Beaune

Beaune is a commune in eastern France, a sub-prefecture of the Côte-d'Or department in the Bourgogne region. Beaune succeeded Dijon as capital of the Duchy of Burgundy during its glory days. Today, Dijon is again the capital of Burgundy, a much bigger city, and an important site of industry as well as culture. But Beaune has much to recommend: It is a bustling, wealthy, and charming place of pilgrimage for art lovers, wine lovers, and gastronomes.

For the typical tourist, Beaune is a half-day town. The historic center is charming and a pleasant place to walk around. The Hotel-Dieu is a must-see, but only takes an hour or so. For the food and wine lover, there is not enough to time to spend in and around Beaune. Nearly every town along the Côte-d'Or has a fabulous restaurant and multiple places to taste wine. Even though the wine appellations in the Côte-d'Or are not far apart, the wines produced in relatively close appellations vary dramatically.

Beaune makes a good base for exploring other small wine towns in the Côte-d'Or. It is centrally located about half way along the wine route, and other famous nearby wine towns like Montrachet, Pommard, and Nuits-Saint-Georges are all a short drive from Beaune.

Beaune is one of the wine communes of the Côte de Beaune subregion of the Burgundy wine region, which bears the name of this town. Although Beaune is lacking a Grand Cru vineyard within the commune, it is the hub of the region's wine business, as most of Burgundy's major négociants are located here. Beaune is renowned for its annual charity wine auction on behalf of the Hospices de Beaune. It is situated on the route des Grands Crus tourist route among the vineyards. The road runs north from Beaune to Gevrey Chambertin and Nuits-Saint-Georges and south to Nolay, Saisy and Autun.

Beaune is easily accessible via Autoroutes. Directions:, (By train: Beaune railway station (Direct link with Paris by TGV high speed train). By plane: Dijon and Lyons airports. By car: Autoroute (motorway) A6, A31, A36, 2h30 from Paris, 1h15 from Lyons.). Beaune is a good city for walking. The old center of town is compact, and surrounded by a ring street that follows the old city walls. It is better to park outside the old center of town and walk in. There are a number of pay parking lots on the perimeter roads. A car is required to explore the surrounding wine towns on the Côte-d'Or.