Burgundy 2016

We stayed a week in Beaune, renting an apartment through homeaway.com, and made day trips by car to various places. Highlights included Vezelay, Autun, Alesia, Fontenay, Semur-en-Auxois, and Dijon (by train). The Celtic museum in Bibracte was in a beautiful setting. Though Morvan Park wasn't really a destination for us, we found ourselves in and near it often. Vezelay and Avallon are beautiful villages close to each other, I'd pick Avallon as being a little closer to other sights and the autoroute. But haven't stayed there.

I can share details on our Beaune apartment if you're interested (PM me), but seems like you might want to stay farther west toward the Morvan area. I'd recommend the Hospice in Beaune, though, and there are many tasting rooms there if you want wine without driving.

During our first visit to Burgundy, we stayed a couple of nights in Vezelay. It's very small and quiet, which you may find a plus or a minus. You might consider Beaune, which offers a livelier ambience. Along with those two towns we liked Auxerre and Chalon-sur-Saone. On our second visit, we stayed just outside Tournus, on a wine estate. (I know it changed hands a few years ago, so can't make a recommendation.) We liked that area, as well. The town boasts a beautiful abbey and lots of other medieval buildings. Nearby are Cormatin, with a Renaissance chateau, and Chapaize, with its lovely church. From Tournus we were also able to visit the town of Autun, with its impressive Roman sights. Of course, tasty food and good wine were available everywhere.

Perhaps the most important determinant of where you're going to sleep in Burgundy is:
what kind of wine do you want?
and food?
and cheese?

I'm headed there in a month for the first time, so I'll share what I've learned. I will rent a car, spend 1 night in Cluny, 4 nights in Avallon. The alternative was Saint-Pere, just outside Vezelay. I chose based on the hotel. My plan was to follow a loop route (from the DK BackRoads France guidebook), starting in Nolay, through Vezelay and Noyers, ending in Beaune. I decided to spend my nights in one place - I'd rather do more driving less packing/unpacking. Both towns were recommended to me to use as a base. They are in the northern part of Burgundy. From Burgundy I'm going on to Alsace.

Using viamichelin for estimated driving times: Autun to Avallon 1.5 hours, Autun to Beaune 1 hour, Avallon to Beaune 1.25 on the tollroad, 1.75 hours on the lesser roads (it's 100 km.) In other words, Burgundy is large. So if by bike you mean motorcycle, you can stay in one place and get to many points. If you mean bicycle, you'll be limited to a much smaller area.

Once you've narrowed down your objectives, book accommodations well in advance. I got recommendations for some great B&Bs that were very reasonably priced, but 8 weeks in advance for middle to late June, they were fully booked.

Two beautiful small towns to check out are Semur-en-Auxois and Chateauneuf-en-Auxois (really small).

I'm in Beaune right now, staying at Les Jardins de Lois (a recommendation from the RS guide). We've really enjoyed it, but it has been a splurge compared to our places in other cities we rented through Airbnb. We have a car so we've been able to get out on the wine routes easily,and we're also glad we're staying in Beaune because it offers the restaurants, cafes, etc. within walking distance but it's not too big of a city that it's painful to get in/out of. The other villages would've been too small/remote for us, it's just a personal preference on what you're looking for!