Cycling through Burgundy's wine country

Arrival in Beaune, Burgundy's obvious wine capital and an excellent starting point for the coming days' cycling. Once you have checked in and settled in, there is plenty of reason to head out and explore. The city's artistic and historical heritage is rich, with the magnificent Hôtel-Dieu, also known as Hospices de Beaune, as the main attraction. Also take the opportunity to visit the wine museum for an introduction to Burgundy's long and famous wine tradition.

Today a tour through Côte de Nuits awaits, one of the world's most famous wine districts. Here Pinot Noir is the dominant grape and the foundation of Burgundy's elegant red wines. You cycle through the rolling wine landscape and pass the world-famous Château du Clos de Vougeot. Along the way you look out over vineyards that produce some of the world's most exclusive wines, including Romanée-Conti. Before returning to Beaune, you can take a detour to the historic Château de Savigny-lès-Beaune.

A pleasant day of cycling through Côte de Beaune, where Chardonnay thrives and some of Burgundy's most prestigious white wines are produced. The route passes through famous wine villages such as Pommard, Meursault and Chassagne-Montrachet and offers varied scenery along a relatively easy-to-cycle stretch. You continue to the small town of Nolay with its impressive old market hall, where you can stock up your picnic basket with something delicious. From here you follow a pleasant cycle path built on a disused railway before reaching Chassey-le-Camp, beautifully situated in a small valley.

Today you follow the Voie Verte, the green cycle route built on an old railway line. The journey takes you through the rolling vineyards of Côte Chalonnaise, a less well-known wine district than its neighbours further north but full of charm. On the way you can visit Château de Rully and perhaps stop at a local wine producer to taste a glass of red Mercurey. Towards the end of the day you pedal onward through the wine landscape via Buxy, a typical small medieval town, before reaching Saint-Boil.

You continue south along the Voie Verte through the beautiful landscape of southern Burgundy. One of the day's great attractions is Château de Cormatin with its gardens and unusually well-preserved interiors from the time of Louis XIII in the 17th century. After that, the easy cycling route continues towards Cluny, one of Burgundy's most historically interesting small towns. Here you end the day among old city walls and the remains of the mighty Benedictine monastery, founded as early as the 10th century and once one of Europe's most important religious centres.

Just after Cluny the landscape becomes a little more hilly again, and the route leads to an old railway tunnel said to be Europe's longest tunnel of its kind. On the other side awaits the stately Berzé-le-Châtel castle, surrounded by the vineyards of Mâconnais. You continue to Mâcon, cross the beautiful Pont Saint-Laurent, and then join the Voie Bleue cycle route along the banks of the Saône. Small villages and Romanesque churches line the way before you finally roll into the historic town of Tournus. Here you can celebrate a complete experience of true French Burgundy with a delicious dinner and something good in your glass.

After breakfast, the cycling trip through Burgundy comes to an end. If you have some time left before your journey home, we recommend a final walk through Tournus's historic centre. The town is beautifully situated on the Saône and is known, among other things, for its old buildings and Romanesque heritage. After that, you can take the train from Tournus back towards Beaune or continue towards Dijon for further travel.