Trip to France - recommendations

[Nick Wine Guy]

I'll be heading with my wife to France next June and was looking for some suggestions. We'll be in Paris for 3 nights and then have another 6 nights to spend there, so was thinking of heading to Burgundy and maybe further to the Rhone region, but we need to fly out of Paris.

Where should we base ourselves? Sounds like Beaune or Dijon are the main spots, but a village/maison could be cool. I'd prefer to take trains/Ubers/tours over driving ourselves around but open to it if necessary.

Also I'd love to go to Bordeaux or any other regions that you may suggest, especially given the season/time of the year...

Thank you.

[JamieBahrain]

Trains are a great way to get around. However, book them before you go? Often foreign credit cards rejected if in country. Utter nightmare.

Rhone villages are great. I've done all the north years ago and recently, impressed with the picturesque south.

[felixp21]

train to Burgundy... Beaune station to be exact. Stay in Beaune, much better than Dijon.

train to Bordeaux, but you can't really do both Burgundy and Bordeaux, so choose between the two. Stay in Bordeaux IMO, great city and convenient if you want to go to both left and right banks'

long way to the southern Rhone. Train to Avignon, taxi to CNDP. Personally, if you are coming from Paris, I wouldn't bother as the other two regions offer far more interest.

[Ian S]

Although the temptation is to cram lots of locations in (especially when losing so much time on the outward / return flight), this can be counter-productive, as you'll lose yet more time of transfers / checking in & out.

Thus my suggestion of 2 bases. Paris seems a cert, so Burgundy seems very sensible to join with it. Order would depend on whether you plan to hire a car or not. If NOT hiring a car, I'd definitely go straight to Burgundy on arrival, finishing in Paris, so there is less stress about making the airport in time for the return flight. If hiring a car I'd reverse the order for two reasons:
- Driving with jet lag isn't fun, so although Paris isn't ideal for getting over it (countryside is better), it allows you a few days to find your feet
- Assuming you'll be buying some wine, this means the car can carry that extra load all the way to the airport trolley

Beaune is certainly the obvious & safe choice, with English spoken in most places we encountered. Alternatively, choose a pleasant village, using it as a base to explore, but also enjoying the wonderfully timeless nature that (e.g.) allows for two or more bakeries in a village. This may be a bit off the beaten track, but I'd recommend Etape Robinson in St Gengoux le National run by a couple from Yorkshire - their gite looked very good.

The driving is great on the autoroutes and the tolls are more fiddly than pricey. Very clean and well-maintained. Driving in the countryside also great. We wouldn't drive in Paris!

[Nick Wine Guy]

Thanks, guys.

We'll likely only have 2 days now outside of Paris (decided on going to Mallorca for 4 days), so I guess it's down to either going to Beaune/Dijon or Bordeaux. There sounds to be a nice Saturday market in Dijon and if we're not going to be spending the time visiting or driving around to wineries, would it make sense to stay in more of a city, e.g. Dijon or Bordeaux?

[JamieBahrain]

Definitely Beaune. There’s wineries in town btw and just Uber a countryside drive?

[felixp21]

Dijon is ok if you just want to visit places like Fixin and Gevrey. Also good if you are looking to buy mustard.
Also good for butchers, groceries etc.

Beaune is right in the middle of the action, is a far more attractive town and has heaps more to do. Plenty of Domaines within the town itself.
Multiple villages are within easy reach, and has plenty of decent restaurants. Heaps of truly excellent wine bars. As you might have guessed, I adore the place. I go to Burgundy every year, usually twice, and always stay in Beaune.

[sjw_11]

My only question would be whether you really have time to do Bourgogne if you only have 2 days (and with three nights in Paris and 4 days in Mallorca it sounds like it might be a scant two days?).

It will take you a minimum 2.5hrs and up to nearly 4hrs to get to Beaune from Paris by train (depending what time of day you leave). So if two days means 1 night that's a lot of travel to "tick the box" of visiting. If two nights its OK but still for me not a great ratio of travel time to visit time.

Bordeaux is a little better- easily available with no connecting train in 2hrs flat. You could also consider Reims (Champagne) which is only 45minutes and offers some excellent (relatively good value) restaurants and has plenty to do in walking distance in the town to occupy 1-2 days.

[sjw_11]

It will take you a minimum 2.5hrs and up to nearly 4hrs to get to Beaune from Paris by train (depending what time of day you leave). .

To be clear, Dijon would be quicker... and I agree with Felix Dijon is a fine place to visit but I wouldn't really rate it super high and it is nothing like actually going to Beaune or touring the country side. I would probably pick Bordeaux over Dijon, if it were me making the choice.

[Ian S]

Well the other obvious choice would be Champagne (Reims / Epernay), as the region is right on the doorstep of Paris, indeed close enough to do as a day trip if you want to forego changing your Paris base. An opportunity to explore grower champagnes and throw in a visit to a big champagne house by way of comparison?

[maybs]

I found 2 days around Beaune to be very worthwhile as a nice trip from Paris. I drove due to the train strikes and that was a bit of a mission but via train would be very pleasant. Beaune is a beautiful town and the surroundings are also lovely and easily accessible. It surprised me how close everything was even though in my mind I knew it was so.

I’d recommend Les Dilletante wine bar in Beaune for a light meal and a drink. Book ahead though, when I was there it was full and turned away probably 20 people (for a bar that probably only seats 30)

[Ian S]

I'm sure it will be fine in the not too distant future, but long-running strikes against Pension changes have made train travel something of a challenge over the last month. I'd not advise such a trip if happening in the next month, but beyond that I'm sure there will be a resolution and normality will return.

[marsalla]

Well the other obvious choice would be Champagne (Reims / Epernay), as the region is right on the doorstep of Paris, indeed close enough to do as a day trip if you want to forego changing your Paris base. An opportunity to explore grower champagnes and throw in a visit to a big champagne house by way of comparison?

Hi, I would echo this, lovely way to spend a few days, close to Paris as well.

[Mark Carrington]

Beaune definitely better than Dijon, if wine is the focus. Excellent rail connections. Uber? Not a chance. Taxis - unreliable, along with limited bus services. Therefore, if you wish to visit the villages of Côte d’Or car hire best, though there are ‘guided tours’.
Plenty of the large negociants in town. Jadot the best. There are smaller producers but appointments tricky. Easier in the villages, though most of the top domains will say no - but if you don’t ask.......
A series of excellent restaurants in town & some amongst the vineyards. In the main, mark ups reasonable. If you opt for Burgundy, I’d be happy to recommend a one or two.

[sjw_11]

I'm sure it will be fine in the not too distant future, but long-running strikes against Pension changes have made train travel something of a challenge over the last month. I'd not advise such a trip if happening in the next month, but beyond that I'm sure there will be a resolution and normality will return.

Agree it will be over sometime (though more than a month now!) but if travelling while the strike is on allow much, much longer to transfer.

I had a torrid time arriving into Gare du Nord the other day. Even though I pre-booked a car, my pre-booked car basically lied they had arrived to be able to cancel and get a higher rate. It took over 45 minutes in total to actually get a car from the station (and of course at the time the metro was not running, as it is only going for about 6 hours a day, except lines 1 and 14 which are automated).

Many SNCF / TGV cancellations and as a knock on they have been cancelling 2-5 Eurostars each day as well. "Luckily" my trains to and from Lyon this week are confirmed (work conference) but I am dreading the trip just to get to and from Gare de Lyon and the 16th.

[Nick Wine Guy]

Thank you to everyone for the recommendations - I will keep this all in mind for when I have time to do a proper trip through the area.

Cheers.

[Wines101]

I am heading to France in August but I did this trip the first time.


You could Rent-A-Car and drive from Paris to Champagne Reims, then to Beaune Burgundy, Northern Rhône Shiraz, then Southern Rhône Provence wines CDP’s

Or

From Paris you can caught the train to Lyon then rented a car and drive to the Northern Rhône, which is just across the Rhône river, and if you are a Shiraz wine lover this should be your first stop plus you will be able to taste all those great white wines from there too.... spend one night there..

Then down the A7, 2 1/2 hours to Chateauneuf but stay in Avignon..the best domaines are in the CDP village but the better restaurants are in Avignon.


GL !!

[Dragzworthy]

Sorry to hijack the thread a bit but I am planning to be in France come mid to late May. The wife and I are keen to do a champagne tour but we will have a toddler in tow.... Does anyone recommend a good tour company that we could use for a tailor made private tour?