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Are you planning a long weekend trip to France and looking for ideas? In this blog post, I will share our itinerary for 3 days in Burgundy, visiting beautiful villages and tasting amazing wine.
If you are new to this blog, hi, my name is Liza! I love planning complex travel itineraries and escaping London at least once a month. If you’re also working full-time and don’t have too much annual leave, you can find a lot of activity-packed itineraries on Tripsget!
Each time a bank holiday approaches, I panic. As someone who runs a travel blog, I feel immense pressure to travel at each and every opportunity. Isn’t a bank holiday a perfect opportunity for a weekend trip? Sometimes, I manage to snatch really well-priced tickets, and my partner just flies off to a new destination. More frequently, especially in summer, flights cost like a new kidney, so we try to look for new places around us. That’s exactly how the idea of spending 3 days in Burgundy was born!
While Burgundy is not around the corner from London, it’s definitely reachable with an overnight stay somewhere on the way, for example, on the outskirts of Paris.
Here is the short overview of our 3-day itinerary for Burgundy:
Day 0: Departing London after work at 4pm, taking Eurotunnel to Calais, night in Best Western Paris Sud
Day 1: Driving to Dijon in the morning. Wine tasting near Beaune at Santenay castle, night in Beaune at La Maison de Maurice
Day 2: Chateauneuf-en-Auxois, Semur-en-Auxois, night at Noyers-sur-Serein at Cote Serein
Day 3: Chablis + Wine tasting, a stop in Troyes (Champagne), drive back to London
Overview of links for the trip to Burgundy
I’m often asked to summarise all the recommended accommodations and tours in one place so it’s easier to find them, so I started adding them to the start of the article.
Hotels for this trip: La Maison de Maurice, Cote Serein in Noyers-sur-Serein
Tours: tour of Maison Champy cellar,
Wine tastings: Santenay Castle Tasting near Beaune, Maison Regnard in Chablis
Do you need a car for exploring Burgundy?
By the way, if you’re wondering whether you need a car for exploring Burgundy, the answer is yes. Unfortunately, it’s very difficult to get to most of these places without a car. If you don’t have a car, I recommend either taking a Eurostar to Paris and hiring one there (we always use Rentalcars.com) or hiring a car in London and taking this route. However, keep in mind that not all car rental agencies allow for cars to be taken outside the UK.
Our perfect itinerary for 3 days in Burgundy
Day 0: Driving to France
As we didn’t take any time off and just departed London after work on Friday, I included this day as a day 0. Traffic to the Folkestone Eurotunnel terminal was moderate. Depending on where you are based, it can take from 45 minutes to 2.5 hours to get to Folkestone from London, and you also need to arrive at least 50 minutes before the departure time indicated on your ticket.
It takes around 3 hours to drive to Paris from Calais in the evening when the traffic isn’t too bad anymore. Since driving all the way to Dijon would have been too tiring and we would have arrived too late at night, we decided to stop overnight just outside Paris. One of the most convenient hotels would be Best Western Paris Sud.
Day 1: Dijon. Wine tasting at Santenay castle, Beaune
Dijon is located more than 3 hours away from Paris; however, staying outside Paris reduces this time to 2.5-2.45 hours, which is much better. There are tolls on the way to Dijon, and I remember paying something like 15 euros for them (this might be a bit inaccurate, but it definitely wasn’t cheap).
Dijon
Dijon offers a perfect blend of history, food, and culture – it’s the biggest city in Burgundy and probably the most touristy one. Dijon has a long and storied history dating back to Roman times when it was known as Divio. It later became the capital of the Duchy of Burgundy in the Middle Ages. Because of that, the city is pretty rich and has plenty of impressive architectural landmarks.
Even if you’re not very familiar with French cities, the name “Dijon” always rings a bell because of the mustard. Dijon is famous for its mustard, which is renowned for its sharp and tangy flavor, and you can buy it pretty much everywhere around the world.
Also, Dijon is surrounded by vineyards! However, Beaune is a better city to go to for wine tastings, and our next destination on this trip was Beaune, actually!
In Dijon, we walked around the city centre, bought a set of miniature mustard jars with different flavours and took a lot of photos. We also had late breakfast in Dijon – a typical French breakfast is a pastry (croissant or pan au chocolat); however, in Burgundy, you can also try a famous local savoury bun called gougers. It has a nice cheesy flavour, and it’s actually empty inside! Its texture reminded me of profiteroles.
Wine tasting at the Santenay castle near Beaune
Our next destination was just outside Beaune – it took us around 1 hour to drive there from Dijon. We decided to have a wine tasting in a stunning Santenay Castle that belongs to the Philippe Le Hardi group. You can find more details about the castle & the tasting here – while it was absolutely empty when we visited, I still recommend booking it in advance as there might be large groups arriving.
In total, we tried 3 different wines, 2 red wines and one white wine and all of them were lovely! The tasting was also very affordable – just 10 EUR per person! There is also a little shop at the castle where you can buy the wines you tried (as well as some other wines they produce) and we actually bought a bottle there.
Beaune
After tasting amazing wine, it was finally time to head to Beaune. Beaune is probably the second most popular city in Burgundy and the number one destination for vineyard tours and tastings of red wine. Beaune is specialising in producing renowned wines such as Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.
The city itself is also very pretty. Its main landmark and the most famous and iconic building is the Hôtel-Dieu Museum – Hospices de Beaune. It was founded in 1443 as a hospital for the poor and it looks absolutely stunning – the tile-glazed roofs are unique to this region of Burgundy and are prominently featured on Hotel Dieu. When we visited Beaune, the entrance fee there was 12 EUR, but it might have changed since then.
Beaune offers numerous opportunities for wine tasting and cellar tours. Many wineries and wine merchants have cellars in town where you can sample and purchase Burgundy wines.
Some wine cellars are located in the heart of Beaune. If you are keen to try more wines and learn more about wine production in Burgundy, I recommend this tour of Maison Champy cellar.
Beaune is also where I recommend staying overnight – these two hotels are the best options: La Maison de Maurice or Hotel Belle Epoque.
Day 2: Chateauneuf-en-Auxois, Semur-en-Auxois, Noyers-sur-Serein
Our second day of this 3-day trip around Burgundy was jam-packed with beautiful towns. Our first stop was just a short, 40-minute drive away from Beaune.
Chateauneuf-en-Auxois
Chateauneuf-en-Auxois is a very small beautifully preserved medieval village located on top of a hill surrounded by beautiful scenery. It’s known for its 12th-century hilltop château offering stunning views. It’s open to visitors as a museum. Besides the château, there are plenty of beautiful cobblestone streets, photogenic houses and nice boutiques.
Chateauneuf, surprisingly, had a pretty large parking lot just outside the village centre, and we didn’t have any difficulties finding a spot. However, it’s always better to arrive early as the chances of finding a parking spot are higher!
Semur-en-Auxois
Our next stop, beautiful Semur-en-Auxois, was located another 40-minute drive away. Semur-en-Auxois looks very impressive from far away when you are approaching the town. Similar to Châteauneuf-en-Auxois, it is renowned for its well-preserved historical architecture. However, the main difference between these two towns is that Semur is much larger, and there is also a beautiful river, Armançon, that flows through the city. Semur is also very hilly – the picture-perfect views of the town can be seen from the lowest point of Semur, just next to the river.
Semur also has an interesting history. Like many medieval towns in France, Semur-en-Auxois saw its fair share of conflict during the Hundred Years’ War between England and France. The village faced multiple sieges and battles during this time, with the fortress (13th-century Château de Semur-en-Auxois) playing a critical role in the town’s defence.
Overall, we felt like every corner in Semur was absolutely stunning, and it was definitely one of our favourite places on this trip.
If you’re hungry and keen on grabbing something for lunch, consider visiting the restaurant called La Parenthese in the heart of Semur. That’s where we ate and loved the experience! Everything was very affordable and it was also the friendliest service we had on this trip!
Noyers-sur-Serein
Our final stop for today was in another charming town, Noyers-sur-Serein. Noyers is different from Chateauneuf-en-Auxois and Semur-en-Auxois, as it looks like a movie set of The Beauty and the Beast. When we arrived in Noyers-sur-Serein, we couldn’t believe how pretty the town was!
Noyers is known for its half-timbered houses with colourful facades. The town’s history dates back to the 11th century, and there is also an old chateau that, unfortunately, didn’t survive until our days, and all you can see in its place are the ruins of the old castle. The castle stands on a hill above Noyers, and in order to get to the ruins, you need to exit the village, walk for a few minutes and climb a small hill. There are plenty of signs indicating where you need to turn and start hiking, and there is also plenty of information about the history of Château and the town on the top of the hill.
Even though Noyers-sur-Serein is tiny, you can easily spend a few hours in the town, especially if you decide to hike up to the chateau as well! I recommend staying in Noyers overnight at a stunning hotel called Cote Serein – it literally looks like a castle!
For dinner, there are not that many options, so your best bet is probably – Restaurant de la Vieille Tour. As with most restaurants in France, I recommend booking it in advance!
Day 3: Chablis + Wine tasting, a stop in Troyes (Champagne), drive back to London
Our final day in Burgundy started with a short, 30-minute drive to Chablis.
Chablis
Chablis is a charming town located in the Northern part of Burgundy, surrounded by lots of vineyards. It serves as the heart of the renowned Chablis wine-producing region. The town itself is also very pretty – it has a rustic charm, different from all the other towns and places on this trip. Chablis has wine estates and wine cellars around every corner – and it’s probably one of the best places in the world to try white wine.
Of course, everyone has different tastes in white wines, but to me, wines from Chablis are superior. Chablis has pretty unique soil – Kimmeridgian limestone, rich in marine fossils and minerals. It provides excellent drainage, imparts minerality to the grapes, and contributes to the wines’ distinctive flavours of flint and wet stones.
After I tried an amazing wine from Chablis in a wine bar in London, I wanted to come to Chablis ever since and try other wines. Honestly, I ended up liking pretty much every white wine from Chablis that I tried!
Unfortunately, on Sunday, lots of wine estates were closed, but we managed to find a few that were open and picked Maison Regnard for our wine tasting. The tasting was pretty affordable, we paid 15 EUR per person to try 5 different wines, including a Gran Cru, which was amazing!
Troyes
Our next and final stop for the last day of this 3-day Burgundy road trip was Troyes. Troyes is not part of Burgundy anymore; it’s actually located in Champagne, but we wanted to stop somewhere else on the way to London, which seemed like a very beautiful city. Troyes is located 1 hour away from Chablis and on the way back to the UK.
Troyes is a historic city known for its well-preserved medieval architecture and rich cultural heritage. Troyes looks like oversized Noyers! I have never seen as many half-timbered houses in my life as I’ve seen in Troyes (not even in Colmar and Strasbourg)!
Troyes is often called the “City of Art and History” due to its numerous medieval buildings and Gothic churches. Troyes played a significant role in the Middle Ages as a trading hub, and its charming old town reflects this history. Additionally, Troyes is famous for its factory outlet stores (there are a couple of big outlets), making it a popular shopping destination.
Driving back to London
The drive from Troyes to Calais takes around 4 hours if there is not much traffic on the way, and it passes through Reims, the capital of Champagne. If you want to split the drive in two and you still have a bit of time, you can also stop in Reims! Reims is famous for its stunning cathedral, which was the place of coronation for almost all the French monarchs since the 14th century!
The city itself is not as impressive as other places on this itinerary, however, Reims is surrounded by vineyards and you can also try some great champagne there if you still have time left!
The place I’d recommend for trying champagne is Mailly! We had a wonderful experience there.
Summary of the 3-day itinerary for Burgundy
I hope you found this 3-day itinerary for Burgundy useful and found some inspiration for your potential trip to France. Of course, if you can stay in Burgundy for longer than 3 days, I would totally recommend it, as there are more amazing places that you can visit. However, if you’re looking to spend a long weekend in Burgundy, this could be just the itinerary!
As I mentioned before, if you don’t have a car or wouldn’t enjoy driving that much, you can either take a Eurostar to Paris and hire a car there or, alternatively, you can fly to Besancon and hire a car there!
Some other articles you might like:
Germany (Rhine Valley) and France (Alsace) trip
Pau and Gavarnie trip to France
Lille and Belgium long weekend itinerary
4-day road trip around the Netherlands
South of France road trip – 4 days in Nice, Cannes, St. Tropez, Monaco and more
