looking for?

If you give us a little more information, we can probably be more helpful. Thanks.

early Oct. looking for peaceful villages. will tour the vineyards and sightsee

We visited Burgundy last Sept and stayed in a small peaceful village, Puligny Montrachet. The hotel was a recently restored old house named La Chouette. It was wonderful!! Set right amongst the vineyards and only about a 10 minute drive to Beaune. In Beaune you can take a Wine Safari Tour which allows tastings at several wineries and tours into the vineyards. Great restaurant right in Puligny Montrachet and several really wonderful places in Beaune. Have a great trip!
Regards
Diane P

The village of Chablis is very peaceful and picturesque. There are a few hotels there, but we didn't stay overnight, so I have no first hand recommendations.

We stayed in Levernois, a hamlet just outside of Beaune. There are two hotels there. I believe the better-known of the two is called Hostellerie de Levernois. It's fairly pricy and has a Michelin-starred restaurant.
We stayed at the inexpensive and charming Hotel le Parc (under 50 euros a night).

Beaune is not exactly a village, more like a medium-sized town, but it is charming in its own right and makes a good base for exploring the region.

One of the difficult things about the time of year that you've chosen is that it may be harvest time, which means that a lot of the smaller winemakers may be too busy to spend much time with visitors. This shouldn't be a problem at larger places, though.

Interesting timing this. Last night I watched a show on the Fine Living channel. "Around the world in 80 houses". One was in Burgundy, Ancy-sur-somethingoranother (someone here will know...) and it was $800 a week and looked absolutely LOVELY! Close to Chablis... yuuummmm

We have stayed in the Burgundy region several times and our favorite area is around Beaune. April of 03 we decided to try a new experience and booked a room at Abby LaBussiere located about 10 miles north west of Beaune. We really enjoyed it. Warning, little English is spoken by the staff, and lots of stairs,and the bathroom is down the hall. But, the Abby has beautiful grounds, with shady lawns and ponds with running streams, and if you select the half board option, you will get a French- type breakfast and a very good evening meal including wine and dessert, for about 32 Euro's a day for two. A great value. Nearby is Chateauneuf-en-Axois,a wonderful hilltop town built in the middle ages which is fun to visit for lunch or you can stay in the inn next to the castle. On our next visit to Burguandy, April 05, we are going to rent a gite for a week in the little village of LaBussiere. The web sites for the Abby and the Chateau are:
www.burgundy-canal.com/v/abbylabussiere.html
www.hostellerie-chateaneuf.com

For a more conventional experience, you could also stay at the Beaune Ibis Hotel which is located in the town center. It costs about 70 Euros a day for a double bed.

If you are a wine lover, I recommend that you book a reservation for a wine tasting lunch at la Table d ' Oliver Leflaive in Puligny-Montrachet which is about 10 miles south of Beaune. You will be given a choice between tasting 6 or 14 wines with your lunch. The young man that presides over the luncheon speaks excellent English, but we were the only Americans in attendance. No matter, after drinking all that wine, all the people at our table which included Danes, Belgians, and French, were fast friends. The lunch cost 35 or 45 euros pp.
www.oliver.leflaive.com
Hope this helps you and I hope you will love the Burgundy region like we do.

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here's a report i did on burgundy last november. i hope it helps. burgundy is a beautiful part of france. you will love it!

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34457848

We stayed at Chateau Gilly between Dijon & Beaune. It's perfect for a peaceful setting, and provides easy in & out access for touring. The dining room is excellent.

Have a great trip,
j.

I'm so glad to read that rambleral has discovered the gite system; we too are renting a gite outside of Beaune in Sainte Romaine les Haute,for the end of May. For the rest of you who haven't discovered this inexpensive way to rent a house for a week, complete with every kitchen utensil for making your own breakfast and dinner if you want to, go to gitesdefrance.com. We usually pay aroung $65 a night (Saturday to Saturday) but we have splurged on a $90 a night gite with stone walls, beamed ceiling, fireplace and terrace overlooking the vineyards.

Hi, Selltile,

You'll love Burgundy. Our group of six chose to stay in Beaune within the city walls at the Hotel Le Cep for three nights in 2002. It was a fantastic choice, both because of the hotel itself (avoid the expensive restaurant), but also because everything was situated within a few blocks. We could come back after some shopping at the market or touring to unload packages or take a break and then be right back out on the streets. So, if it's in your budget, I highly recommend staying at Le Cep in Beaune.

Have a great trip.

John H

If you are in Burgundy, you should visit Semur-en-Auxois (pron. O-swaw, second syllable accented) which outsrips all others in the magnificence of its setting and the dignity of its architecture.

I find the Burgundian countryside a little plain and would recommend slipping just a little further south on a day-trip, if you can, to the area just west of Tournus -- Brancion, Cormatin, Cluny etc. "Vaut le detour", as Michelin says -- worth the trip.

I've stayed in Burgundy several times but for me the best time was to stay in Avallon to be near (that year) the opening of the Colette Museum. I'm a big fan of Colette and have two autographs. Hopefully this won't lead to a "cookbook "discussion.

cig--my husband says my favourite cookbook is the Yellow Pages

sell. ..as long as he's happy.

I was intrigued by the Abbey Labussiere mentioned above and the URL didn't work. Finally found it at http://www.burgundy-canal.com/v/labussiere.html

We love the Beaune area and always stay at the Hotel Grillon in Beaune. Chateauneuf northwest of Beaune is a wonderful side trip. It's a lovely stone village on a very high hill.

Southwest and west are also great trips, including the Chateau la Rochepot. It's lovely country. It's also fun to visit the Cassiseum in Nuits St. Georges. It's a museum of cassis, the wonderful French apéritif used to make kir.

Early October the grape leaves should be very colorful. It's like autumn in New England . . . without the maple syrup, of course.

Perhaps my travel page describing our trip to burgundy can help you. URL:

http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/57.../burgundy.html