Burgundy Wine Tours: Beaune & the Côte d'Or
Burgundy is the world’s benchmark for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, a narrow strip of hillside where a wall can separate a village wine from a grand cru, and Beaune, at its centre, is the base for tasting it. Compare the top-rated tours below, then read our notes.
Formats: full days from Beaune through the Côte de Nuits and Côte de Beaune with many tastings; half-day tours from Dijon; cellar visits in Beaune itself; vineyard tours by bike; visits to the Hospices de Beaune and Clos de Vougeot.
What you taste: Burgundy at every level, régional, village, premier cru and grand cru, reds from the Côte de Nuits, whites from the Côte de Beaune, and the everyday Bourgogne and crémant.
Price: 35 dollars for a Beaune cellar tasting; 110 for a half day from Dijon; 330 for a full day with a driver and many tastings.
The Côte d’Or
Burgundy’s heart is the Côte d’Or, the golden slope running south from Dijon, split into the Côte de Nuits in the north, home to the greatest reds, Gevrey-Chambertin, Vosne-Romanée, and the Côte de Beaune in the south, famous for the grand-cru whites of Montrachet and Meursault but also great reds like Volnay and Pommard. What makes it unlike anywhere else is the climats, the individually named plots, a UNESCO site, where centuries of monks worked out exactly which patch of hillside makes which wine. The hierarchy runs from regional Bourgogne up through village and premier cru to the tiny grand crus.
Beaune and Dijon
Beaune is the wine capital, a walled town whose cellars hold millions of bottles and whose Hospices, a medieval charity hospital, hold the world’s most famous wine auction on the third Sunday of November. Dijon, to the north, is the bigger city, the home of the mustard and the crème de cassis that makes a kir. Most tours run from Beaune with a driver, since the villages are small and the tastings are by appointment.
How to visit
Beaune is about two and a quarter hours from Paris by train, or reach Dijon in an hour and a half and continue. A car or a guided tour is essential once you are there; the estates are family-run and scattered along the slope.
Frequently asked questions
Why is Burgundy so complicated?
Because the vineyards are divided into hundreds of named climats, each making a distinct wine, and the same village name covers many quality levels. A guided tour is the fastest way to make sense of it.
Beaune or Dijon as a base?
Beaune to be among the vineyards and the cellars; Dijon for a bigger city with the food. They are 40 minutes apart.
What is the Hospices de Beaune?
A medieval charity hospital that owns vineyards and holds a famous wine auction each November; its Flemish-tiled roof is Burgundy’s emblem.
How we choose
We list only experiences with a strong rating over a meaningful number of reviews and free cancellation where available, and we favour small-group and family-run hosts. FindEatLocal earns a commission when you book through GetYourGuide or Viator links on this page; it doesn’t change the price you pay. More about how we choose.