Overview
Four days in Tain-l'Hermitage, a modest working town on the Rhône with one of the greatest vineyards on earth rising directly out of it. Hermitage hill is a single steep granite dome, terraced since Roman times and entirely covered in Syrah — you can walk up it from the main street in twenty minutes and look down on the river.
This is the connoisseur's pick of the wider search. Chapoutier, Jaboulet and the excellent Cave de Tain are all within a few streets of each other; the ViaRhôna cycle path runs flat along the river through the middle of town; and the Valrhona chocolate factory — whose Cité du Chocolat runs tastings and workshops — is five minutes from the station. Chocolate and Syrah pair far better than they have any right to.
Getting There
| Outbound | Friday 23 October — easyJet or BA, Gatwick → Lyon (LYS), ~2h, several daily, from ~£45–75 |
| Return | Monday 26 October — Lyon → Gatwick, evening, from ~£45–75 |
| Airport → Tain | Rhônexpress tram to Lyon Part-Dieu (30 min), then train down the Rhône to Tain-l'Hermitage–Tournon, about an hour. Roughly 4½ hours door to door |
| Note | Tain has its own station in the middle of town — no onward taxi needed |
Day by Day
Friday 23 October — Arrive, and up the hill
- Morning flight to Lyon; train south down the Rhône, into Tain by mid-afternoon.
- Walk straight up Hermitage hill from the town — a steep twenty minutes through the terraces to the chapel at the top, with the whole river valley below and the Alps on a clear day.
- Late afternoon: M. Chapoutier's visitor centre in the main street for a first tasting.
- Evening: dinner in Tournon across the bridge — Rhône cooking with a Lyonnais accent.
Saturday 24 October — The ViaRhôna north
- The flat day, and a beautiful one. North along the ViaRhôna (EuroVelo 17) beside the river towards Serves-sur-Rhône and the granite gorges, with the Côte-Rôtie and Condrieu slopes rising further upstream.
- 40–50km out and back on a surfaced, largely car-free path — no climbing, and the river for company the whole way.
- Lunch at a riverside village; the Rhône here is fast, green and hemmed in by rock.
- Evening: the Cité du Chocolat if it is still open, then dinner. Valrhona has been making chocolate in this town since 1922.
Sunday 25 October — Crozes-Hermitage vineyards
- Clocks back overnight. A 25km loop up onto the plateau behind the town through Mercurol, Chanos-Curson and the Crozes-Hermitage vineyards — gentle rises, big skies, orchards of apricots between the vines.
- Tasting at Cave de Tain, the co-operative that farms a remarkable slice of the Hermitage hill itself and sells it at a fraction of the négociant price.
- Afternoon: Paul Jaboulet Aîné's Vineum, or Delas across the river in Tournon.
- Return bikes; last dinner with a bottle of Hermitage blanc — Marsanne that ages for decades and almost nobody drinks.
Monday 26 October — Home
- Morning: the Cité du Chocolat properly, or the steam train up the Doux gorge from Tournon if it is running.
- Train back to Lyon; evening flight to Gatwick.
Festivals & Local Events
Marché aux Vins d'Ampuis — late January
The Northern Rhône's big set-piece tasting, when Côte-Rôtie throws open its cellars. Deep winter, not October.
Fête de la Saint-Vincent — January
The vignerons' patron saint is celebrated across the Rhône villages in the depths of winter, with processions and cellar tastings.
October is harvest-recovery month
The Northern Rhône picks late — often into the first days of October — so by our weekend the cellars have just finished and are in the best possible mood to receive visitors. There is no major festival competing for rooms.
Cité du Chocolat events
Valrhona runs tasting workshops and pastry classes year-round in Tain, including school-holiday programmes in late October. Book online — they are popular and genuinely good.
The Region in Brief
A little history
The hill is named for a crusading knight, Gaspard de Stérimberg, who returned from the Albigensian wars around 1224, was granted the hill by the Queen of France, built a chapel and lived as a hermit — planting vines to support himself. The Romans were there long before him: Pliny and Martial both praised the wine of Vienne, just upstream. In the 18th and 19th centuries Hermitage was among the most expensive wine in the world, and Bordeaux châteaux quietly strengthened their clarets with it — a practice known as 'hermitagé' and never officially admitted.
October weather
Typically 8–18°C in late October, often bright. The one thing to watch is the mistral, which funnels cold and hard down the Rhône corridor — check the forecast and ride out into it so you come home with it behind you.
The wines
Syrah at its most complete: Hermitage, Crozes-Hermitage, Cornas and Saint-Joseph — black pepper, violets, iron and smoke. The whites deserve more attention than they get: Marsanne and Roussanne from Hermitage age for thirty years, and Viognier makes Condrieu, the most perfumed white in France, a short way upstream.
The food
Rhône-Alpes cooking with Lyonnais leanings — pogne brioche, ravioles du Dauphiné, caillette, Saint-Marcellin cheese, apricots and cherries from the orchards between the vines. And Valrhona chocolate, made here since 1922 and used by pastry chefs worldwide.
Where to Stay
Fac & Spera
Comfortable rooms above the wine house in the middle of town, with the vineyard behind.
Hôtel de la Villeon
An 18th-century mansion with a hanging garden and a view over the river to Hermitage hill. The most charming bed here.
Michel Chabran
A Relais with a serious kitchen, on the old 45th-parallel road — for a group that would rather eat very well than walk to the station.
The Wineries
M. Chapoutier
One of the great names of the Rhône, with a visitor centre and tasting room in the main street. Daily tastings, book ahead for the guided version.
Cave de Tain
Farms around a fifth of the Hermitage hill and sells superb wine at co-operative prices. Modern tasting room, open all week — the value pick.
Paul Jaboulet Aîné
Home of La Chapelle, one of the legendary bottles of the 20th century. Their Vineum tasting space is in the town centre.
Delas Frères
Just across the bridge, with a smart new winery and a strong Saint-Joseph and Cornas range.
Eat & Drink
| Friday | Dinner in Tournon across the river |
| Saturday | Riverside lunch on the ViaRhôna; chocolate before dinner |
| Sunday | Vineyard lunch on the Crozes plateau; Hermitage blanc at dinner |
| Monday | Pogne and coffee before the train |
Useful Links
- ViaRhôna — official route — EuroVelo 17 from Lake Geneva to the Mediterranean, with maps and services
- Vins Rhône — official wine board — the appellations of the Rhône valley, north and south
- Valrhona Cité du Chocolat — tastings, workshops and the factory story, in the middle of Tain
- Ardèche Hermitage Tourism — the local tourist office for Tain and Tournon
Practical Notes
- The insider pick. Great Syrah within walking distance of the hotel, flat riverside cycling, and a town small enough to feel like a find.
- Watch the mistral. It blows hard down the valley and is cold. Ride north into it and come home with it pushing you.
- Bike hire is limited in Tain itself — book ahead, or hire in Valence (20 min by train) where there is more choice including e-bikes.
- Hermitage hill on foot is worth doing on arrival day: 20 steep minutes for one of the great views in wine.
- Clocks change overnight on 24–25 October.