Burgundy
Come for the wine, leave considerably later
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Burgundy has a habit of bringing people together without trying too hard. Someone wanders off towards a wine cellar, someone else disappears into a village market and another claims they are only here for the scenery. Then lunch happens and suddenly everyone reappears. Food and wine have a tendency to extend the afternoon here. Between vineyards, canal paths and shared conversations, days unfold less like plans and more like small returns.
Drift aboard Marguerite
Marguerite has room for eight guests, which happens to be just enough for grandparents, siblings, cousins and at least one person who said they were “only coming for a few days.” Privately chartered, Belmond’s floating home drifts through Burgundy’s canals at cycling speed. Literally. Life on deck settles naturally between sun-dappled waters, a dip in the pool and leisurely walks along the canal.
Spend some time at Hospices de Beaune
Dijon may be Burgundy’s capital, but Beaune has long handled the wine side of things. The colourful roofs of Hospices de Beaune tend to attract attention immediately. Built in the 15th century as a hospital, it now hosts one of the world’s most famous wine auctions. Burgundy apparently looked at charitable healthcare and thought: this could also involve exceptional wine.
Cycle from village to village
The Voie des Vignes cycling route winds gently from Beaune to Santenay through vineyards, and villages where bakeries appear exactly when morale begins to drop. Younger legs race ahead, others stop in Meursault for coffee or in Puligny-Montrachet for wine. Everyone somehow arrives together eventually.
Meet Époisses
Wine may get most of the attention here, but Burgundy has another personality entirely: Époisses cheese. Soft, rich and famously aromatic, it arrives with a reputation that usually enters the room first. Napoleon reportedly loved it. Others need a little convincing. Either way, it tends to create immediate conversation around the table.
Essential Burgundy
In eastern France, Burgundy stretches between vineyards, medieval villages and countryside shaped by centuries of wine culture. More than 1,000 kilometres of canals and waterways weave through the region, making slower journeys on the water feel remarkably natural here. Cistercian monks spent years mapping Burgundy’s vineyards with remarkable precision, which in retrospect feels like a very reasonable use of time. Burgundy appears to have kept the habit ever since.
Where it is
Burgundy, eastern France
(between Paris and Lyon)
When to go
May to June for vineyard landscapes and quieter villages
September to October for harvest season and autumn colours
Why go there
Slow travel
Vineyard landscapes
Canal journeys
Long lunches
Wine culture
Gathering naturally
What to see
La Marguerite
Hospices de Beaune
Voie des Vignes
Beaune
Époisses-sur-Ozerain
