My wife and I plan on spending two weeks in the Rhone Alpes/Burgundy region in April. Any suggestions as to what/where we should do and stay? Please respond. Donerail
In Burgundy, we’ve enjoyed Dijon and certainly you would want to visit Beaune. We usually stay in Beaune and take day trips. Beaune itself takes a full day to visit. You might enjoy the horse & carriage tour that leaves from the front of the Hotel Dieu.
Chateauneuf is a wonderful day trip. It’s a charming medieval village on a hill overlooking, it appears, all of Burgundy. There is a wonderful little restaurant Au Marronnier that is very reasonable. The chateau is fun to visit and when we were there, you could actually watch the restoration work.
Dijon is another very interesting day trip. The center of town was made for walking. You will want to visit the Beaux Arts Museum and the Cathedral. There are many excellent restaurants and museums. The first time we went to Dijon (one of our favorite cities), we got the city museum pass. At the end of the day we realized you can’t see enough museums in one day to pay for the pass, so unless you plan to spend a few days there, don’t get the pass.
If you’re in Burgundy, make the trip to Vezelay. There is a sign telling you you have to park at the bottom of the hill. We did and hiked to the top, but discovered you can actually park at the top of the hill behind the cathedral. The hike up is really nice because there are a lot of very interesting shops on the way up. The cathedral is amazing. It takes your breath away. The trip into Vezelay is pretty exciting too. At one point you come around a curve and this perfect medieval village is perched on top of a hill across the fields in front of you.
The Chateau la Rochepot is worth a visit. The Cassisium in Nuit St. George is worth a visit. We drove to Ronchamp to see le Corbusier’s famous chapel. It was worth the trip, but it is definitely an all day trip and a lot of driving.
If you haven’t already, try to visit Lac Annecy that (I think) is in the Rhone Alps. It is absolutely beautiful and is supposed to be one of Europe’s cleanest lakes. The alpine setting is a treasure and the old town is lots of fun. There are excellent restaurants there too.
There are lots of other places in both areas to visit. These are just things we’ve enjoyed over the years.
Have a great trip.
December 23, 2003 at 3:18 pm
Thanks, SalB. We’ve decided on starting in Lyon then to Annecy (or close to Annecy) then over to Burgundy. Your description of Chateauneuf and Vezelay convinced us to go there as well. Where did you stay in Beaune? Donerail
M. & Mme. Grillon own and manage the hotel. The rooms are lovely. It’s a bit of a walk (1 km) to the old town and we usually drive. There is adequate parking just outside the walls of old town. Madame Grillon speaks very good English. I’m not sure if her husband doesn’t speak English or is just very shy, but I’ve never heard him speak any language . . . never heard him speak. He does often help serve breakfast and I suspect he was the very nice person who moved our luggage for us once while we were out having fun.
The hotel is very reasonable, about 50 euros for a double. The rooms are a bit larger than the usual European rooms. They are nicely decorated and very clean. Mme. Grillon makes a great kir too.
They have lots of parking, grounds for walking, are a couple blocks from a supermarket (if you run out of film like I did once), have a restaurant and pool on site and a bar in the basement. We’ve never eaten in the restaurant so I can’t comment on it. We usually day trip and/or eat in the old town.
December 23, 2003 at 9:50 pm
Thanks, SalB. A year ago we stayed a night in Beaune – before we knew how beautiful and important it is. We stayed outside of town at the Chateau du Challenges. It was OK but I think we could have done better. We will remember the Hotel Grillon. We will be driving. I wonder how long it takes to go from Annecy to Beaune? Thank you so much. Donerail
December 27, 2003 at 12:18 am
Try the following web site. http://www.mappy.fr/ You can plug in any two cities and it will give you the time and mileage (probably in kilometers!). It’s a fun site.
You could probably type in "maps" in your search engine and come up iwth something else. There is also the Michelin web site.
Planning trips is almost as much fun as taking them.
6 Comments On April in France
In Burgundy, we’ve enjoyed Dijon and certainly you would want to visit Beaune. We usually stay in Beaune and take day trips. Beaune itself takes a full day to visit. You might enjoy the horse & carriage tour that leaves from the front of the Hotel Dieu.
Chateauneuf is a wonderful day trip. It’s a charming medieval village on a hill overlooking, it appears, all of Burgundy. There is a wonderful little restaurant Au Marronnier that is very reasonable. The chateau is fun to visit and when we were there, you could actually watch the restoration work.
Dijon is another very interesting day trip. The center of town was made for walking. You will want to visit the Beaux Arts Museum and the Cathedral. There are many excellent restaurants and museums. The first time we went to Dijon (one of our favorite cities), we got the city museum pass. At the end of the day we realized you can’t see enough museums in one day to pay for the pass, so unless you plan to spend a few days there, don’t get the pass.
If you’re in Burgundy, make the trip to Vezelay. There is a sign telling you you have to park at the bottom of the hill. We did and hiked to the top, but discovered you can actually park at the top of the hill behind the cathedral. The hike up is really nice because there are a lot of very interesting shops on the way up. The cathedral is amazing. It takes your breath away. The trip into Vezelay is pretty exciting too. At one point you come around a curve and this perfect medieval village is perched on top of a hill across the fields in front of you.
The Chateau la Rochepot is worth a visit. The Cassisium in Nuit St. George is worth a visit. We drove to Ronchamp to see le Corbusier’s famous chapel. It was worth the trip, but it is definitely an all day trip and a lot of driving.
If you haven’t already, try to visit Lac Annecy that (I think) is in the Rhone Alps. It is absolutely beautiful and is supposed to be one of Europe’s cleanest lakes. The alpine setting is a treasure and the old town is lots of fun. There are excellent restaurants there too.
There are lots of other places in both areas to visit. These are just things we’ve enjoyed over the years.
Have a great trip.
Thanks, SalB. We’ve decided on starting in Lyon then to Annecy (or close to Annecy) then over to Burgundy. Your description of Chateauneuf and Vezelay convinced us to go there as well. Where did you stay in Beaune? Donerail
We always stay at the Hotel Grillon in Beaune. You can reach them through the Logis de France web site (that we used) at http://ldf.reservit.com/reservit/fiche_htl.php?userid=787094de3c90752b21125b98b0cfaccc640b&hotelid=1354&areaid=128&idxpage=1&bPercent=0&cis=1071447872
or you can contact them directly at http://www.hotel-grillon.fr/
M. & Mme. Grillon own and manage the hotel. The rooms are lovely. It’s a bit of a walk (1 km) to the old town and we usually drive. There is adequate parking just outside the walls of old town. Madame Grillon speaks very good English. I’m not sure if her husband doesn’t speak English or is just very shy, but I’ve never heard him speak any language . . . never heard him speak. He does often help serve breakfast and I suspect he was the very nice person who moved our luggage for us once while we were out having fun.
The hotel is very reasonable, about 50 euros for a double. The rooms are a bit larger than the usual European rooms. They are nicely decorated and very clean. Mme. Grillon makes a great kir too.
They have lots of parking, grounds for walking, are a couple blocks from a supermarket (if you run out of film like I did once), have a restaurant and pool on site and a bar in the basement. We’ve never eaten in the restaurant so I can’t comment on it. We usually day trip and/or eat in the old town.
Thanks, SalB. A year ago we stayed a night in Beaune – before we knew how beautiful and important it is. We stayed outside of town at the Chateau du Challenges. It was OK but I think we could have done better. We will remember the Hotel Grillon. We will be driving. I wonder how long it takes to go from Annecy to Beaune? Thank you so much. Donerail
Try the following web site. http://www.mappy.fr/
You can plug in any two cities and it will give you the time and mileage (probably in kilometers!). It’s a fun site.
You could probably type in "maps" in your search engine and come up iwth something else. There is also the Michelin web site.
Planning trips is almost as much fun as taking them.
SalB: Thanks! Donerail