Burgundy: Walk amongst the 'Grands Crus'
Self Guided Walking
Pretty valleys, green hilly vineyards, medieval churches, rich food and prestigious wines in one unforgettable walk. Ideally located at the crossroad of Western Europe, Burgundy has played a huge part in the future of France since the Gallic times and it is often called the cradle of France. Nowadays, its amazing architectural heritage can still be seen everywhere as the numerous typical Burgundy tiled roofs testify. Burgundy regional gastronomy has also spread all over the country and even behind its borders with well-appreciated dishes such as beef bourguignon, coq au vin, and much more. The fame of the region has also been made by its world-class wines, usually produced in small quantities such as Nuits Saint-Georges, Pommard, Mercurey, Meursault and many more.
The walking holidays we designed for you aim to bring you through the heart of this incredible area and to enjoy the wide variety of landscapes, architecture, food, and of course wines, Burgundy has to offer. Indeed, villages like Pommard, Gevrey and Meursault will seduce you not only with their tortuous streets bordered by stone built houses, food markets, and cafés but they will also ravish your palates with their tannic Pinots Noirs, refreshing Chardonnay, or even the local “Kir” aperitif, a regional blackcurrant cream mixed with local white “aligoté” wine. Over the days, the charms of the different landscapes will bewitch you and visitors often see their heart sank at the time of departure. Don’t worry; we are sure the memories of walking through this giant-size postcard added to some wine shopping will comfort you in many ways!
Itinerary:
Day 1. Dijon
Arrival to Dijon and accommodation at your hotel. Dijon is one of the most beautiful cities in France, famous for its mustard, which is still produced locally.
Day 2. Dijon - Gevrey - Chambertin
After leaving the capital of the Dukes of Burgundy to begin your first stage, you really enter the world of vineyards. By walking in the middle of them and along small hills, you will discover an unspoilt nature.
Walking: 12 km, 3 hours
Day 3. Gevrey - Chambertin - Nuits-St-Georges
Gevrey-Chambertin is a touristic, winemaking village, situated on the Route des Grands Crus (Road of the Great Wines) and is partucularly noted for the Grand Cru Burgundy wine. After breakfast you follow the road to Combes Lavaux. In this stage you will walk along splendid vineyards, traditional Clos (from French - closure) like Clos des Lambrays, and you will pass by the castle of Clos de Vougeot, a wall-enclosed vineyard.
Walking: 14 km, 3,5 hours
Day 4. Nuits-St-Georges - Beaune
Nuits-St-Georges is the main town of the Cote de Nuits wine-producing area of Burgundy. To reach the next stage you have to follow the "Chemin des Grands Crus" (The Path of the Great Wines). After crossing some charming and genuine villages of Burgundy like Magny-les-Villers or Permand-Vergelesses, you can discover some of the most famous wine in Burgundy (Hautes Cotes de Beaune)
Walking: 25 km, 6 h 15 min
Day 5. Beaune - Meursault
Beaune is the wine capital of Burgundy and a key wine center in France, where the primary wine auction in France - Hospices de Beaune - takes place. Leaving Beaune walk back to the town exit following the cycling path in direction of Santenay. After crossing Plateau of Volnay and pine trees forest walk along the vineyards until going down to the village of Auxey Duresses. There you have to leave temporarily GR76 and "Sentier des Grands Crus" to go to Meursault for the night.
Walking: 15 km, 3 h 45 min
Day 6. Meursault - Chagny
Meursault produces mainly white wines from Chardonnay grapes. From Meursault, walk back to Auxey-Duresses (see previous day) and back on the “Chemin des Grands Crus”. You will be astounded about genuine and unspoilt landscapes (Chatelet de Montmeillan, wood of “Chassagne”) in your last stage and several traditional hamlets (Gamay, Morgeot) will fill you with wonder to go back with a lot of great memories.
Walking: 18 km, 4,5 hours
Day 7. Chagny - departure
The city of Chagny has been awarded the “green holiday”. The criteria for this quality charter allow it to stand out in terms of welcoming tourists, protected environment, outdoor activities, lodging, shops and services, tourism and dynamic presence of a two start tourist office on the town.You can order additional nights in Chagny.
How to get there: You can fly to Paris or Lion, from there you can take train to Dijon (from Paris – about 1,35 h, from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport – about 1,35 h, from Lion – about 1,45 h). Or you can take a train from Strasbourg, Zurich or Lille. From Chagny you can take train to Dijon (about 30 min) and again train to your airport. There is a direct train from Chagny to Lion (about 1,30 h). Timetable of the trains you can check on www.sncf.co.uk
Recommended travel period of the year: spring - autumn