Burgundy and Alcase in December

Burgundy outside of the major towns and tourist sites, such as Vézelay, can get pretty dreary in December. I can't speak too much about Alsace in December. Without saying what you want to see and do, and what day trips you have in mind, it's difficult to say.

I would prioritize Alsace in terms of time allocation: you'll have all the Christmas markets there, and better public transport will allow for a greater variety of day trips.
I am not sure that you need to split your bases between Dijon and Beaune; Dijon is easily visited as a day trip from Beaune and vice versa. In December I would pick Dijon, which also has the benefit of more car rental options should you want one for a day or two (a good idea!).

thank you. We had wanted to visit some wineries in both regions and see some of the smaller towns along the routes as day trips/adventures. Would a car be the best option for doing that? it seems like everything is fairly close but i did not see much available in terms of public transport. I also wonder if taxis are a good idea if a town is only a few km away.

the reason we thought to change hotels in each region was to experience the larger cities (strasbourg and Dijon) vs the smaller towns(Colmar and Beaune). it seemed from our reading there would be nice restaurants in each, but perhaps they can be enjoyed without overnights.
do you have any favorite restaurants in either area?

we have to head back to Paris after our time in the east so could theoretically do a night in Metz or Reims. Its wonderful to have options but sometimes so many seems overwhelming.
thanks for your thoughts!

Yes, always a dilemma of selecting which city or town to stay.

A very well-traveled friend said Dijon is the most beautiful and most French town she has ever seen! I have not yet been but all four of these places are high on my list. We are leaning toward Strasbourg for two weeks and then Dijon for two weeks.

People on this Board LOVE Colmar and Beaune though. Dijon doesn't seem to be mentioned frequently and I don't think Rick mentions it much either.

Looking forward to what you decide!

If you do not drink (1 glass of wine max. to be safe vs. legal limits), you absolutely can have dinner in Beaune while staying in Dijon (or vice-versa), provided you have a car. Otherwise, each town has plenty of good restaurants to sustain a few days' stay.
Dijon to Beaune and vice-versa is only a 45-minute drive or train ride+walk, so that is why I would rather avoid changing hotels, which wastes time and energy.

Colmar and Strasbourg are ever so slightly further apart, and the situation there is different: it is hard to fully cover Strasbourg as a day trip from Colmar if you want to see the Christmas Market too, and also hard to see both Colmar & the surrounding villages (Kayersberg, Riquewihr, etc.) in a single day from Strasbourg, especially with short daylight hours.
So, I would split my Alsace days between Strasbourg & Colmar.

Thank you! All this information is so helpful