Making progress, still need your help!!

Everyone does this differently. If you want to move around then I would encourage two night stays in charming places. We prefer to base. Last time we did Burgundy we rented a place for a week in Semur en Auxois which is an utterly gorgeous little town. We did day trips in the area. You can see some of our trip here:
https://janettravels.wordpress.com/category/burgundy/

We have also spent a couple of nights at a lovely little inn near Avalon Moulin des Ruats and visited Auxerre and Vezelay from there. We have also spent a night in Beaune en route to Paris.

I like to base but that does mean driving back after touring each day. I would base if you do in a small town rather than a large one like Beaune.

We LOVE Burgundy! We have our favorite B & B of all time in that region near Avallon in a village of about 100 people. We have stayed twice and never run out of villages to explore, just using that one location as a home base. I know Burgundy it is a large region and we stay north of where many people stay, but we love it! It is very charming with medieval villages, churches, and beautiful farm land surrounding the villages, and not very touristy. Wish I was going with you!

Burgundy is two hours from the north, Sens, to the southern areas of Macon and Beaujolais. Therefore, two different bases are needed to cover from Guedelon, which isn't even all the way north, to the wine trail near Dijon, which isn't even the furthest southern point in Burgundy.

Oh dear, I have just tried about a dozen B&B's around Avallon and Massangis, no vacancies. I may end up at Ibis - more expensive, not nearly as nice, but it does seem to have A/C, not a bad thing at the end of June.

I have slightly changed my plan. From Chamonix I'm going to take the day to drive through Beaujolais country (or maybe a few hours in Annency) - could I do both in one day? - , probably spend the night in Cluny and about 1/2 the next day there. Then on to Bourgogne, basing in/near Avallon or Vezelay. Does that sound right to you guys?

Thanks so much!

Hi Chani-- sorry I don't know about the drive part from Chamonix,but your overall balance sounds good to me, and I too can join the chorus of those who love northern Burgundy (basically kind of north from Vezelay, if I remember correctly, was the area I used to cover, including Semur-en-Auxois, Noyers, Chablis, and other villages around. And it's a lot of fun driving around there -- loosely windy roads with nice dips and crests, the sun shining, and the vines all around. You'll love it.

Chani, have you had a look at Logis de France inns? They are family owned small hotels and inns all over France, and usually have on- site parking. Google logis de France Avallon (or wherever) and see what is available where.

In addition to Logis, you can try Gites de France but once on the Gites de FRance website for Burgundy, narrow the search to Chambres d'hotes, which means b and b. They have an English language website too.

Thanks for all the help so far.

The final plan (2nd half of June):

• Cluny - 1 night (Friday)
• Avallon or Vezelay 4 nights (Sat-Tues) as a base to explore Burgundy
• Equisheim 3 nights (Wed-Fri) as a base to explore Alsace
• Strasbourg 2 nights (Sat-Sun)

I have come up with 3 options for my first day - sunset's around 9 p.m.:
- After 1.5 days in Chamonix on the tour, spend most of the day seeing more in Chamonix
- Drive to Annecy mid-morning for most of the day (or less?)
- Scenic byways through the Macconnais-Beaujolais Route des Vins
Thoughts? I'm really leaning toward Annecy. Friends said it was their favorite place in France (Paris is not really part of France, of course. Ask the French who don't live there :-).

My other dilemma is lodging in Burgundy. After finding that all the recommended B&Bs were fully booked, I found 2 places that look reasonable. The price is the same, the amenities are similar.

• Hotel Au Soleil d'Or in Pontaubert about 3 km from Avallon
• La Renommee in Saint-Pere, 2 km from Vezelay

I'm more interested to know if one location would be better than the other for 3-4 days of sightseeing around Burgundy. They seem to be relatively close to each other, so maybe I should just toss a coin.

Hi Chani - I think the Burgundy hotels, like you say, are pretty interchangeable. The advantage with La Renommée is its being 2 km out of Vezelay itself, so you could even walk up to the village for dinner, or for walks thereby around. I checked out the TripAdvisor reviews for both and didn't see anything that sent me particularly one way or the other.

If you went to Annecy, would your schedule allow you time to do one of the boat trips out on the lake? I did enjoy the city as well but to me the boat ride really made the day there. I've never been to Chamonix, so I can't comment comparatively, sorry!!