Villages · Semur-en-Auxois
1 Semur-en-Auxois
Fortified town built on a pink granite promontory overlooking the meanders of the Armançon, with its four medieval towers and Gothic collegiate church.
View full page →What to see in the Côte-d'Or in 3 days
The Côte-d'Or combines Dijon, Beaune, the climats of the Burgundy vineyards, abbeys and castles. Religious heritage, the Hospices de Beaune and the Route des Grands Crus are landmarks.
This itinerary spreads the best-rated sites in the catalogue over three days.
Our day-by-day itinerary
The map shows the numbered stops in visiting order, with one colour per day. The line follows the roads where available; otherwise it joins the stops as the crow flies. Distances and times are approximate (by car, without traffic).
Day 1 — Semur-en-Auxois to Résurgence de la douix
This day brings together 4 sites close to each other: villages, castles and natural wonders. It passes through Semur-en-Auxois. Allow half an hour to an hour and a half per site, plus travel time.
Villages · Côte-d'Or
2 Flavigny-sur-Ozerain
The silhouette of this perched village is punctuated by the imposing volumes of its religious buildings.
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Castles · Côte-d'Or
3 L'abbaye de Fontenay
Fontenay Abbey is a Cistercian abbey founded in 1118 in the French commune of Marmagne, in the Côte-d'Or département and the Burgundy region.
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Natural wonders · Côte-d'Or
4 Résurgence de la douix
La Douix is the name given to an important spring, in the form of a Vaucluse-type resurgence at the gates of the small town of Châtillon-sur-Seine in the north of the Côte-d'Or.
View full page →Day 2 — Dijon to Rivière souterraine de la Bèze
This day brings together 4 sites close to each other: castles, towns and cities and caves. It passes through Dijon. Allow half an hour to an hour and a half per site, plus travel time.
Towns & cities · Dijon
5 Dijon
Former capital of the Dukes of Burgundy, a town of art with half-timbered houses and mansions, renowned for its mustard and gingerbread.
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Castles · Côte-d'Or
6 Palais des ducs de Bourgogne
The palace of the Valois dukes is in the heart of the town. The ducal residence was rebuilt from 1365 by the dukes of the Valois dynasty.
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Castles · Côte-d'Or
7 Château d'Arcelot
The château d'Arcelot was built in the early and mid-eighteenth century by the province's chief architect, Thomas Dumorey.
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Caves · Côte-d'Or
8 Rivière souterraine de la Bèze
The Bèze caves and the illuminated underground lake are the village's main attraction. The initial part of the Crétane cave has been known since the Middle Ages. Boat visit of the underground river.
View full page →Day 3 — Châteauneuf to Cirque et Cascade du bout du Monde
This day brings together 4 sites close to each other: villages, caves and towns and cities. It passes through Beaune. Allow half an hour to an hour and a half per site, plus travel time.
Driving for the day: about 60.9 km, or 1 h 10 behind the wheel in total (excluding visits).
Villages · Côte-d'Or
9 Châteauneuf
Intended to command the old road from Dijon to Autun, the fortress was built in the late twelfth century by Jean de Chaudenay.
View full page →↓ 16.0 km · about 19 min by car to the next stop
Caves · Côte-d'Or
10 Grotte du Bel Affreux
Going up the Antheuil river, in the Côte-d'Or, leads to the "Bel Affreux" cave, whose open-jaw-shaped entrance is said to have earned it, from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century, a reputation as a diabolical lair.
View full page →↓ 20.8 km · about 25 min by car to the next stop
Towns & cities · Beaune
11 Beaune
Historic capital of Burgundy wines, a fortified town whose ramparts and bastions still ring an old centre renowned for its wine-merchant houses.
View full page →↓ 24.0 km · about 26 min by car to the next stop
Waterfalls · Côte-d'Or
12 Cirque et Cascade du bout du Monde
To reach the End of the World, you must follow the Cozanne river upstream from the town of Nolay and first pass under a railway viaduct.
View full page →When to go
Spring and autumn are ideal: green or golden vines. Summer is busier. The grape harvest, in September, is a highlight.
Getting around
A car is practical for the Route des Grands Crus, but cycling is pleasant there. Dijon and Beaune are explored on foot. For tastings, nominate a driver.
Our tips
- Book tastings with winemakers in advance.
- Nominate a driver for cellar visits.
- Start early to visit the abbeys.
- Taste Burgundy produce: snails, mustard, wines.
If you have more time
Castles · Côte-d'Or
Savigny-lès-Beaune
It is in Burgundy, in the heart of the Côte de Beaune, that the prestigious Château de Savigny-lès-Beaune overlooks a magnificent 12-hectare property, crossed by a river that originally fed the moats of this former fortress.
Castles · Côte-d'Or
Château de Bussy-Rabutin
Set in the Morvan, in a wooded valley and surrounded by a French-style garden, the decoration of the château de Bussy-Rabutin was created by Rabutin, count of Bussy, during his exile from the court of the Sun King to Burgundy.
Castles · Côte-d'Or
Château de Commarin
The château de Commarin, in central Burgundy, 40 km west of Dijon, is part of the Historic Route of the Dukes of Burgundy.
Castles · Côte-d'Or
Château de Fontaine-Française
Dating from the tenth or eleventh century, the château de Fontaine-Française was when built a 100-foot-high keep with drawbridge, 4 curtain walls flanked at the corners by 4 large towers.
Castles · Côte-d'Or
Hospices de Beaune
The Hospices de Beaune, or Hôtel-Dieu de Beaune, is a fifteenth-century hospital in Beaune in Burgundy, which was active until the 1960s.
Castles · Côte-d'Or
Château de Rosières
An authentic fourteenth- and fifteenth-century fortress, crowned with a belt of machicolations forming a wall-walk at the top of the building.
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