Burgundy Advice Needed Urgently Please!

Yes, no issues recommending Burgundy. Just look at the photos! We have been there twice. Both Beaune and Dijon are wonderful. There is no “meh” that I can think of! Pretty countryside, wine villages,history, etc. perfect for biking.

It has been a number of years since we were there, but I have travelled that route up the Saone twice. You do not mention the time of year you plan to go, but our last trip was in mid September, and we found that most of the venues that service the canal boats had shut down.

We really enjoy eating out in restaurants, rather than cooking aboard, so we were quite disappointed in that regard. The one exception was in the town of Grey. The restaurant in the Hotel Bellevue served the best meal we had on that trip. If you choose to take that route the place is just across the bridge from the Ecluse Grey.

Burgundy is a great destination that would check all your boxes. I spent a week bicycling there and loved everything.

However, there is no reason to drive 10 hours to return (to where?) from SW France, as there are two international airports right there in Bordeaux and Toulouse.

Based on what I saw from the towpath, expect to spend a lot of time hanging out at the locks.

Nukesafe - I sent you a private message, I hope you have time to respond further!

Adam - We're based in Stuttgart, Germany. There are no direct flights to Toulouse, so every way of getting there (train, plane, driving) takes roughly the same amount of time, but driving will be cheaper. So yes, a 10 hour drive is probably necessary.

We're familiar with the Canal Du Midi and how crowded it gets as well, I did the portion from Homps for a week in September some years ago.

Some Canadian guy posted a trip report about that area here a couple years back, but I'll bet that some of the details would still be valid. Bon Chance.
I am done. The end.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/the-return-of-the-son-of-burgundy-paris

Sarah, I checked my inbox for private messages, and there is no message from you in there. Perhaps there is a delay built into the site. Happy to respond if I can be of help, but need specifics.

Evidently you had a question for me, Sarah, but no private massage has appeared in my private mailbox. Just in case you are still considering the upper Saone for your ditch crawling, I'll give you my opinion. We picked up our boat further up river than you would, i.e., Pontailler-sur Saone, and headed North, and did not go as far up river as you plan, as we had to return the boat to our starting point, so my impressions will not cover your entire route.

Frankly, I found that trip a bit boring, compared to other inland waterways we have travelled. It was not just the late season and closed restaurants, but there was a "sameness" to the waterways and the very few places of interest easily accessible from the canal/river. As a plus the wildlife, lack of trash, and water quality were all top notch. My feeling was that river valley was one that historically flooded often and so the development of infrastructure near the river just did not happen.

I now wish we had travelled South from Pontailler so we could have visited some of the larger towns down river.

Hope this helps and that you have a delightful trip whatever route you choose.

If you have history buffs in your group, you could look into visiting Alise-Ste-Reine in Burgundy. It is the site of the Roman victory over Vercingetorix, the Gaulish king. They have a great museum that includes reinactments of how each side would have been armed & how they would have fought as well as a pretty good multi-sensory video of the event...then up the hill into town is a HUGE statue of Vercingetorix...and the ruins of the Roman town. The scenery is lovely (!!!) and the history is deep.

The train goes into Venarey-les-Laumes and it's about a 15 minute walk to the MuseoParc (www.alesia.com). We spent a couple hours there and had lunch in their cafeteria, then we walked to Alise-Ste-Reine proper (about 3km total). We spent a few hours at the Roman town then walked back to Venarey-les-Laumes. Not much there except a few restaurants, a bar, and a supermarket. Be aware, this is in la profond France so the restaurants open when they feel like it (after 7:30) so if you are there in the late afternoon, you'll need to go to the bar for a croque monsieur or to the supermarket to make a picnic.

HOWEVER, if you have history buffs (or maybe some landscape artists), it's a great place to visit. It was our favorite day trip out of Paris so it should be even easier if you base in Dijon (maybe 1/2 hr away).

Er, um, Lisa, while your recommendation sounds lovely, it is not going to help Sarah's' party very much as they were not considering the Canal du Burgogne for their trip, which does run rather close. They were trying to decide between the river Lot, Canal du Midi, and the Saone, none of which are really very near your venue.