--- title: "Mont Saint-Romain: Viewpoint over the Mâconnais to the Alps" description: "Summit of almost 580 metres above Blanot with a rooftop viewing table: the Clunisois, and the Jura and Alps on clear days. Your driver goes right up." url: https://www.cote-privee.com/things-to-do/mont-saint-romain lang: en updated: 2026-10-02 generated: 2026-10-08 image: https://www.cote-privee.com/og/things-to-do/mont-saint-romain.png --- # Mont Saint-Romain > Mont Saint-Romain: a summit of almost 580 metres in the Mâconnais hills, with a rooftop viewing table facing the Alps. Mont Saint-Romain is in Blanot (Saône-et-Loire), 1 h 02 by road (77 km) from Beaune. Allow 1 hour · Private driver from Beaune: €215 one way for the whole car, up to 4 guests. Mont Saint-Romain rises to almost 580 metres above the village of Blanot, between Cluny and the Mâconnais vineyards. A road climbs to the top, where a viewing table on the roof of the inn looks over the Clunisois to the west and, on clear days, east across the Saône valley to the Jura and the Alps. ## Key facts - Type: Nature & viewpoints - Where: Blanot · Saône-et-Loire - Location: 60 km south of Beaune · Mâconnais - Coordinates: 46.4926, 4.7545 - 1 h 02 from Beaune - Allow 1 hour - Blanot - From Beaune: ≈ 1 h 02 · 77 km - €215 one way from Beaune with a [private driver](https://www.cote-privee.com/private-driver) - Or add it to our [full-day wine tour plus two hours, €700](https://www.cote-privee.com/wine-tours/full-day). ## Getting there - [Private driver from Beaune](https://www.cote-privee.com/private-driver): 1 h 02 by road (77 km), €215 one way for the whole car. Coming by train or plane? [Transfers from stations and airports](https://www.cote-privee.com/transfers) Estimates per vehicle for up to 4 guests, tolls included. Your price is confirmed when you book. ## History The summit may have been a place of worship before Christianity, and a large fire was traditionally lit there. A chapel on the top was given to the abbey of Cluny in 927, and in the 12th century Abbot Peter the Venerable came here several times to rest. A few monks later lived there, then a hermit; the last buildings were sold in 1792. The viewing table was set up by the Touring Club de France in 1948. ## What you will see From the top, the view sweeps over wooded hills and the villages of the Clunisois, and on the clearest days the Alps and even Mont Blanc appear on the horizon. The state forest around the summit mixes broadleaf trees and conifers and is crossed by walking paths. At the foot of the hill, the Grottes de Blanot, a chasm reaching more than 80 metres underground, open for guided visits in season. To the west the view reaches the Charolais hills and the Morvan, and walking and mountain-bike routes start from the summit. The caves open in the Mangette valley on the mountain's western flank, where the limestone meets its granite base. The guided visit lasts about 1 hour 15 minutes and follows a loop of some 650 steps down to 80 metres below the surface, at 11 to 13 °C, and a small cave nearby has yielded bones of bison, bear, hyena and wolf with a Middle Palaeolithic stone point, dated to between 130,000 and 115,000 years ago. In the village of Blanot, look for the 13th-century Cluniac priory, old wash-houses, stone-slab roofs, houses with galleries and Merovingian tombs. ## Planning your visit Your driver can take you right up to the summit by road, so no climbing is needed, though walkers may prefer the forest trails. Choose a clear day for the best views. The Grottes de Blanot open at weekends in May and June and every day in July and August, and close in winter to protect hibernating bats; in 2026 a ticket cost €8.50 for adults and €4.50 for under-15s, and no booking was needed, as tours left every hour, or every half-hour in summer. Bring a warm layer and flat, non-slip shoes; the caves are not accessible to wheelchairs or pushchairs, and pets are not allowed. Combine the summit with Cluny, Taizé or the Grottes d'Azé. ## Did you know? Until the end of the 19th century, the nearby Fontaine du Plâtre was a renowned place of pilgrimage by day. ## Around Mont Saint-Romain What to combine with Mont Saint-Romain on the same day, nearest first. ### Villages - [Viré-Clessé](https://www.cote-privee.com/villages/vire-clesse) (8 km away): Two neighbouring villages of the Haut-Mâconnais, joined in one appellation for generous Chardonnay. - [Pouilly-Fuissé](https://www.cote-privee.com/villages/pouilly-fuisse) (24 km away): Burgundy's great southern white, grown beneath the limestone cliffs of Solutré and Vergisson. - [Montagny](https://www.cote-privee.com/villages/montagny) (25 km away): A white-only appellation of hillside vineyards around Buxy, with a wealth of premiers crus. ### Châteaux - [Château de Cruzille](https://www.cote-privee.com/chateaux/chateau-de-cruzille) (3 km away): A fortress on a spur above Cruzille, marked by the Wars of Religion and the Liberation of 1944. - [Château de Boutavent](https://www.cote-privee.com/chateaux/chateau-de-boutavent) (4 km away): A spur-top castle that guarded the Grosne valley for the lords of Brancion, then for Cluny. - [Château de Nobles](https://www.cote-privee.com/chateaux/chateau-de-nobles) (6 km away): A manor below Brancion with round towers, cannon ports and a richly carved Renaissance doorway. ### Things to do - [Cave de Lugny](https://www.cote-privee.com/things-to-do/cave-de-lugny) (5 km away): A 1927 cooperative, the leading producer of Mâcon-Villages, with a shop below the Charmes vineyard. - [Azé Caves (Grottes d’Azé)](https://www.cote-privee.com/things-to-do/grottes-d-aze), 6 km away: Two caves in the Mâconnais hills: an underground river and a prehistoric cave of bears and lions. - [Taizé Community (Communauté de Taizé)](https://www.cote-privee.com/things-to-do/communaute-de-taize), 6 km away: An ecumenical community of brothers in a Burgundian village, where visitors may join the daily prayer. ### Restaurants - [La Marande](https://www.cote-privee.com/restaurants/la-marande-montbellet) (10 km away · 1 MICHELIN star): A family-run country house in the northern Mâconnais, starred since 2014. - [L’Écrin de Yohann Chapuis](https://www.cote-privee.com/restaurants/l-ecrin-de-yohann-chapuis-tournus) (14 km away · 1 MICHELIN star): An intimate starred dining room in Tournus, from the chef who helped Lameloise win back its third star. - [Aux Terrasses](https://www.cote-privee.com/restaurants/aux-terrasses-tournus) (14 km away · 1 MICHELIN star): A starred family house in Tournus, now in its second generation. ## Questions about Mont Saint-Romain ### How far is Mont Saint-Romain from Beaune? Mont Saint-Romain is about 1 h 02 from Beaune by road (77 km). With a private driver, the trip from Beaune starts at €215 for the whole car, up to 4 guests. ### How long does a visit to Mont Saint-Romain take? For the visit, allow 1 hour. ### Can a private driver take us to Mont Saint-Romain? Yes. Your driver collects you in Beaune or at your hotel in an electric Polestar 2 (up to 4 guests), waits while you visit and plans the rest of the day with you. The driver speaks English, French, Mandarin Chinese and Arabic. → [Full-day wine tour plus two hours, €700](https://www.cote-privee.com/wine-tours/full-day) ## Book - [Book a driver here](https://www.cote-privee.com/book?service=driver&place=sight:romain): €215 one way from Beaune · up to 4 guests ## Sources - - - - - - - --- Canonical page: