My best friend and I are taking a river cruise from Lyon but arriving three days early. We are planning to spend those days in Beaune. We don’t want to rent a car and wondered if anyone knew of a car service that could pick us at the Lyon airport and take us to Beaune, about an hours drive. Also, if anyone had tips on where to stay in Beaune and sights we should not miss. Thanks
Jean
Posted by
Washington DC
27172 posts
It seems to be about 112 miles, so definitely not a one-hour drive. I have never traveled that route by any means of transportation, but the Internet tells me there's a company called Jayride that offers service on demand between the Lyon airport and Beaune. Understand that it will be many hundreds of euros, because you'll have to pay for the round-trip drive.
If you want to explore the far less expensive, but notably slower, public-transportation options, you will find the schedule for the Rhonexpress train to Part-Dieu Station in downtown Lyon here. There are four trains per hour during the busy part of the day. That part of the trip takes 29 minutes.
Then you'd need to take the train from Lyon Part-Dieu to Beaune. You can check schedules and fares on the SNCF website. Trains are fairly frequent--at least one per hour--and take as little as 92 minutes; you will need to transfer once.
You can see how the pieces of the trip fit together by using the SNCF website and selecting Lyon - Saint-Exupery Airport - TGV Station as your starting point. It appears that the best you could hope for would be a travel time of about 4-1/4 hours.
The major sight in Beaune is the lovely Hôtel-Dieu (Hospices de Beaune), but Lyon has vastly more to see and do. I would spend the pre-cruise time in Lyon rather than Beaune, frankly.
Posted by
Folsom, California
540 posts
Take the train between Lyon and Beaune. It is practically effortless.
Stay within the walled city. We stayed at a wonderful Airbnb just around the corner from the cathedral and it was walking distance to everything.
We actually didn't sight see much within the city, other than visiting wineries in the city, taking the wonderful bike ride through the vineyards, and walking along the wall.
Posted by
Boston
4132 posts
We traveled from Beaune to Lyon by train. It was very easy. BUT
1) Why fly into Lyon to get to Beaune? You can get to Beaune from Paris. Most flights to Lyon go via Paris.
2) 3 days is a LOT of time in Beaune without wheels. it is charming but small. 3 days would be good if you rented bicycles.
3) Lyon is a fabulous city, I mean really great. So you might actually be happier there.