Three words: French. Wine. Country! Burgundy is one of France’s greatest wine regions, dotted with grand chateaux and biscuit-coloured villages where it seems that time stands still. We spent two days in Burgundy in June this year, which was the perfect introduction to this exceptional corner of France. You could spend so much longer exploring the region, but 48 hours in Burgundy is a great place to start for first time visitors.
It is the birthplace of France’s famed haute cuisine, as well as iconic French dishes like coq au vin and boeuf bourguignon, making it the perfect destination for slowing down and embracing the French joie de vivre. Below, I’ve shared our itinerary for 2 days in Burgundy, including our favourite wineries & restaurants.
We visited Burgundy halfway through our one month trip in Europe & the UK. We’d come from 5 days in Paris, and after Burgundy we went to Alsace – another spectacular surprise. It was my fifth time in France (& Paris!), but Burgundy was new to me. I was so excited to discover a new corner of France!
Map: 2 Days in Burgundy
Burgundy, France: The heart of French wine country
In the 15th century, Burgundy was one of the richest & most powerful states in Europe, a legacy which has provided the foundations for its rich gastronomic culture. Today, Burgundy is part of Bourgogne-Franche Comte, and is one of the most influential wine regions in France.
Burgundy is home to some of the grandest wine chateau estates in France, which produce a number of Grand Crus and Premier Cru wines, along with dozens of revered regional and village appellations. A number of Burgundy regions are household names, like Chablis and the Macon villages (both known for its white burgundy, chardonnay) and revered in the wine world, like Cote de Beaune, Cote de Nuits and Nuits-Saint-Georges appellations. The vineyards of Burgundy have achieved UNESCO World Heritage status, for their humanity and exceptional universal value.
Burgundy predominantly produces chardonnay and pinot noir; only wines made from either of these grapes, produced in burgundy can use the name “burgundy.”
Burgundy is also the birthplace of haute cuisine, France’s greatest cultural export. It is only natural that a place with such superb wine, perfected a cuisine to go with it.
The film Chocolat is set in Burgundy, in a town called Flavigny sur Ozerain. It was a little too far out of our way to justify stopping in, but it was chosen because it was emblematic of a typical Burgundian village!
Where to stay in Burgundy: Beaune
We stayed in Beaune, the primary town in Burgundy’s Cote d’Or. Beaune is a beautiful and historic walled down, and is the perfect base for exploring the best wineries in Burgundy.
The Cote d’Or, a small region which is home to some of Burgundy’s most prized appellations, like Pommard, Meursault, Nuits-St-Georges and Volnay.
We stayed at Hotel Belle Epoque in Beaune, which is a former wine merchant house, converted into a charming small hotel with traditional Burgundian style. The rooms are large, and felt like we were staying in a large country house. Would recommend!
How to get to Burgundy from Paris
We took the high speed train, the TGV, from Paris to Beaune, with a change at Dijon. Dijon is the capital of Burgundy, and I’ve always wanted to visit. We had all of our luggage with us, so I was tempted to find a luggage locker and spend an hour or so walking around the city, but it would have cut more into our time in Burgundy which was already brief.
We had purchased our ticket from Paris to Dijon in advance on the TGV, which is advisable since they can sell out. The TGV is amazing. We had the cheapest seats and they were still more like Business Class than economy. Super clean, comfortable and so efficient! I loved travelling around France by train.
We changed trains at Dijon, and bought our tickets on the regional train at Dijon station. There’s no need to book local train tickets in advance. The TGV takes 90 minutes from Paris to Dijon, and the local train from Dijon to Beaune takes 30 minutes.
Burgundy Day 1: Beaune
Our time in Burgundy was spent in the Cote d’Or, which is the most prestigious of Burgundy’s winemaking regions, and contains the famous subregion, Cote de Nuits. We spent the first day exploring Beaune, which is the regional centre in this part of Burgundy, and is a beautiful, historic Burgundian town.
Exploring Beaune
We walked from Beaune Station to our hotel, Hotel Belle Epoque, which is located outside the walls of Beaune. Beaune is tiny, so the hotel is actually very well located. There weren’t any taxis at the station when we arrived, so we walked to our hotel. We were hiring a car in Burgundy, but we’d only hired it for the following day, because we planned to spend our first day exploring Beaune.
Beaune is a historic walled town in the centre of the Cote d’Or’s winemaking region, and is the wine capital of Burgundy (the official capital is Dijon). There are still pre-Roman and Roman features that can be found in Beaune, but most of the city is from Medieval, Renaissance and later periods. The 15th century Hospices de Beaune is Beaune’s crown jewel, and home to the most important wine auction in France every year. Beaune is surrounded by some of the most famous villages and vineyards in Burgundy, and many of the wineries have tasting rooms in Beaune.
We spent the afternoon exploring Beaune, wine tasting and enjoying the beautiful weather.
Beaune Wine Tasting at Marche aux Vins
Our first wine tasting was at Marche aux Vins, a boutique wine market with self guided wine tastings, near the Hospices de Beaune and Place Carnot. This is a perfect spot for an introduction to Burgundy wine, especially as it’s located centrally, carries a range of wines and the self guided tour is not intimidating at all. The first part of the tasting explores white burgundy, in the caves underneath the March aux Vins. We had the caves to ourselves, and self-pouring was a fun novelty.
The second part of the tour is upstairs, where the red burgundy tastings are a little more tightly controlled. They’re dispensed from a machine, and you scan the QR code on your ticket to get your allotted tastings.
Afterwards we went to another tasting room & boutique, a few doors down, where the manager was so warm and friendly, and so patient with my slow French! Naturally, more wine was purchased.
Place Carnot in Beaune
Place Carnot is impossibly pretty and impossibly French. Lined with restaurants and bars with outdoor seating, this was my favourite spot to spend the warm summer evenings in Beaune. We had a glass of wine and shared a cheeseboard at Aux Hospices Bar a Vins, which has since closed. I am a massive cheesehead, and had been picking up local cheeses for a picnic lunch everywhere on our trip so far – in Dublin, Edinburgh, London and Paris. I was finally defeated by the cheeseboard we shared in Burgundy, which was enormous and quite rich. It cured me of my cheese addiction for the rest of the trip!
We’d had an early start, so we had a nap back at the hotel before wandering back into town for dinner. There are more historic sights to see in Beaune, like the Hospices de Beaune, but for me, part of being on a holiday is not having every minute scheduled. An afternoon nap & wandering around to find dinner is an A+ holiday evening in my books!
In the evening, we spent a while exploring the streets of Beaune before settling on drinks at Les Chevaliers followed by dinner in Place Carnot at Maison Jules, which I can highly recommend.
Burgundy Day 2: Meursault, Pommard & Volnay
Our full day in Burgundy was spent exploring the winemaking villages of the Cote d’Or, including visits to Chateau de Meursault, Caveaux Moillard, Chateau du Chassagne-Montrachet and Chateau Pommard. My favourites were our first and last stops, which combined a magnificent chateau setting with warm and attentive hosts. We stumbled upon one of the greatest meals of our life in Meursault, where we stopped for lunch, and had a beautiful dinner at a popular local restaurant in Beaune in the evening.
Booking wine tastings in advance is advisable, but we had decided to risk it on this trip. I was reluctant to have a tight itinerary on this part of the trip, and wanted to be able to slow down, explore and enjoy Burgundy at a leisurely pace. I also wanted to have time for surprises and local recommendations. Surprisingly, this strategy worked perfectly and there was only one winery which we had really needed a reservation for.
Chateau de Meursault
Chateau de Meursault is one of the best wineries that we visited in Burgundy, and had one of the best tasting experiences. Chateau de Meursault has more than 100 plots, including 5 Grand Crus, 18 Premier Crus and a dozen village and regional appellations. It is one of the grandest wine estates in Burgundy, and can trace the history of it’s site for the last thousand years, when the Duke of Burgundy conceded the fiefdom, now the estate, to one of his squires in the 11th century.
We walked in without a reservation, and were immediately looked after. It was not too busy, as we arrived just after opening. The wines were beautiful, and we bought a bottle of white burgundy to gift to our friends we were staying with in Zurich, later in the trip. I wish we could have shipped a case of it home, but the international shipping and custom duties in Australia are prohibitively expensive.
Le Caveaux Moillard de Nuits-Saint-Georges
The Caveaux Moillard tasting room is located separately to the winery, and is a modern, purpose-built space for wine tastings & sales. The host who guided our tasting was so friendly and knowledgeable, and was wonderful at explaining the region works, as well as details about the Moillard wines. This was a great stop, and I’m pretty sure we bought a bottle here too.
Meursault
The lunch we had in Meursault is one of the most memorable meals I’ve had in my life. When we did a bit of research online, another restaurant was recommended in the centre of town. It was busy, and there would be a long wait. It was full of what mostly seemed to be tourists, and to be honest, I wasn’t overwhelmed by the setting or what I was seeing on the tables. Instead, we kept looking and found this quiet courtyard restaurant at Hotel Le Globe. This was not your typical hotel restaurant!
It really should be no surprise that one of the greatest and oldest wine regions in the world, has a rich and sophisticated gastronomy. We found that even at small, relaxed restaurants, the food was of an exceptional standard. Even if you’re not a drinker, I would argue that Burgundy is worth a visit for the food (and the villages) alone!
Beyond the food, and warm service, the sunny courtyard setting was heaven. I think nearly all of my favourite meals have been in a sunny courtyard on a leisurely afternoon!
Chateau de Chassagne-Montrachet
We drove on some lovely tiny back roads between the vineyards from Meursault to our next stop at Chateau de Chassagne-Montrachet. This is the only cellar door we visited where we really did need a reservation. We waited for around 10-15 minutes while the manager was with an American couple who were buying a lot of wine, which was fine. We had a brief tasting of the entry-level wines, which was nice but honestly felt a bit awkward and rushed. It was fine, but I would recommend making a reservation at this one if you do want to visit. For us, since we couldn’t ship any wine home anyway, we preferred to have the flexibility and opportunity for spontaneity than to have a tight itinerary, so it was okay.
Volnay
We stopped briefly in Volnay, but couldn’t find what we were looking for – I think we were looking for a cellar door, and it was closed or we couldn’t find it. The town seemed to be asleep in the late afternoon, which is typical of small towns in regional France, and other parts of Europe. We had a brief look around, before hopping back in the car for our final winery of the day, Chateau Pommard.
Chateau de Pommard
Chateau de Pommard was one of my favourite wineries that we visited in Burgundy, and easily the grandest. Established in 1726, Chateau de Pommard is one of the oldest wine estates in the Cote d’Or, and the 300 year old chateau and clos are both UNESCO protected.
If a winery is a Chateau, it means the land and the winery was formerly the property of the King. Not surprisingly, these are some of the most prestigious wineries in France, and have some of the best conditions for producing premium wines. We only had to wait for 15 minutes to begin the tasting, which is a private guided tour and tasting. There was a brief introduction to the chateau’s history, and the seven different types of soil found within Clos Marey-Monge. It was discovered relatively recently that within the single clos, there were 7 different types of soil, in different areas. They still offer wines in their original style, using grapes taken from across the clos, but now also create wines that are produced only from a single plot within the clos, from a single soil. You can taste the difference!
Chateau de Pommard balances heritage and tradition with innovation and sustainability, having begun the transformation into a sustainable vineyard in 2016, and has been certified biodynamic since 2021.
La Moutarderie Fallot
We tried to make it back into town in time to do the tour at Patriarche Pere et Fils, a winery with more than 5km of tunnels underneath Beaune, but we arrived 30 minutes before closing and they wouldn’t let us in. I read mixed reviews about this online so I wasn’t too disappointed, but it’s probably something I’d try and do next time I was there, out of curiosity.
Instead, we visited La Moutarderie Fallot, an artisanal mustard factory, museum and tasting room. I love mustard, and so I was very keen to pick up some from the source. Fallot was established in 1840 and is the last independent, family-owned mustard mill in Burgundy. Entry to the gift shop/tasting room, or “boutique-atelier” as it is called, is free. It was near our hotel so it was a fun way to spend half an hour before dinner.
I nearly blew my head off tasting some extremely hot mustards, and bought a couple of take home. Unfortunately the larger jar was confiscated in Zurich airport because they considered it a liquid (despite having grams listed on the bottle, not mL!).
Dinner & drinks in Beaune
We returned to Place Carnot, which was buzzing in the early evening and last hours of sunshine for the day. We had a glass of wine at Bar 66, a very popular wine bar with patio seating. I really liked this spot & would recommend it!
We walked a couple of blocks to Au Coq Bleu for dinner, a very charming and cosy restaurant that serves traditional Burgundian cuisine and was full of local diners. We had the loveliest meal, including the traditional Burgundian entree oeufs en meurette (eggs in red wine) before ambling back to our hotel.
Next Stop: Alsace!
The next morning, we returned to the Beaune train station, to catch a train to Colmar (again, via Dijon), for the next leg of our trip in Alsace. It was not easy to leave Burgundy, but we were both completely spellbound by the Alsatian villages we’d discover over the next few days.