jamikins

Also dont miss Dijon's Owl Trail:
http://www.travelsignposts.com/Franc...jon-owls-trail

snowgirls

I have biked through the Alsace wine route, Burgundy,and the Loire .These were on 2 separate 3 week trips.I agree with posters who say to go in a car. That way, you can easily carry wine bottles back with you, dont have to preplan too far ahead for hotels( as you have options with a car) and can pick or choose going to a winery but then heading into one of the many uni

pporter

I get your approach to travel, and I think picking a focus like wine even if you are not studying to be wine experts is a great way to get beyond the beaten track in France and still be connected to a lot of great artistic and historic sightseeing. I'm surprised you haven't been able to find an itinerary that resembles what you have in mind. Have you tried a larger library where you live? Or browsing through Amazon? Sometimes there are beautiful books about wine tours that will give you the outlines of what you are looking for.

In the meantime, here's more for your files:

http://www.epicurious.com/articlesgu...ravel/burgundy

http://www.amazon.com/Corkscrewed-Ad.../dp/080322978X

http://www.littlebookroom.com/foodwineburgundy.html

pporter

And just one crabby remark, not directed at you but the world in general:

How many more months or years before the term "bucket list" goes out of circulation, especially when it comes to travel? It's such a shabby term for travel, I think.

pporter

(Shabby because it sounds like people are dealing with slops.)

FrenchMystiqueTours

In addition to all the great advice you're going to get from Fodorites let me give you some tips to get you started with your research. First, you need a good map and I highly recommend getting the Michelin Atlas, which is of a scale 1:200,000 and covers every part of France.

The Michelin maps have icons for all kinds of historically/touristically interesting things such as châteaux, ruins, churches, abbeys, scenic view points, caves, Roman sites, megaliths, designated scenic roads and many other things. Usually when I'm exploring various regions in France I just look at the map and I am able to plan interesting and scenic drives just reading the map. For instance, I usually look for a designated scenic road, which are highlighted in green, and I especially look for towns with the historic church and/or château icon. I also try to make sure the route goes through as many small villages as possible. Usually putting all these things together I find interesting and scenic drives without even knowing where I am going and with no assistance from a guide book. Often these places are never mentioned in guidebooks and remain completely unknown to many tourists.

You can buy the Michelin Atlas from their website:

http://www.michelin-boutique.com/gui...g56n0em4qar3b0

You could also buy it here but then you can't do research beforehand.

You need good guidebooks for whatever region in France in which you will be traveling. I like The Michelin Green Guides. If you need restaurant info then get The Michelin Red Guides, which cover restaurants. There are many others you can choose from and I'm sure others will recommend their personal favorites.

And speaking of Michelin, you can go to the website viamichelin.com and get info on drive times and distances, toll and fuel costs and suggested routes (i.e. scenic routes). The drive times given do not consider stops (fuel, food, bathrooms) nor do they consider bad weather and traffic.

Here is some other general advice for you. You should google some of the town/tourist office websites and regional tourist office websites for any towns/regions you may want to visit. You will find loads of info on these websites including hotel/accommodation and restaurant info as well as what to see and do in the area. Occasionally the websites have English versions. In doing a google search enter the words "office de tourisme" or "site officiel" followed by the name of your town/region and this will bring the town/region to the top of your search. IMO tourist office websites are one of the best resources for vacation planning and one of the most underutilized. Don't forget to stop into tourist offices in person to get even more info than you might find on their websites.

Here is an example of the kind of info you can find regional and town tourist office websites, using the region of Burgundy and the town of Beaune as an example:

http://www.burgundy-tourism.com/

http://www.burgundy-by-bike.com/

http://www.beaune-tourism.com/

http://www.road-of-the-fine-burgundy-wines.com/

http://www.burgundy-wines-tourism.fr/

http://www.beaune-tourism.com/doc-co...e-Road-CRT.pdf