My husband and I are traveling to Paris the third week in Sept. We have spent time in Paris on two previous trips. After spending seven days in Paris we are planning to travel by train to Dijon,Lyon and Beaune spending two nights in these three cities. We would like input on this area. We stayed three nights in Avignon two years ago. If you have other suggestions we would appreciate hearing from you. Thank You Shirley
Posted by
Bay Area
3551 posts
Last summer I was in Lyon to see the decorative arts & art museum & cathedral.
It warrants no more than 2 days of visit. it is a big city where you can take public transit easily. Also visit the historic cafe/bar/restaurant downtown. Beaune has the ramparts and hotel dieu work about a days visit . the real beauty is the countryside with its wineries, green vistas, vezelay,abbey of fontenay, &medieval castles.
Posted by
San Francisco/Marin County
9436 posts
I haven't been to Lyon or Dijon, but we spent 4 nights in Beaune last summer and loved it...in fact, we wished we could have stayed longer. We loved the town...very charming, very enjoyable. We spent two days doing the two "drives" that Rick recommends in his France guide. We took our time and made lots of stops, and those two days were one of the highlights of our 7 wk trip. The third day we spent in town going to the outdoor market, all the shops and the Rick recommended sites. Burgundy is incredibly beautiful...enjoy!
Posted by
Boston
4132 posts
I think these are great destinations. I take it you are city people, but I wouldn't want to spend four days in Burgundy without seeing some of the countryside and/or small towns.
Beaune is really quite a bit smaller than the other cities, to the point that if you don't plan on getting out of town you might feel you had exhausted things to do there. But it is very charming, and a brilliant base. I could make some suggestions if I had a sense of what you and your like to see and do.
September would be a great time to rent bicycles in Beaune if you like that sort of thing. The bike shop there has some great and easy itineraries.
Have a great time!
Posted by
Kansas City
30 posts
I've been on this route, you will love it, I'm sure. I was least impressed with Lyon and most impressed with Beaune. I would ask, what are you planning to do? Wine tours, history, culture, etc? I would strongly suggest touring some vineyards- their passion, skill and product are fantastic. Reminder, as you might have learned in Avignon, English is spoken less often in these areas. That can be good and bad.
Posted by
Keizer, Oregon, USA
588 posts
Have you been to Bruges, Belgium? It is a short train trip from Paris. Strasbourg or Colmar?