Burgundy central villa rental suggestions?

We stayed in Beaune last September and it is central to many of the small wine villages and has many fine restaurants.
We stayed at the Hotel Le Cep (www.hotel-cep-beaune.com), which is spendy, but worth a special occasion.
I'd recommend renting bikes if you are able and riding the Route d Grand Vin through Pommard, Gevry-Chambertain, and Vosne Romanee. There is a separate cycling path where the only vehicles allowed are usually carrying grapes.

Hi from Wisconsin,
My wife and I stayed in a house designed for four people (six could, but not comfortably) a few km northof Avallon in Vassy. There were two or three Gites in the village. The village had no ammenities but as I said was only a few km north of Avallon which is a lightly touristed walled medieval town. We stayed two weeks. One of our hosts spoke excellent English.

We found it through Gite de France an awkward website but worth the time. Another search is Holidaylettings, while run by Tripadvisor I think it was originally a British site. France has alot of British citizens who have apartments, cottages, or condos in France and use them sparingly. So they are for rent the rest of the year. Usually at prices much below hotels. You can get a whole house in a neighborhood for less than a small room in a commercial district.

This was our third trip to France and I seriously beleive all of France is like Paris, "Is there a bad location to set up shop?" Every stop we have made, and we usually hang out for a week, has been "the best place to stay" with beautiful landscapes, and a lot to do and see in the vicinity.

As for wine...Avallon is in Burgundy. The vineyards seem to be tucked in to small valleys. This is not Sonoma or Napa where it is mile after mile of vines. You have to know where to go to find the vineyards

wayne iNWI

Beaune is a good base, especially for the southern part, surrounded by vineyards, lots of restaurants and tasting rooms in town so you don't have to drive after imbibing, very interesting 15th-century hospital, good road connections elsewhere, easy train to Dijon. We stayed in this apartment a few blocks from the center, with garage parking a couple of blocks away. Two bedrooms, one bath, small courtyard, maybe a little tight for two couples but there are lots of others on homeaway.com.

A small village can be charming as all-get-out, but leave you with few dining options and fewer wine-tasting options unless you're willing to drive after tasting, which is both unsafe and heavily penalized.

Avallon and Semour-en-Auxois also have their fans on this board.

Thank you! Really appreciate the help! Keep the ideas coming. You guys are really helping me to focus our trip.
Victoria