Overview
Four days in Beaune, the wine capital of Burgundy, and the omission from the earlier list that most deserved fixing. The town is a ring of ramparts around a medieval core, and beneath it run kilometres of négociant cellars — Bouchard, Drouhin, Patriarche — carved out of old quarries and church crypts.
The riding is the Voie des Vignes, a 72km waymarked route from Dijon to Santenay through the entire Côte de Nuits and Côte de Beaune. The stretch we want runs south from Beaune through Pommard, Volnay, Meursault and Puligny-Montrachet — quiet vineyard roads, mostly gentle, with a proper traffic-free greenway on an old railway line beyond Santenay. You are pedalling through the UNESCO-listed Climats de Bourgogne, which is to say the most valuable agricultural land in the world.
Getting There
| Outbound | Friday 23 October — easyJet/BA, Gatwick → Lyon (LYS), ~2h, then TGV Lyon → Beaune, about 1h40 with one change at Dijon or direct |
| Alternative | Fly to Paris and take the TGV from Gare de Lyon to Beaune via Dijon, roughly 2h15 — or Eurostar plus the same TGV, which is comfortable and barely slower |
| Return | Monday 26 October — evening flight from Lyon or Paris |
| Door to door | About 5 hours by either route. Beaune has its own station in the middle of town |
Day by Day
Friday 23 October — Arrive & the Hospices
- Morning flight and TGV; into Beaune by mid-afternoon.
- The Hôtel-Dieu — the Hospices de Beaune, founded in 1443 by Chancellor Nicolas Rolin as a hospital for the poor, with the famous polychrome glazed-tile roof and a ward that stayed in medical use into the 1970s.
- Late afternoon: cellars under the town. Patriarche has around 5km of galleries and pours a long tasting flight; Bouchard Père et Fils is in the old fortress.
- Dinner: Burgundian, and heavy. Œufs en meurette, jambon persillé, and a village Pinot.
Saturday 24 October — The Voie des Vignes south
- The big ride, and the whole reason to come. South out of Beaune on the Voie des Vignes through Pommard, Volnay, Monthelie and Meursault, then Puligny- and Chassagne-Montrachet to Santenay — about 20km of gentle vineyard road, each village sign a wine list.
- Beyond Santenay the route becomes a genuine traffic-free greenway on a former railway, running on towards Nolay through the Maranges hills — add as much of that as legs allow.
- Lunch in Meursault or Santenay; ride back, or take the train from Santenay if one suits. 40–50km all told, gently graded.
- Evening: a serious dinner. Beaune eats extremely well.
Sunday 25 October — Côte de Nuits & the Marché aux Vins
- Clocks back overnight. North today, on the other half of the Voie des Vignes: Savigny-lès-Beaune, Aloxe-Corton under its wooded hill, and on towards Nuits-Saint-Georges — 30–35km with a few more rises than yesterday.
- The vineyard walls, gates and crosses of the Climats — parcels defined and named since monastic times, and inscribed by UNESCO in 2015.
- Afternoon: the Marché aux Vins in Beaune, a former church where you taste your way through a long list of appellations in the crypt.
- Return bikes; last dinner in town.
Monday 26 October — Home
- Morning: the Saturday-and-Wednesday market if the day suits, otherwise the ramparts and a last cellar.
- TGV to Lyon or Paris; evening flight home.
Festivals & Local Events
Vente des Vins des Hospices de Beaune — third weekend of November
The world's most famous charity wine auction, and the centre of Les Trois Glorieuses: three days of banquets, the auction itself, and the Paulée de Meursault. Held in November, so no clash with October — but the town is unbookable that weekend, worth knowing.
October is post-harvest calm
Burgundy picks in September, so by late October the cellars are quiet, the domaines are receiving again, and the Côte is at full autumn colour. No major festival competes for rooms.
Saint-Vincent Tournante — late January
Burgundy's great winter festival moves to a different village each year and draws tens of thousands.
La Percée du Vin Jaune — early February
Not Burgundy proper but neighbouring Jura, and a wonderful oddity if a future winter trip ever tempts.
The Region in Brief
A little history
The Côte d'Or's vineyard map was drawn by monks: the Benedictines of Cluny and the Cistercians of Cîteaux spent the Middle Ages walling individual parcels and noting which produced better wine, creating the climats — around 1,250 named plots, each with its own boundaries and character. The Dukes of Burgundy made the wine famous across Europe; Philip the Bold banned the Gamay grape from the Côte in 1395 as 'disloyal', which is why it is Pinot Noir today. The Hospices de Beaune has funded its hospital by selling wine at auction every November since 1859.
October weather
Continental and crisp: typically 6–16°C in late October, with morning mist over the Côte burning off by mid-morning and the vine leaves turning brilliant yellow — Chardonnay gold, Pinot scarlet.
The wines
Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, and a hierarchy that runs from regional Bourgogne through village wines to premier cru and the thirty-three grands crus. The names on the road signs — Pommard, Volnay, Meursault, Montrachet — are the reference points the rest of the world measures itself against. Prices at the top are absurd; village wines and the Hautes-Côtes behind the slope are where sanity lives.
The food
Œufs en meurette, jambon persillé, coq au vin, boeuf bourguignon done properly, escargots, Époisses (which smells like a crime and tastes wonderful), and gougères with the aperitif. Dijon and its mustard are half an hour north.
Where to Stay
Hôtel Le Cep
A 16th-century townhouse with a courtyard, the classic Beaune address.
Hostellerie Le Cèdre
A 19th-century villa in a garden, quiet and a short walk from everything.
Les Jardins de Loïs
A hôtel particulier with its own small vineyard behind the walls — charming and better value.
The Wineries
Patriarche Père et Fils
Around 5km of galleries under the town in a former convent, with a self-guided tasting through a long flight. The best-value cellar visit in Beaune.
Bouchard Père et Fils
Cellars inside the old royal fortress, and holdings across many of the greatest climats.
Marché aux Vins
A deconsecrated 15th-century church where you taste through a list of appellations in the crypt. Walk-in, no appointment.
A Meursault or Santenay domaine
Village domaines along the Voie des Vignes receive visitors by appointment — email a fortnight ahead and one hour of a grower's time will teach you more than three cellar tours.
Eat & Drink
| Friday | Œufs en meurette and a village Pinot |
| Saturday | Lunch in Meursault, on the ride |
| Sunday | Marché aux Vins, then a serious dinner in Beaune |
| Monday | Market and gougères before the TGV |
Useful Links
- Beaune Tourism — the Voie des Vignes — the official route description, stage by stage
- Bourgogne Wines (BIVB) — the official Burgundy wine board — appellations, climats, visits
- Hospices de Beaune — the Hôtel-Dieu and the November auction
- Climats de Bourgogne — UNESCO — the 1,250 named parcels and what makes them a World Heritage Site
Practical Notes
- The most famous vineyard road in the world, and it turns out to be a signposted cycle route with a greenway on the end of it.
- Book a grower, not just the négociants. The big cellars under Beaune are easy and good value; an hour with a Meursault domaine is the memory you keep.
- Avoid the third weekend of November unless you want the Hospices auction — the town is full and prices treble.
- Bike hire in Beaune includes e-bikes and there are several outfits; the Voie des Vignes starts from the town.
- Clocks change overnight on 24–25 October.