The wineries of Burgundy’s Cote de Beaune

Nature
The wow factor for nature - does it show nature at its best? Doesn't need to be the wildebeest migration or diving with hundreds of hammerheads. Rather make you pause as you realise just how awesome the natural world can be
6
Culture
How much does this experience showcase some of the better and finer things that us humans can offer? Sure, it can be ancient ruins and renaissance churches, but it can also be festivals or soaking up some of the great modern cities of the world
8
Fun factor/activity
Very simple - was it fun? This is usually linked in with doing some kind of activity - i mean, walking along some cliffs is nice, but paragliding from them, now that is fun. Its a vastly underrated factor in a truly great experience
7
Avoid the crowds
Big tour groups and being surrounded by loud fellow tourists can sap the life out of even the greatest of travel experiences. This score is to reflect just how much you can avoid this. But. . . The score also takes into account if the crowds actually add to the experience, such as with a party town or a bustling local market
7
World famous
How world famous is the experience?
7
unique
How hard is it to have a similar experience in other places round the world?
6
Overall TE Score
The overall travel experiences score:  fun factor + avoid the crowds + (best of nature or culture) + (best of world famous or unique). Then convert into a score out of 100
72 *What the scores mean and where do they come from
RANKING
How this travel experience ranks compared to all the other experiences on this site, based on the travel experience (te) score
132nd/461
Top 30%
continent
Europe
country
France
Length of time
1-2 days
Typical daily price
This gives you a rough idea of the daily price based on 2 people travelling where they can split costs like accommodation. It excludes travel there and back, and factors in inflation the numbers in brackets show the price range for the full time of the experience (so not necessarily daily). It is a range to reflect different budget vs higher end
$170 (typically $80 - $270)
Time of year visited
September
Primary Tags
Click on any of the tags to see all travel experiences with the same tag
Local villages Vineyards Wine
All Tags
Old town UNESCO world heritage site
Wow Factor
Two scores: first is the wow factor which ranges from ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ to ⭐️, and a separate category for the truly "gash". The second is the more analytical travel experience score, which considers 6 varied criteria to give an overall score out of 100.
⭐⭐

Summary

 

Cote de Beaune wine tasting - the outdoor terrace of the Caveau de Puligny-Montrachet under the trees

 

The vineyards all along Burgundy’s Cote de Beaune are some of the most prestigious in the world. In particular, the Chardonnay whites and Pinot Noir reds are viewed as the elite level of any wines anywhere . . . and with the prices to match – the 1945 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti sold for US$812,500 in March 2026, beating the previous record of US$558,000 also held by a wine from here.

So for a wine enthusiast this is a bit of a bucket list spot to visit and you’ll be left with smug enthusiasm as you quaff along the Route des Grands Crus in the likes of Meursault, Pommard, Puligny-Montrachet and Chassagne-Montrachet.

For the non wine enthusiasts, it’s also just a generally pretty place to visit – the villages are just about all gorgeous, the vineyards stretching out away from the main road are beautiful to walk through, and there are so many stunning chateaus for delightful places to wind the day away eating in. Plus, it must be just one of the most picture-perfect places to cycle through.

All that being said though, if you’re not super into your wines, this is just a ⭐️⭐️ Worth it level. The likes of Bordeaux’s Sampling wines in Saint Emilion ⭐️⭐️⭐️ are just a bit prettier, and the not-too-far-away Champagne region wine tasting ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ is more wow.

 

Highlights and places we really enjoyed

Caveau de Puligny-Montrachet

#1 Passing through the pretty villages and finding a cute spot for a Puligny-Montrachet or five

Hostellerie de Levernois

#2 Having lunch in one of the gorgeous spots like the Hostellerie de Levernois and its outside Bistro

Francois Carillon free tasting in Puligny-Montrachet

#3 The wine tasting - hard to get bored of some of the best wines in the world. Try Francois Carillon, where the tasting is free

Walking through the vines in Chassagne-Montrachet

#4 Walking through the vines. Areas like Chassagne-Montrachet are super quiet and easy to wander through

Chateau de Meursault

#5 Finding some of the pretty chateaus as you drive along, such as Chateau de Meursault. Of course it does wine tasting

General tips if you visit

1. Where to stay

The standard all through the Cote de Beaune is pretty high, so it’s hard to be disappointed. Plus, Beaune itself is a really nice spot to stay, with a host of accommodation options.

But, in terms of recommendations, I would suggest aiming for any of the villages around Puligny-Montrachet and Chassagne-Montrachet. We stayed there the second visit and found it magical – each has its own small boulangerie, small restaurants, places to grab a drink, and you can easily wander through the nearby vineyard walks to get that wow feeling of being truly in the wine country.

Plus, if you get one of the private houses (booking.com etc) you’ll save a lot compared to the boutique hotels.

Also just so happen to serve the world’s best white wines . . . which helps.

 

Chassagne-Montrachet's town hall very pretty 

Chassagne-Montrachet’s town hall very pretty 

 

2. Best places to visit

There are a heap of options. We tried a lot. These are the ones I’d recommend:

  • Grand setting – Chateau de Meursault
  • Best wow village – Meursault
  • Cute village for wandering the nearby vines – Puligny-Montrachet and Chassagne-Montrachet
  • Best lunch – Hostellerie de Levernois

 

Grounds of Hostellerie de Levernois

Grounds of Hostellerie de Levernois

 

3. Be prepared for high prices

Most expensive wines in the world = high prices. And those tend to relate to most of the restaurants, bars and accommodation options all along the Cote de Beaune. That being said, we kept the total bill down a touch by staying in a house (shared between 4 of us), and avoiding the 12 course degustation menus paired with Grand Crus (€650 / US$760 a head felt a touch on the punchy side 😂).  But, yeah, spenny.

To share our costs from September 2026:

  • Accommodation in 4 bedroom house in Chassagne-Montrachet: €260 / US$305 per night
  • Car hire inc fuel: €50 / US$60 per day
  • Chateau de Meursault tour and tasting: €50 / US$60 per person
  • Wandering Meursault: free
  • Beaune dinner: €40 / US$47 per person
  • Francois Carillon tasting: free
  • Hostellerie de Levernois lunch: €60 / US$70 per person (good deal)
  • Afternoon drinks at Caveau de Puligny-Montrachet: €40 / US$47 per person
  • Wandering the vineyards around Chassagne-Montrachet: free

So around €270 / US$315 per person for the 2 days. Not terrible. Could do cheaper. Could do it x10.

 

 

Cote de Beaune wine tasting - Chassagne-Montrachet village signpost listing its wine domaines

A cut above Tesco’s Finest

 

Itinerary for a couple of days

Day 1

  • Morning Dijon – if coming from the north, you’re most likely starting the adventure from the top of the Cote de Beaune in Dijon, so embrace it. It’s a wonderful town and the Owl Walk – 1600 small bronze owls paved into walkways across the city, showing a 22-stop self-guided walking tour – is a great way to spend a morning exploring. See Dijon’s Old Town Owl Walk for tips.
  • (If from the south, and have the time, don’t miss Lyon – France’s gastronomic capital. It’s 1.5hrs, but the food and the intense area between the Saone and the Rhone (all UNESCO World Heritage listed) are incredible.)
  • Afternoon Chateau de Meursault – for the grounds and the wine tasting they offer there (check the times, but the English tour starts early afternoon)
  • Late afternoon Meursault – beautiful village with a gorgeous church in the centre
  • Evening Beaune – nice atmosphere and plenty of places to see as the dark of the night gives the place an atmospheric vibe

Day 2

  • Morning Francois Carillon – try a smaller winery that is less about the grounds and more about the wine
  • Lunch at Hostellerie de Levernois – magnificent grounds and generally a fab (and surprisingly affordable) lunch at the Bistro
  • Afternoon drink at Caveau de Puligny-Montrachet – it’s such a nice location on the roundabout and allows you a grand cru Chardonnay or two
  • Late afternoon / evening walk through the vineyards around Chassagne-Montrachet – there are many places to do so, but we loved here in particular

Experiences Nearby

Wow Factor Score Two scores: first is the wow factor which ranges from ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ to ⭐️, and a separate category for the truly "gash". The second is the more analytical travel experience score, which considers 6 varied criteria to give an overall score out of 100. LowHigh
  • Elite, unmissable
  • World-class, downsides
  • Meets the Wow Factor
  • Worth it
  • Meh
  • Gash

Comparison with other wine regions

Wine tasting and cycling around the vineyards of Mendoza
Argentina

Champagne region wine tasting
France

Tuscany – Renaissance Towns and Chianti Wine Country
Italy

South Africa’s Winelands
South Africa

The Aeolian Islands
Italy

Wine tasting around Pinhao in the Duoro Valley
Portugal

Sampling wines in Saint Emilion
France

The Rioja Wine Region
Spain

Wine tasting in the Barossa Valley
Australia

A day in Porto for port tasting and wandering through the Ribeira district
Portugal

Wandering Bordeaux
France

Eger – wine tasting in the Valley of the Beautiful Women
Hungary

Score Detail

The scores above are the real point of this site.

Over 20+ years and 100+ countries, I’ve tried to rank the world’s best travel experiences - from genuinely mind-blowing ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to the properly gash.

Every one of the 500+ places on this site has both a Wow Factor rating and a more analytical Travel Experience (TE) score based on the things that actually make travel memorable.

If you're curious about the thinking behind it, head to the About page.

Otherwise, explore the map above or on the Home page and see which places truly deliver maximum wow.

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