Lyon/Burgundy...3 nights.. all help appreciated
 

have almost finished organising quite a long family trip for April/May.
The blank spot on my calendar is 3 nights in Burgundy...and looking for suggestions at this stage please!
We fly from Venice, arriving Lyon at 3.30pm, in April.
We have Paris accomm booked after that.

Do you think it would be better to base ourselves somewhere and get a car to travel around?
Would it make sense/be more fun to move towards Paris each day, changing accomm each night?
Any quirky, interesting accommodation come to mind?

Speaking of which, is there any short 2 or 3 day canal trip, that would show us the sights?? (my original intention was to do a week canal trip somewhere in France- but that is not possible now)

If we have a hire car, should we drop it off in Paris, or somewhere else, and train in?

I'm so grateful for all the help I have been given- nearly there

Fly into Lyon & rent a car.

Drive up to Beaune & stay there the entire time. Visit Castles, small towns, wine villages, vineyards, markets (Sat Beaune market is quite nice).

Last day, drive to Dijon (my second favorite city in France). Dump the car, visit Dijon, take the TGV to Paris.

Nice 3 night trip.

Stu Dudley

I second Beaune. We spent a week in a tiny village further South and went into town a few times. Dijon is nice and has a great Sunday Market.

Why drive from Lyon when you could take the TGV directly to Dijon? Base yourselves there, rent a car for day trips a bit south, and then take the TGV up to Paris. That will save you the long drive from Lyon to Burgundy.

I'll third the Beaune region and say drive up from Lyon. From there you can either drive to Paris, which we did in October or take StuDudley's advice and train in, although that will be more expensive, I think. May depend on if you are comfortable driving in cities - I didn't think Paris was too bad but others may disagree. Usual drop-off points are the train stations, although there are some offices within the city.

Here's a place that's not really quirky but where the hosts are extraordinarily fun and it's a bit off the beaten path. Domaine des Anges in Puligny-Montrachet, a tiny village in the heart of white Burgundy land. No web site, but e-mail to [email protected]

It would be nice to get a car and be able to drive around on the way to Dijon - of course you can go direct on the TGV, but there are so many cool places to see (Cluny, numerous wine villages, Auxerre etc) that you can only access with a car.

>>We fly from Venice, arriving Lyon at 3.30pm, in April.<<

The OP is arriving in Lyon on a flight from Venice.

Unless there are about 5 people in the car, I bet PREM TGV fares will be less expensive than driving (gas, toll roads, extra day's rental perhaps)- and much faster too.

Stu Dudley

glaciermeadows I'm happy you like Dijon market but there is none on Sundays I'm afraid (Tues, Thurs, Fri and Sat) so it might be a special event(the "4/14" in July with American chefs and displays)or the antique market every second Sunday of the month.
As for cruises, ber, check http://www.burgundyeye.com/accommoda...undy-in-style/ but they do mostly one week trips.
Cap Canal on the Burgundy canal for a few hours http://www.cap-canal.fr/tourisme-fluvial/croisieres.htm with their tariffs here http://www.cap-canal.fr/pdf/tarif-francais-2009.pdf
Have fun and welcome to Burgundy :-)
coco

Thank you all- I was flagging, but now I have a plan and you have whet my appetite!
I have got myself organised and have just booked a TGV from Dijon to Paris (97.50E for family of 5 - not bad). Incidentally, they listed 4 of us as "TGV Prems" and our 10 yr old as "TGV LOISIR" ...hope that's the same train!!

So now I just need to hire a car and find a family place at/near Beaune.
I have emailed Domaine des Anges to see if they have photos/map, so thanks for that info.
I would still love to do a short canal trip so thanks for the site- but in French + German only as far as I can see.

Thanks everyone.

you can use google translate http://translate.google.com/# and put the url to translate the page. I know it is weird it is in German with no English translation available.

As for train tickets don't worry, you'll be in the same train, check the seat(place)and car(voiture)number. The difference is that Prem ticket are not refundable nor exchangeable whereas the loisir ticket are. Bon voyage!

Ber, don't worry about the TGV tickets. I had that exact same experience with our 9 year old's ticket when I booked our Prem tickets last summer.

Coco
I guess I stand corected. We went to the Food Market on Easter Sunday, but there were street musicians good food and and some crafts on the side streets. I bought a wallet and my wife bought a couple of necklaces.