Burgundy accommodation from AU$114

Dijon

Burgundy’s capital really cuts the mustard – and yes, this is where that flavour came from. Just walking around this city is a sight-seeing adventure. There are renaissance mansions, elaborate buildings complete with gargoyles, and cathedrals. The Palace of the Dukes of Burgundy is a massive palace overlooking the Place de la Liberation, a semi-circular courtyard with fountains and restaurants.

Food and wine

Dijon’s menus offer more than just mustard, with some tres bien cuisine and typical French eats like escargot. Food lovers flock to Dijon during the first fortnight of November for the Dijon Gastronomy Fair, one of France’s biggest food fairs. There are up to 600 exhibitions some years, and every year a foreign country is invited to join in. Burgundy’s vineyards cover nearly 300km in total, and if you have some extra Euros to spend, take a wine tour and sip some classy pinot noir, chardonnay or splash out on some grand cru vintages.

Nature

It’s not just the wine you drank – Burgundy really is that attractive! Apart from the vineyards, there’s also the Morvan, a national park made up of farm land and lakes. Take a barge tour down the Burgundy Canal and float past rolling hills and lush green banks with cycling tracks.

Shopping

The town of Beaune, about twenty minutes by train from Dijon or a two hour fast train journey from Paris, is also the wine capital of Burgundy. It has 500 shops in the city centre, with gifts, fashion and pretty much anything else you could want. The Beaune hotel offers a huge collection of local vintages at very reasonable prices as well as delectable dining. Dijon also has a decent variety of shopping in streets like Rue de la Liberte, in the city’s historic centre as well as a variety of incredible food and cheese at The Market, where you can pick up local mouth-watering morsels and fresh fruit and vegetables for a few Euros.

Franche-Comte

Located right next to Switzerland, Franche-Comte has rolling hills, forests and the Jura Mountains, the most famous cross-country skiing area in France. Haut-Jura is the main station, and a great place for both hiking and skiing, with waterfalls among dense forests. Also in Franche-Comte, you can sample some of the mouth-watering cheese the region is known for or check out the local historic attractions. The Citadel of Besançon is a Heritage-listed military fortress which covers 11 hectares and has heaps of walkways and watchtowers. The Notre Dame du Haut is a working chapel designed by French-Swiss architect Le Corbusier, while Malsaucy Lake is the location for the annual Eurockéennes rock music festival.

Getting here

Book one of our Paris flights to go with your Burgundy and Franche-Comte accommodation. You can hire a car or catch a train from Paris to Burgundy. Colour your trip to France with food, wine, history and amazing sights.