I'm trying to decide if it's worth driving from Paris to Beaune OR if I should take the train from Paris to Dijon and then pick up a car there and drive to Beaune.
I will need a car for the rest of the trip. I'm wondering if the drive between Paris and Beaune is worth it? Or is the ease of train travel worth the compromise?
I drove from Paris to Reims and then to Beaune. Picked up the car at Gare du Nord and worked my way to the Peripherique, then missed the exit and came back to it, finally started to enjoy the drive well outside the city. If I had it to do again I'd probably take the train to a city or town along the way (Reims in my case, Dijon in yours) and then get the car.
I don't know what the Paris-Beaune drive would be like but I'm sure it would be scenic once you get out of the Paris area. But the same is probably true of the train ride.
It's autoroute, but the first hour getting out of and then away from Paris is a pain in the neck. Autoroutes separate, merge, trucks need to change lanes, etc. After that it's flat for a while, changing to gentle hills. I've done the drive many times. The train is faster and easier.
Thanks so much for the comments, very helpful!
I vote for taking the train. Do you need a car in Beaune? It is a small city and parking is difficult. You could always rent a car in Beaune for day trips or when you leave for another city.
We took train from Paris to Beaune and it was so much easier than driving.
The train is a much better choice except on Sundays, because you will not be able to rent a car in Dijon on a Sunday.
Picking up on Rizell's suggestion, there's good train service between Dijon and Beaune. But you'd have to change trains in Dijon.
We always take a train to a mid size city and then rent. We had a car in Beaune because we came from Alsace and from there we went to Loire. Beaune to Dijon on the Route des Grands Crus was a lovely drive. We did not use the car in Beaune but we stayed near the train station and parked the car there. The only wine tasting we did in Burgundy was in the town of Beaune and we walked.
The train is better if driving in Paris will be stressful for you. I recently drove FROM Beaune into Paris, so I feel the reverse is doable if you're used to chaotic urban traffic. If you rent the car at Gare de Lyon, you can connect directly to the autoroute without driving on the dreaded Périphérique. PM if interested in this option.
You don't need a car in Beaune, but to get to some of the top-rated vineyards, you do need wheels (an e-bike works too). I did the driving loop in the south vineyards that's in the RS France guidebook, and it was a fabulous day.
These are all great comments! I'm convinced a train out of Paris is the right decision! We're planning to drive after Beaune and it seems to be cheaper to rent from Dijon than out of Beaune. Thanks everyone!
I don't think you should take the train to Dijon and drive to Beaune, I think you should take the train all the way to Beaune.
You don't mention how much time you plan to spend in Beaune but it is a small compact city where a car will create more problems then it solves. So if you plan to spend some time there it is better to rent a car when you leave Beaune. And if you don't plan to spend time in Beaune, you should in my opinion rethink your itinerary. And if it would be cheaper to rent a car in Dijon, it is not that hard to take the train back to Dijon to pick up a car.
We didn't find it difficult to park the car in Beaune and we didn't have to pay for the parking. IMO, renting in Dijon to enjoy the Route des Grandes Crus is worth it, if you are going in the summer or fall.
Yeah, I wouldn't describe parking in Beaune as "difficult" either. The town center is surrounded by a boulevard that gives access to plenty of car parks. And a car is really nice to have to properly tour the area and the vineyards... keeping in mind French blood alcohol limits, which are lower than in the USA.
Taking the train to Beaune, does this mean you don’t consider visiting places on the way from Paris? There are a lot of great things to see between these two places, but you will need a car for that and more time.
We used to live an hour or so from Beaune and would go there on occasion for shopping. It was always interesting to hear English being spoken on the street and -- more rarely -- with American accents. One generally doesn't hear that kind of thing in smaller, more rural French towns.
Anyway, parking in Beaune has never been an issue for us, but it can get a bit tighter during the summer tourist season. Beaune's economy relies to a considerable extent on tourism and the town has built plenty of parking to promote and accommodate that. If you park in a municipal lot you'll need to pay a small fee -- usually by entering your car's plate number into a borne and slipping in a few coins or paying by debit or credit card.
