A perfect weekend getaway from Paris to avoid high-season crowds! This charming little city is an ideal base from which to visit the great vineyards of Burgundy. Travelers can easily journey to this hideaway of a city by car or bus in a few hours. It should be noted that Beaune is an exceptionally pleasant town to discover on foot, though transportation can be arranged to maneuver among the hospitable Burgundy vineyards.
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Depart from Paris in the early afternoon for a seamless check-in at the comfortable hideaway Hôtel Le Cep. Spend your afternoon exploring the historic heart of the city, indulging in area wines and local cuisine.
How to Get to Beaune:
By car: From Paris, take the A6 to Beaune. Average travel time is three hours, depending on traffic.
By train: From Paris-Gare de Lyon, there are several direct TGV (high-speed) trains daily; otherwise, change in Dijon for Beaune. Average travel time is two hours.
Denis Perret is the best place to shop for seriously good wines, with hundreds of the best vintage Burgundies in stock.
Place Carnot, Tel. 3-80-22-35-47. Closed Sunday.
Ask locals for a good bistro and odds are they’ll send you to Le Comptoir des Tontons, where chef Pépita Grocat specializes in delicious French dishes made with organic and locally grown produce.
22 Rue du Faubourg Madeleine, Tel. 3-80-24-19-64. Closed Sunday and Monday.
With a convenient location in the heart of town, the historic Hôtel Le Cep is a traditional French hotel with attractively decorated rooms and good service. Suites or deluxe rooms are recommended.
Many of the vineyards in the countryside surrounding Beaune can be visited for tastings and buying wine. Note that the Côte d’Or wine region where Beaune is located is divided into the Côte de Nuits, best known for its reds, and the Côte de Beaune, which produces superb white wines such as Meursault, Montrachet and Puligny-Montrachet. To arrange wine-tasting day trips, contact Burgundy Discovery, which offers a variety of small-group, English-speaking tours of the region’s best vineyards, or Decouvertes, Andrew Harper’s travel partner in France.
To wind down after a day of wine tasting and sightseeing, book a massage or beauty treatment at Spa Bourgogne, where the staff works with products derived from grape-seed oil.
5 Rue du Château, Tel. 3-80-21-19-91. By appointment only.
Run by the widow of chef Bernard Loiseau, Loiseau des Vignes is an excellent restaurant that offers a variety of traditional Burgundian dishes and 70 wines by the glass.
31 Rue Maufoux, Tel. 03-80-24-12-06. Closed Sunday and Monday.
The most important site in Beaune is the 15th-century Hôtel-Dieu, with a jaunty roof covered in a tidy patchwork of colored tiles. This former public hospital features a spacious main hall with ancient wooden beds and a beautiful beamed ceiling, a kitchen, a pharmacy and a small room housing “The Last Judgment,” a magnificent 15th-century altarpiece by Rogier van der Weyden.
Hôtel-Dieu is also the site of the famous Hospices de Beaune wine auction, which takes place on the third Sunday in November and is one of the greatest festivals in France.
Rue de l’Hôtel-Dieu, Tel. 3-80-24-45-00. Open 9 a.m.-6:30 p.m., March 22 through November 16; 9 a.m.-11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m.-5:30 p.m., November 17 through December 31; closed Tuesdays.
Return to Paris in the late afternoon or early evening.
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