Burgundy Weekend Itinerary: Two Days Based in Beaune

Morning. Start at the Hôtel-Dieu of the Hospices de Beaune, 2 rue de l'Hôtel-Dieu, founded in 1443 by Chancellor Nicolas Rolin and his wife Guigone de Salins to care for the poor. It opens every day of the year. In 2026 the hours are 9 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. from April 1 to November 15, with the ticket office closing at 6:30 p.m., and 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. from November 16 to March 31.

The Hôtel-Dieu ticket costs €12.50 ($14) for adults, €6.25 ($7) for ages 6–17 and nothing for children under 6. The self-guided visit takes about 1 hour, with an audioguide included. The €14.50 ($16) Discovery ticket adds a 20-minute pop-up tour, daily at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. If you arrived by TER, show a ticket to Beaune less than 48 hours old to buy a reduced-rate ticket alongside a full-price one.

Inside, look for the glazed tile roof, the Salle des Pôvres, which was still a treatment room during the 1939–45 war, and Rogier van der Weyden's Last Judgment polyptych in fifteen panels. The site has no luggage storage and admits no animals except assistance dogs. The Beaune tourist office has a desk opposite, on Rue de l'Hôtel-Dieu.

Late morning. Visit one of the town's cellars:

• Caves Patriarche Père & Fils, 5 rue du Collège, in the former Visitandines convent, runs a self-guided cellar visit followed by six wines tasted with sommeliers, in about 1 hour, for €25 ($27). No reservation is needed, but each departure takes 10 people; call 03 80 24 53 78 to check space. Visits run daily from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. from March 12 to December 30, 2026.
• Maison Bouchard Aîné & Fils, in the Hôtel du Conseiller du Roy, runs the Parcours des 5 Sens, a guided tour of its 18th-century cellars with five wines, two white and three red. Book a time by phone on 03 80 24 06 66. Departures are at 10:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 2:30 p.m., 4 p.m. and 5 p.m., with 20 places each, and the house closes on Mondays in January, February, March and December.
• Marché aux Vins, 2 rue Nicolas Rolin, opens every day, with tour departures from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Visitors taste 3 to 7 wines during the visit, and tastings are booked online.

Afternoon. Spend the afternoon at the Cité des Climats et vins de Bourgogne, 21 Avenue Charles de Gaulle. It is a 25-minute walk from Beaune station; electric shuttles cover the same trip in 5 minutes, and bus routes 2 and 5 also stop there. The visitor trail opens daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. from January 1 to March 31, to 6 p.m. in April, May, October and November, and to 7 p.m. from June 1 to September 30.

The trail lasts 1 hour 30 minutes across about twenty themed areas on the region, the Climats, and the grapes and wines, and every ticket includes a tasting of wines or fruit juices. Tickets cost €14.50 ($16) for adults and €7.50 ($8) for ages 6–17, and a family pass for two adults and two young people costs €35 ($38).

The Climats, terroirs of Burgundy, were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List on July 4, 2015, and the listing includes the town of Beaune. The Cité's 20-meter panoramic terrace, reached by a ramp, is free to enter, as are the shop and the wine tourism advice area.

Evening. Bouchard Aîné's last cellar departure is at 5 p.m. On the weekend of November 13–15, 2026, Beaune holds the Hospices de Beaune wine sale festivities, with the auction on Sunday, November 15.

The Route des Grands Crus runs 60 km from Dijon to Santenay via Nuits-Saint-Georges and Beaune, through 37 wine villages, and brown signs with a white grape cluster mark it. Its Côte de Nuits section runs from Dijon to Corgoloin and its Côte de Beaune section from Corgoloin to Santenay. The route passes 32 of Burgundy's 33 grands crus, 24 of them in the Côte de Nuits.

The Beaune tourist office recommends booking estate visits in advance, and some estates accept visitors without an appointment. Some domaines close on Saturday or Sunday: Domaine Tortochot in Gevrey-Chambertin closes on weekends, Château de Melin in Auxey-Duresses on Saturday and Sunday, and Château Philippe le Hardi in Santenay on Sundays.

North: the Côte de Nuits

Morning. Visit the Château du Clos de Vougeot, where the monks of Cîteaux built the Cuverie and the Cellier; the Cuverie still holds 4 large presses, and a Renaissance manor was added in 1551. The château no longer produces wine.

The self-guided visit needs no reservation and costs €12 ($13) for adults, €9.50 ($10) if you arrive by Mobigo train at Vougeot station and show the ticket at reception, and €5 ($5) for ages 8 to 16 and students. The château opens every day, from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. from April 1 to October 31 and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. from November 1 to March 31. Guided tours cost €15 ($16), run in English at 11:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., and are booked by email at visites@closdevougeot.info.

Late morning. Book a tasting in Vosne-Romanée or Nuits-Saint-Georges:

• Domaine Armelle et Bernard Rion, 8 route Nationale, Vosne-Romanée, receives visitors in French or English by prior arrangement only. The Discovery tour costs €18 ($19) and lasts 40 minutes, Monday to Saturday, from 2 people.
• Domaine Henri Gouges, 7 rue du Moulin, Nuits-Saint-Georges, takes visits preferably by appointment, from Monday afternoon to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. The Découverte tasting of three wines costs €20 ($22).
• Jean-Claude Boisset – Les Ursulines, 5 chemin des Plateaux, Nuits-Saint-Georges, runs guided tours and tastings in French and English every day, by appointment only, for up to 12 people. A tasting costs €15 ($16), and the 1-hour 30-minute tour and tasting costs €35 ($38) or €50 ($54).

Afternoon. In Gevrey-Chambertin, the Halle Chambertin, in the village's 1830 market hall, has a free visit on the winegrower's work, the Climats and the village's wines. It houses the Gevrey-Nuits tourist office, which also opens on Sunday from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Domaine René Leclerc runs visits by appointment at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., with four wines, for €20 ($22).

Without a car, Mobigo bus line 113 links Beaune and Dijon through Aloxe-Corton, Nuits-Saint-Georges, Vosne-Romanée, Vougeot, Chambolle-Musigny, Morey-Saint-Denis and Gevrey-Chambertin. It doesn't run on public holidays except for a few marked departures, and not at all on May 1. TER trains also stop at Nuits-Saint-Georges, Vougeot-Gilly-lès-Cîteaux and Gevrey-Chambertin. See Burgundy without a car for more.

South: the Côte de Beaune villages

Morning. Book the Discover Burgundy Tasting at Château de Pommard: 45 minutes, four wines and up to 8 people, in English or French, for €30 ($32). All its experiences are by reservation only, and the cellars can't be visited during renovation. The château opens every day, from 10:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. from April 1 to November 30 and to 6 p.m. from December 1 to March 31.

Late morning. In Meursault, Château de Meursault runs its Grands Terroirs tour by reservation: a visit of the château and cellars with seven red and white wines, for 12 people at most, lasting 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes, for €59 ($64). It opens every day from 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. from May to September, and from 10 a.m. to noon and 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. from October to April. From mid-November to the end of March it closes on Sunday afternoons, Mondays and Tuesdays.

Afternoon. Continue to Puligny-Montrachet and Chassagne-Montrachet, which share five white Grands Crus, including Montrachet, and on to Santenay. The Voie des Vignes, a route for walkers and cyclists, covers the 22 km from Beaune to Santenay via Pommard, Volnay, Meursault, Puligny-Montrachet and Chassagne-Montrachet.

Evening. Back in Beaune, the last TER trains to Dijon leave at about 9:59 p.m. In the vineyards on either route, stay on the edge of the rows, give way to farm machinery and don't touch the grapes or vines. Spit as you taste and choose a designated driver: the legal limit for drivers in France is 0.5 g of alcohol per liter of blood, and 0.2 g on a probationary license. For more on appointments and fees, see Booking Burgundy domaine visits.