Day trips from Beaune

Which day trip from Beaune suits you?

Choose by what you want to see, then by the time you have: the Côte de Nuits, the castles of Châteauneuf and Commarin, and Dijon fit half a day, the others a whole one. Drive times are from the centre of Beaune, as our booking page counts them, and prices are per car for one to four guests.

Is the Côte de Nuits worth a day from Beaune?

Yes, if you love red wine: 24 of Burgundy’s 33 grands crus lie along this narrow slope north of Beaune, in small villages a few minutes apart on the Route des Grands Crus. Gevrey-Chambertin alone has nine, and at Vosne-Romanée you can walk up to the Romanée-Conti vineyard. Start at the Château du Clos de Vougeot, about 25 minutes away, built by the monks of Cîteaux in the middle of their vineyard: it opens every day without booking, makes sense of the slope and suits those who do not taste.

A half day reaches Vougeot, Vosne-Romanée and Chambolle-Musigny: our half-day wine tour, 4 hours for €290 per car, or €360 with Gevrey-Chambertin, which adds an hour. The full day, 8 hours for €560, takes the whole slope with a lunch stop in Nuits-Saint-Georges, or ends in Dijon. Most estates receive visitors by appointment: book your tastings before the day, and the driver plans the route around them.

Without a car, TER trains stop at Gevrey-Chambertin, Vougeot and Nuits-Saint-Georges, 5 to 21 minutes from Beaune, about once an hour, but some stations lie 2 km from their village; the Mobigo 113 coach stops below the villages between Dijon and Beaune. Both suit one village, not three. To choose between the two slopes, see the Côte de Nuits or the Côte de Beaune.

Are Châteauneuf and Commarin a good half day?

Yes, for castles and old stone. The Château de Châteauneuf, about 35 minutes from Beaune, is a fortress with round towers and a drawbridge above the Auxois, in a village listed among the Plus Beaux Villages de France. The Château de Commarin, about 10 minutes away, is a moated house still lived in by its family, with furnished rooms and a park. Allow an hour or more for each, and a walk through the lanes of Châteauneuf.

Go from Thursday to Sunday: Châteauneuf closes on Mondays, Commarin on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and Commarin opens only from late March to the autumn school holidays, while Châteauneuf stays open all year. Children under 12 visit Châteauneuf free. There is no station; with a driver by the hour, the two castles take about 5 hours, €375 per car. Families will find a whole castle day, with the aniseed workshop of Flavigny, in our guide to Burgundy with children.

Is Dijon worth a day trip from Beaune?

Yes, and it is the easiest: TER trains take 18 to 30 minutes, about 44 a day. In the centre stand the Palais des Ducs et des États de Bourgogne and the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dijon, whose permanent collections are free (closed on Tuesdays). Follow the owl arrows set in the pavement to the Église Notre-Dame de Dijon, and come on a Tuesday, Thursday, Friday or Saturday morning for the market of Les Halles de Dijon. The Cité internationale de la gastronomie et du vin, with free permanent exhibitions, is a 10-minute walk from the station.

The train is the simple choice. A driver makes sense with luggage, for a late dinner or with the Côte de Nuits on the way: the Dijon ride costs €120 per car each way, or €220 there and back with the driver waiting up to 3 hours; the full-day wine tour, €560, can end in Dijon after the grand cru villages.

How do Tournus and Cluny fit one day?

Drive south for two great Romanesque abbeys: the Abbaye Saint-Philibert de Tournus, about 40 minutes from Beaune, then Cluny Abbey, about 30 minutes further on. At Tournus, round pillars carry a nave full of light, with a crypt, an upper chapel and a cloister, open every day. Cluny, founded in 910, built the largest church in Christendom, which it remained for nearly 400 years; one tall arm of its transept survives, and films and screens rebuild the rest. It suits anyone who enjoys reading a ruin.

With the driver by the hour, the abbey day below takes about 8 hours: €600 per car. Swap Tournus for a tasting in Pouilly-Fuissé and the climb of the Roche de Solutré, about 25 minutes south of Cluny, and it becomes a wine day in the Mâconnais: the full day with 2 extra hours, 10 hours for €700 per car, back in Beaune before 19.00.

Without a car, a direct TER reaches Tournus in about 35 minutes, 19 times a day. Cluny has no station: take a train to Mâcon, from 47 minutes, then the Mobigo 701 coach, about 30 minutes, which runs several times a day.

• 9.00Leave Beaune on the A6.
• 10.00Abbaye Saint-Philibert de Tournus: the nave, the crypt and the cloister.
• 11.30Drive to Cluny, about 30 minutes, for lunch in town.
• 13.30Cluny Abbey and its museum, 2 to 3 hours.
• 16.00Back to Beaune, about 1 h 10.

Is Fontenay Abbey worth the drive from Beaune?

Yes: Fontenay, founded in 1118 by Bernard of Clairvaux and on UNESCO’s World Heritage List since 1981, is a complete Cistercian monastery alone in a wooded valley, about 1 h 15 from Beaune and open every day. Pair it with Flavigny-sur-Ozerain, a walled village on a spur, one of the Plus Beaux Villages de France, where Les Anis de Flavigny still makes its aniseed sweets in the old abbey, and the MuséoParc Alésia, where Caesar besieged Vercingetorix.

With the driver by the hour, the day below takes about 9 hours: €675 per car. Semur-en-Auxois, a fortified town above a loop of its river, can replace Alésia. Come on a weekday for the workshop tours at Les Anis de Flavigny, and remember that the MuséoParc’s museum closes from the end of November to early February.

Without a car, Montbard station, about 6 km from the abbey, is 1 h 10 or more from Beaune by train, about 14 a day, and local taxis cover the last kilometres; Les Laumes-Alésia station is a 10-minute walk from the MuséoParc.

• 9.00Leave Beaune.
• 10.15Fontenay Abbey: the church, the cloister, the dormitory and the forge, 1.5 to 2 hours.
• 12.15Drive to Flavigny-sur-Ozerain, about 25 minutes, for lunch.
• 14.15Les Anis de Flavigny: free visit and tasting, with workshop tours on weekdays.
• 15.30MuséoParc Alésia, about 10 minutes away, or the painted rooms of the Château de Bussy-Rabutin.
• 17.00Back to Beaune, about 1 h 05.

Why go to Vézelay and Noyers-sur-Serein?

For one of the great Romanesque churches of France: the Basilique Sainte-Marie-Madeleine de Vézelay crowns its hill, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979, with a carved tympanum, a nave of storied capitals and a Gothic choir full of light; wear good shoes for the climb up the village street. Noyers-sur-Serein, about 40 minutes away, is a walled medieval village in a loop of the Serein, with half-timbered houses and the ruins of its castle above. Both are among the Plus Beaux Villages de France.

Leave Beaune at 8.30, about 1 h 30 by road, and see the basilica in the morning: it opens every day from 7.00 (8.00 on Mondays) to 20.00, but visits pause on Sundays from 10.30 to 12.30 for Mass. Lunch on the hill, Noyers in the afternoon, and you are back at about 18.00: about 9 hours with the driver by the hour, €675 per car. Avallon, 20 minutes from Vézelay, can replace Noyers. Without a car this trip is not practical in a day: by train and coach it takes 3 h 30 or more each way.

Is Chablis worth a long day from Beaune?

Yes, if you love white wine: Chablis is Chardonnay only, and its seven grands crus share one hillside facing the town, about 1 h 30 from Beaune by the A6. Taste at La Chablisienne, whose cellar in town opens every day, then at a domaine by appointment, and add one stop, Noyers-sur-Serein or the red wines of Irancy. Many family domaines close on Sundays.

It is the one day trip here that needs our long day: 12 hours for €880 per car. By public transport it takes about 3 hours each way, with changes. Our Chablis day trip guide gives the route hour by hour, the tastings and the extra stops.

Is Guédelon worth the two-and-a-half-hour drive?

Yes, for families and anyone curious about how castles were built: at the Chantier médiéval de Guédelon, craftspeople are building a 13th-century fortified castle with the techniques and materials of the Middle Ages, and you walk among the masons, carpenters and blacksmiths as they work. The site asks for a whole day, and its restaurant, La Canopée, is best booked online.

It is about 2 h 25 from Beaune, the longest trip on this page, and opens from early April to early November (2 April to 1 November in 2026), closing on some Tuesdays and Wednesdays: check its calendar before you choose a date. Leave at 8.30, spend 5 hours there, and you are back at about 18.30: 10 hours with the driver by the hour, €750 per car. By public transport it takes more than 4 hours each way.

How do you book a driver for a day trip, and what does it cost?

Book the day by what it is for. When tastings are the point, a wine day costs less than the same hours by the hour; for abbeys, castles and towns, book the driver by the hour, from 3 to 12 hours. Every price is per car for one to four guests, tolls and parking included; entry tickets, tastings and meals are paid on the spot.

You book your tastings and entry tickets yourself and give us their times when you book: the driver plans the route around them and waits between the visits. For five to seven guests, a premium van comes on request, for a supplement per day. Our prices page also lists a fixed return to each place, with the driver waiting up to 3 hours, for a single visit.