Beaune or not?

What Ben said. We jumped off the train from Lyon at Beaune for a day and kept going later in the day to Paris. A night or a day trip for Beaune is good especially if wine is not a big deal, I too would look at Lyon for a few nights-spectacular city.

Edit: if you do a day in Beaune you can leave luggage at the Hotel de France, right across the street from Gare de Beaune, for 3 euro per bag. Leave with reception desk, note they are gone from noon to about 15:30.

There are certainly 3 days worth of things to do in Burgundy, without a focus on wine. We chose to stay in Semur-en-Auxois because it was more centrally located to what we wanted to do. Day trips from there -- Beaune, Autun, super museum in Alise Ste Reine (we spent a long time there). We did many of the things on the RS driving tour, but not in the order he suggested. Buy a Michelin Green Guide -- there is no shortage of things to do! Stop in Vezelay on the way back to Paris. You would want a car for flexibility.

I would prefer 4 nights in Burgundy to splitting time in Annecy and Beaune, 2 nights each sounds rushed.

If you end your trip in Annecy, you are only a 45 minute easy car ride to the Geneva airport, which would save you time and CDG logistics getting home. Otherwise, you then have to start thinking about spending yet another night in Paris to be sure you will catch your flight home.

Assuming the rest of your trip is fixed I would either split the time between beaune and annecy or stay the full duration in annecy with a long day trip to Chamonix (best with a car).

-Matt

I agree with Eef. We spent 4 nights in Beaune and loved every minute. We do not drink wine and did not visit any wineries.. although driving through many vineyards was wonderful. We live 45 min from Napa, but Burgundy is very different and much more beautiful and charming, imo. We spent a whole day in Beaune seeing the sights, relaxing at cafés, going into fun stores ang to their wonderful outdoor market. The other two days we did each of the RS driving tours and they were amazing. Lots of super charming towns.. our favorite was Chateauneuf-en-Auxois. There's also a chateau to see, Chateauneuf, I believe, that was small and unlike any other we've seen. Three nights is enough for Beaune and one of the RS driving tours, but we really enjoyed our 4 nights/3 days there.

I spent 10 days sightseeing in wine country (Beaujolais, Burgundy, Alsace). I picked up a car in Chamonix, spent 1 night in Cluny, 4 in Avallon, 3 in Eguisheim (near Colmar), and dropped the car in Strasbourg. I enjoy drinking wine, but like you, I've done my share of California winery tours, and since I was solo, I did all the driving, so my wine tasting was mostly after I'd parked the car for the night. There was so much to fill up those days, scenic countryside, chateaux, churches, abbeys, charming villages, small towns with interesting sights, even a colony of Barbary apes at Monkey Mountain. I stopped in Beaune for a short time, mainly to visit the Hotel-Dieu.

For us Beune was a one or two night stop -- but you need a lot more time in Normandy IMHO. Here is some of the stuff we did in 5 nights/4 days plus we also did the beaches that are not shown here. https://janettravels.wordpress.com/category/normandy/

You need a lot more than 2 days here to do it justice. Burgundy is also amazing and I personally would do that instead of Avignon which we found rather tedious -- but people obviously have different tastes. We didn't find Provence as interesting as Burgundy and definitely didn't find Avignon very interesting. It was kind of the worst of both worlds i.e. not the beauty of the Provencal countryside but not a very attractive city. You can see a little of our Burgundy travels here: https://janettravels.wordpress.com/category/burgundy/

On early trips we had also visited Vezelay, Auxerre, Avalon and the Morvan Forrest as well as Beaune.

France is beautiful -- so much to choose from -- The Dordogne is also a stunning area and for us a better way to spend a week than Avignon. I am sure whatever you choose will be lovely - but definitely add a few days to Normandy since you are planning that visit for sure.

Thank you all for such great suggestions. We have a lot of research to do now! We are trying to stay longer at each place, so that we can really soak it all in. Our dream is to sit at an outdoor cafe, go on long walks through town, shop at the local markets. Maybe cook a lovely French dinner ( we are renting apartments). Susan and Eef, your descriptions make us think we are on the right track. But we will still look at all the other great suggestions before we make our decision. Ben and Dave, Lyon looks wonderful. Will have to read more about Lyon. Eef, I just bought the Michelin Guide, thanks for the suggestion. Matt, Annecy also looks beautiful! I need more days in France! We had thought about Chamonix but thought it might be too early in the year. We are going in May. Susan, we plan on taking RS drives. I'm glad to hear they were amazing. I looked closer at Chateauneuf-en-Auxois, it does look beautiful. Chani, sounds like we will have lots to see and do. Janettravels44, I wish we could add more time in Normandy. That part of our trip is set since we are going with family. We will have to return. Thanks for the link to your website! Love it! I think we will save the Dordogne for another trip. We thought Avignon would be a good spot so that we can take day trips using the train. We will also rent a car for a couple of other day trips.
We have lots of planning to do! Thanks again for sharing ideas with us!