Beaune: Interesting Facts
- Beaune is a «must-see» destination for all Burgundy wine lovers.
- It´s a beautiful walled town in the heart of Burgundy and the main commercial centre for the production of Burgundy wines.
- The Hospices de Beaune is one of France´s most prestigious historical buildings and is famous for its wines which are sold at auction every year in November
- From Beaune its possible to visit all the top villages and many great Burgundy producers throughout the region.
- Beaune has an array of great restaurants – worth booking in advance to avoid disappointment.
Getting there:
We flew in to Orly Airport on the south side of Paris, which was better for us as we were later visiting the Loire too. After picking up the hire car, it took us around 3 hours to get to the beautiful town of Beaune. Although parking can be a challenge, as long as you park towards the outskirts of town you should be able to find free parking.
inside courtyard of boutique hotel Chez les Fatien
interesting to see trees growing through doors!
Accomodation:
We stayed in a beautiful boutique hotel Chez les Fatien which was perfectly located near the centre of town and easy walking distance from the wide array of restaurants. Our only regret is that we didnt research restaurants and make reservations in advance as it was much more difficult than we imagined to find a restaurant that had availability. However La Part des Anges saved us from the pouring rain and we had a delicious late night dinner after all.
Visit Beaune Tourist Office website for more inspiration HERE
Getting around:
The real highlight of being in Beaune however is the bike rides through the vineyards on small roads away from the traffic. We hired bikes near the centre of Beaune, then made our way south through the villages of Pommard, Volnay, Meursault, Puligny Montrachet and on to Chassagne-Montrachet before turning back to Beaune. With hardly any hills, its an easy bike ride and we stopped along the way to enjoy lunch and taste some “local wines”.
Where better can you taste local wines than in Puligny Montrachet - the most important Chardonnay village in Burgundy
Going local!
With hardly any hills, its an easy bike ride and we stopped along the way to enjoy lunch and taste some “local wines”.
Unfortunately, we had to leave Beaune for our onward journey far too quickly, as we had an overnight trip and visit to Chablis planned for the next day, but it was great to have this initial introduction to the area and really experience for myself the terroir and slopes of the hills around Beaune to better understand the wines. And we will be back…….
