France: Vineyards of Beaujolais

Depart home for France. The particulars of your arrival overseas are detailed with your flight itinerary.

Upon arrival at Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) Airport, make your independent travel arrangements to the center of Paris. For details, refer to your VBT Handbook.

Please note: Your hotel room may not be available until 3:00 p.m. If you arrive early, you may store your luggage with the reception desk. Please note for early morning arrivals, the hotel may charge an early check-in fee if your room is ready before the normal check-in time; this fee will be at your expense if you decide to check-in early.

VBT provides you with city information that includes information and recommendations for what to see and do in Paris. Enjoy the rest of the day to relax or to begin exploring the City of Light on your own.

See for yourself why Paris has inspired poets, lovers, emperors, and artists for centuries. Start with a stroll along the legendary Champs-Élysées, site of the final grueling yards of the Tour de France and the shopping boulevard of the city. Ascend the mammoth Arc de Triomphe if you wish, then follow the world’s most famous street to the Place de la Concorde, punctuated by the Egyptian obelisk, a gift from Egypt in 1829. The Louvre and its world-class art collection are another delightful walk away, through the Jardin des Tuileries, studded with statuary and 17^th-century gardens.

Make your independent travel arrangements from Paris to Mâcon. For details, refer to your VBT Handbook. Meet your VBT Local host at 1:00 p.m., along with any other VBT guests arriving on the same day, for your Welcome Orientation in the lobby of the Hotel Panorama 360 (4 Rue Paul Gateaud, 71000 Mâcon, France, Tel +33 3 85 50 20 42). Please be dressed and ready for cycling. Your Local host will be carrying a VBT sign and/or wearing a VBT garment.

The Welcome Orientation with your VBT Local host includes:

• An overview of the itinerary
• Bike fitting and equipment familiarization
• Review of the Ride with GPS navigation app
• Important contact information in case you need to reach your VBT Local host
• Safety briefing
• Local suggestions (restaurants, things to do, etc.)

Today’s short warm-up ride into the Beaujolais region – nestled in South Burgundy – provides a preview of this scenic area renowned for its culinary splendors and rich viniculture of light-bodied red wines and bright whites. This is the least crowded wine region of France, despite that it boasts one of the nation’s highest concentrations of vineyards, a world-renowned gastronomy, endless charming villages, a Mediterranean-like climate and gently rolling hills. It all makes for some of the most rewarding cycling in Europe, as you’ll soon discover.

You set out from your Mâcon hotel and follow the Saône River bike path. This stunning region rests between Burgundy to the north and the Rhône valley to the south. Romans arrived here in the 1st century, cultivating vast vineyards; some of their original plantings remain to this day. Later, Benedictine monks oversaw the wineries until the Duchy of Burgundy took them over in the 15th century. Mâcon is celebrated as the birthplace of Alphonse Lamartine, 19th-century poet and diplomat. Today, a pastiche of pastel-hued buildings line the Saône, made even more magnificent each spring when the cherry blossoms bloom. Your riverside ride introduces you to all its beauty and charm.

This evening, savor your first experience of Burgundian cuisine, perhaps sampling the famed beef bourguignon in its birthplace, accompanied by a light Gamay or Pinot gris.

Today’s Ride Choices

Mâcon loop — 27 km (17 miles)

What to Expect: The warm-up ride will give you the opportunity to become familiar with your bike as you cycle the fairly flat bike lanes of city streets and pedal out of Mâcon through some lower elevation wine villages and vineyards to the west bank of the Saône River. You encounter two ascents, one at the 4-km point (2.5 miles) and the next at the 8.3-km point (5 miles). Cross the Saône River and follow the fairly flat, low-traffic bike path back (a dirt road) to the center of Mâcon.

Included Meals: Breakfast

If you wish, take today to explore the Burgundian city of Mâcon. Stroll its cobbled streets, stopping at any of its inviting cafés to drink up the old-world atmosphere. The city is home to an array of churches of all sizes, from the Old Mâcon Cathedral to the newer Cathedral of Saint-Vincent. Or cross the Pont Saint-Laurent to the small village of Saint-Laurent-Sur-Saône.

On the bike, we have a couple of ways for you to, as the locals say, follow the grape! Pedal the flat Voie Bleue bike path, tracing the banks of the Saône. Varied birdlife keeps you company on this tranquil route. You leave the river behind to cycle into the wine country where the Chardonnay grape is grown and soon get to Viré. This charming hamlet was put on oenophiles’ maps after it partnered with its neighbor, Clessé, to create the Viré-Clessé appellation, today a producer of one of the region’s finest wines.

Today’s longer option takes you past vistas of massive rocky outcrops to a small village whose name is synonymous with one of the world’s most popular white wines: Chardonnay. The earliest record of Chardonnay wine dates to 1330, likely around the time when local Cistercian monks created the variety and distributed it throughout France. To protect their vineyards, the monks constructed stone walls; soon, a village of stone houses emerged around the lavoir, a stream-fed wash-house, and several domaines (wine producers).

Today’s Ride Choices

Mâcon to Viré short loop — 39.8 km (25 miles) | Mâcon to Chardonnay long loop — 59.1 km (37 miles)

What to Expect: Depart Mâcon in the morning, following the La Voie Bleue bike path north along the Saône River to the wine-making town of Viré. The long loop continues through rolling vineyards into the town of Chardonnay. Both loops return south on country roads and through villages to Mâcon, where you join bike lanes and encounter some busier traffic as you return to your city-center hotel.

Cumulative Distance Range: 25 – 37 miles

Included Meals: Breakfast

After breakfast, you depart Mâcon on a dedicated bike path, heading west on a gentle uphill out of the Saône River Valley. Your destination is the historic town of Cluny, the center of Christianity in the Middle Ages. The former abbey here was established by William I of Aquitaine in 910 AD and grew into the largest Christian complex in the world, until the construction of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. It was pillaged by the Huguenots in 1562 and later dynamited. Its richly carved stones were sold by an unscrupulous local priest. Today, some ten percent of the original structure remains, a haunting echo of its former self.

There’ll be time to explore the abbey and the town before following one of three routes (ranging from easy to challenging) to the enchanting village of Igé, and your next hotel set in a beautifully manicured, 10-acre park. At its center, you find a magical 13th-century manor house whose property includes a chapel, orchard and heated swimming pool. This splendid accommodation and fine-dining restaurant is overseen by the Michelin-starred chef Georges Blanc, celebrated for his award-winning cuisine and dedication to the region’s culinary heritage. Once you settle in, take time to explore the small village, then there is time to relax and indulge in the hotel’s swimming pool and grounds.

Savor a very special dinner this evening in the hotel’s eye-catching dining room. Georges Blanc earned his stripes in the kitchen as a “saucier” – a master sauce maker – a crucial skill in French cuisine. Your menu includes locally sourced products seasoned and cooked to perfection.

Today’s Ride Choices

Mâcon to Cluny — 30 km (19 miles) | Cluny to Igé short option — 23 km (14 miles) | Cluny to Igé via Cormatin long option — 40 km (25 miles)

What to Expect: Depart Mâcon on town streets for about 4 km (2.5 miles) before joining a packed gravel bike path on a former railway line designated a greenway, or voie verte in French. The path gradually ascends out of the Saône River valley past small towns, villages and vineyards, with views of the castle of Berzé-le-Châtel at about kilometer 19 (mile 12). You soon enter a long, well-lit tunnel for 1.6 km (.99 miles) and emerge at the other end in Cluny.

Included Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Depart Igé and pedal into the heart of the finest vineyards of Beaujolais. Choose an easy or a more challenging ride, each one delivering you to the appellations and villages. Ride into Pouilly-Fuissé, whose only grape variety is the Chardonnay. Admire the neat and tidy town of Saint-Amour. And pass through the tiny valley village of Juliénas. No matter your route, you also have the chance to gaze upon the impressive Rock of Solutré, a breathtaking limestone escarpment offering stunning views of the Beaujolais region and its many vineyards. The protected natural area and its impressive rock not only oversees a distinctive grassland; it also hosted the Solutrean paleolithic culture some 52,000 years ago. Today, a fascinating prehistoric site and an illuminating museum chronicle the primitive people. What’s more, the trails around the rock proved a favorite walking route of President François Mitterand. This is one of France’s most beloved treasures.

Continue cycling through scenic, rolling vineyards, passing through delightful villages like Le Moulin à Vent and Romanèche-Thorins, with its scenic windmill. Later, you arrive at your accommodation for the next two nights, a château wine estate surrounded by 200 acres of vineyards and a 17th-century garden designed by Le Nôtre, the celebrated landscape architect of Versailles. Once settled into your comfortable room, you are welcome at an extra expense to follow the château’s self-guided wine trail, interesting for both wine aficionados and novices.

For dinner on your own, you may choose to dine at your hotel’s fine-dining restaurant (dinner is included here tomorrow night) or take the short taxi ride into the nearby historic town of Belleville. Here, you can view the 12th-century Notre Dame church and choose from suggested restaurants.

Today’s Ride Choices

Château d’Igé to Château de Pizay short option — 43 km (26 miles) | Château d’Igé to Château de Pizay long option — 51 km (32 miles)

What to Expect: The route rolls out of Igé on a gentle descent. Crossing the route to Cluny, you ascend on narrow roads, weaving in and out of vineyards and villages that have been producing wine for centuries.

Included Meals: Breakfast

Spend today as you wish, taking advantage of the amenities and vinicultural offerings at your château, exploring more of Belleville or heading out on your choice of several exhilarating rides. Or enjoy a little of each!

If you choose to cycle, select from three routes we’ve planned for you. Today’s longer option follows roads into some of Beaujolais’ 39 villages of Golden Stone, or Pierres dorées, a charming cluster of stone hamlets surrounded by vistas of rolling hills and fertile vineyards that many have compared to Tuscany. The buildings get their warm golden hue from the locally quarried limestone tinged with iron oxide. This luminous stone was used in the construction of Lyon and other parts of Beaujolais, taken from a quarry that has been abandoned since World War I.

A shorter, more leisurely ride keeps you “close to home,” ideal if you’d like an easy, mellow outing just to keep your legs moving. You cross the Saône and ride along a riverside bike path, then enjoy gentle hills through vineyards and villages. To get in more miles, follow our third route, a challenging spin on the voie verte, or greenway, to a bike path with a gradual ascent to 2,520 feet and a nice coast past more wineries and hamlets.

Back at the château, immerse yourself in the wine culture of Beaujolais. Enjoy a relaxing stroll along the vineyard’s walking trails, perhaps following the romantic “wine history walk in the park.” At an additional expense, attend a wine initiation course or a self-guided wine educational tour and tasting in the onsite Oenotheque. You might also take a dip in the heated outdoor swimming pool, get in a match at the tennis court and (at additional cost) treat yourself to a massage or other spa treatment.

An elegant dinner is included in the fine-dining restaurant of your château, a fitting end to celebrate your exploration of Beaujolais. Depending on the weather, enjoy the stylishly decorated historic dining room or dine al fresco in the castle’s courtyard.

Today’s Ride Choices

Château de Pizay southern Beaujolais loop — 32 km (20 miles) | Château de Pizay to Beaujeu challenging option — 46.1 km (30 miles)

What To Expect:

Château de Pizay southern Beaujolais loop

villagesthen cross back over the Saône and gently ascend through vineyards and villages. You reach your maximum elevation of approximately 1,000 feet at the 24-kilometer mark (15 miles), then gently roll back to the Ardiere River Valley, joining the Beaujolais Greenway back to your hotel.

Château de Pizay to Beaujeu challenging option

villages, and into an easy coast through vineyards and villages to your hotel.

Included Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Enjoy breakfast at your hotel. Check-out is at 10:00 a.m. when complimentary transportation of about 45 minutes to the Hotel Carlton Lyon MGallery by Sofitel (4 rue Jussieu, Lyon), in the heart of Lyon. Your hotel is located on the Presqu’île, where the city’s major sites of interest are found. VBT provides you with city information and recommendations for what to see and do in Lyon. Use the rest of the day to relax or to begin exploring.

France’s gastronomic capital is renowned for its coq au vin, or chicken with wine, and quenelles de brochet, or mousse of pike. Lyon’s 1,235 acres have been named a UNESCO World Heritage site, and its streets and their stately structures reveal the city’s 2,000 years of urban development. The heart of the city lies on a thin peninsula between the Rhône and Saône rivers. It’s easy to imagine canuts, or silk merchants of old, zigzagging through the maze of old-world streets, cutting through the purpose-built narrow passageways known as traboules. Much of the city is a UNESCO World Heritage site, renowned as an urban “site of great commercial and strategic significance.” After exploring these intimate warrens of Vieux Lyon (Old Lyon), you might ascend Fourvière Hill, where the splendid Basilique de Notre Dame gazes out over the city.

Included Meals: Breakfast

After breakfast* this morning, allow yourself a minimum of 3 hours prior to your flight departure to get to Lyon–Saint Exupéry Airport (LYS); for details, refer to your VBT Handbook. This timeframe includes at least 30 minutes by taxi or a maximum of 1 hour by public transportation, and 2 hours of recommended pre-flight check-in time.

*Please note: For guests with early-morning departures, breakfast at the hotel may not be available. Please check with the front desk to verify the times that breakfast is served.

Included Meals: Breakfast

We suggest arriving in France at least one day prior to the tour start date. Make your independent travel arrangements to Mâcon. For details, refer to your VBT Handbook. Meet your VBT Local host at 1:00 p.m., along with any other VBT guests arriving on the same day, for your Welcome Orientation in the lobby of the Hotel Panorama 360 (4 Rue Paul Gateaud, 71000 Mâcon, France, Tel +33 3 85 50 20 42). Please be dressed and ready for cycling. Your Local host will be carrying a VBT sign and/or wearing a VBT garment.

The Welcome Orientation with your VBT Local host includes:

• An overview of the itinerary
• Bike fitting and equipment familiarization
• Review of the Ride with GPS navigation app
• Important contact information in case you need to reach your VBT Local host
• Safety briefing
• Local suggestions (restaurants, things to do, etc.)

Today’s short warm-up ride into the Beaujolais region – nestled in South Burgundy – provides a preview of this scenic area renowned for its culinary splendors and rich viniculture of light-bodied red wines and bright whites. This is the least crowded wine region of France, despite that it boasts one of the nation’s highest concentrations of vineyards, a world-renowned gastronomy, endless charming villages, a Mediterranean-like climate and gently rolling hills. It all makes for some of the most rewarding cycling in Europe, as you’ll soon discover.

You set out from your Mâcon hotel and follow the Saône River bike path. This stunning region rests between Burgundy to the north and the Rhône valley to the south. Romans arrived here in the 1st century, cultivating vast vineyards; some of their original plantings remain to this day. Later, Benedictine monks oversaw the wineries until the Duchy of Burgundy took them over in the 15th century. Mâcon is celebrated as the birthplace of Alphonse Lamartine, 19th-century poet and diplomat. Today, a pastiche of pastel-hued buildings line the Saône, made even more magnificent each spring when the cherry blossoms bloom. Your riverside ride introduces you to all its beauty and charm.

This evening, savor your first experience of Burgundian cuisine, perhaps sampling the famed beef bourguignon in its birthplace, accompanied by a light Gamay or Pinot gris.

Today’s Ride Choices

Mâcon loop — 27 km (17 miles)

What to Expect: The warm-up ride will give you the opportunity to become familiar with your bike as you cycle the fairly flat bike lanes of city streets and pedal out of Mâcon through some lower elevation wine villages and vineyards to the west bank of the Saône River. You encounter two ascents, one at the 4-km point (2.5 miles) and the next at the 8.3-km point (5 miles). Cross the Saône River and follow the fairly flat, low-traffic bike path back (a dirt road) to the center of Mâcon.

Cumulative Distance Range: 27 km (17 miles)

If you wish, take today to explore the Burgundian city of Mâcon. Stroll its cobbled streets, stopping at any of its inviting cafés to drink up the old-world atmosphere. The city is home to an array of churches of all sizes, from the Old Mâcon Cathedral to the newer Cathedral of Saint-Vincent. Or cross the Pont Saint-Laurent to the small village of Saint-Laurent-Sur-Saône.

On the bike, we have a couple of ways for you to, as the locals say, follow the grape! Pedal the flat Voie Bleue bike path, tracing the banks of the Saône. Varied birdlife keeps you company on this tranquil route. You leave the river behind to cycle into the wine country where the Chardonnay grape is grown and soon get to Viré. This charming hamlet was put on oenophiles’ maps after it partnered with its neighbor, Clessé, to create the Viré-Clessé appellation, today a producer of one of the region’s finest wines.

Today’s longer option takes you past vistas of massive rocky outcrops to a small village whose name is synonymous with one of the world’s most popular white wines: Chardonnay. The earliest record of Chardonnay wine dates to 1330, likely around the time when local Cistercian monks created the variety and distributed it throughout France. To protect their vineyards, the monks constructed stone walls; soon, a village of stone houses emerged around the lavoir, a stream-fed wash-house, and several domaines (wine producers).

Today’s Ride Choices

Mâcon to Viré short loop — 39.8 km (25 miles) | Mâcon to Chardonnay long loop — 59.1 km (37 miles)

What to Expect: Depart Mâcon in the morning, following the La Voie Bleue bike path north along the Saône River to the wine-making town of Viré. The long loop continues through rolling vineyards into the town of Chardonnay. Both loops return south on country roads and through villages to Mâcon, where you join bike lanes and encounter some busier traffic as you return to your city-center hotel.

Cumulative Distance Range: 25 – 37 miles

Included Meals: Breakfast

After breakfast, you depart Mâcon on a dedicated bike path, heading west on a gentle uphill out of the Saône River Valley. Your destination is the historic town of Cluny, the center of Christianity in the Middle Ages. The former abbey here was established by William I of Aquitaine in 910 AD and grew into the largest Christian complex in the world, until the construction of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. It was pillaged by the Huguenots in 1562 and later dynamited. Its richly carved stones were sold by an unscrupulous local priest. Today, some ten percent of the original structure remains, a haunting echo of its former self.

There’ll be time to explore the abbey and the town before following one of three routes (ranging from easy to challenging) to the enchanting village of Igé, and your next hotel set in a beautifully manicured, 10-acre park. At its center, you find a magical 13th-century manor house whose property includes a chapel, orchard and heated swimming pool. This splendid accommodation and fine-dining restaurant is overseen by the Michelin-starred chef Georges Blanc, celebrated for his award-winning cuisine and dedication to the region’s culinary heritage. Once you settle in, take time to explore the small village, then there is time to relax and indulge in the hotel’s swimming pool and grounds.

Savor a very special dinner this evening in the hotel’s eye-catching dining room. Georges Blanc earned his stripes in the kitchen as a “saucier” – a master sauce maker – a crucial skill in French cuisine. Your menu includes locally sourced products seasoned and cooked to perfection.

Today’s Ride Choices

Mâcon to Cluny — 30 km (19 miles) | Cluny to Igé short option — 23 km (14 miles) | Cluny to Igé via Cormatin long option — 40 km (25 miles)

What to Expect: Depart Mâcon on town streets for about 4 km (2.5 miles) before joining a packed gravel bike path on a former railway line designated a greenway, or voie verte in French. The path gradually ascends out of the Saône River valley past small towns, villages and vineyards, with views of the castle of Berzé-le-Châtel at about kilometer 19 (mile 12). You soon enter a long, well-lit tunnel for 1.6 km (.99 miles) and emerge at the other end in Cluny.

Included Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Depart Igé and pedal into the heart of the finest vineyards of Beaujolais. Choose an easy or a more challenging ride, each one delivering you to the appellations and villages. Ride into Pouilly-Fuissé, whose only grape variety is the Chardonnay. Admire the neat and tidy town of Saint-Amour. And pass through the tiny valley village of Juliénas. No matter your route, you also have the chance to gaze upon the impressive Rock of Solutré, a breathtaking limestone escarpment offering stunning views of the Beaujolais region and its many vineyards. The protected natural area and its impressive rock not only oversees a distinctive grassland; it also hosted the Solutrean paleolithic culture some 52,000 years ago. Today, a fascinating prehistoric site and an illuminating museum chronicle the primitive people. What’s more, the trails around the rock proved a favorite walking route of President François Mitterand. This is one of France’s most beloved treasures.

Continue cycling through scenic, rolling vineyards, passing through delightful villages like Le Moulin à Vent and Romanèche-Thorins, with its scenic windmill. Later, you arrive at your accommodation for the next two nights, a château wine estate surrounded by 200 acres of vineyards and a 17th-century garden designed by Le Nôtre, the celebrated landscape architect of Versailles. Once settled into your comfortable room, you are welcome at an extra expense to follow the château’s self-guided wine trail, interesting for both wine aficionados and novices.

For dinner on your own, you may choose to dine at your hotel’s fine-dining restaurant (dinner is included here tomorrow night) or take the short taxi ride into the nearby historic town of Belleville. Here, you can view the 12th-century Notre Dame church and choose from suggested restaurants.

Today’s Ride Choices

Château d’Igé to Château de Pizay short option — 43 km (26 miles) | Château d’Igé to Château de Pizay long option — 51 km (32 miles)

What to Expect: The route rolls out of Igé on a gentle descent. Crossing the route to Cluny, you ascend on narrow roads, weaving in and out of vineyards and villages that have been producing wine for centuries.

Included Meals: Breakfast

Spend today as you wish, taking advantage of the amenities and vinicultural offerings at your château, exploring more of Belleville or heading out on your choice of several exhilarating rides. Or enjoy a little of each!

If you choose to cycle, select from three routes we’ve planned for you. Today’s longer option follows roads into some of Beaujolais’ 39 villages of Golden Stone, or Pierres dorées, a charming cluster of stone hamlets surrounded by vistas of rolling hills and fertile vineyards that many have compared to Tuscany. The buildings get their warm golden hue from the locally quarried limestone tinged with iron oxide. This luminous stone was used in the construction of Lyon and other parts of Beaujolais, taken from a quarry that has been abandoned since World War I.

A shorter, more leisurely ride keeps you “close to home,” ideal if you’d like an easy, mellow outing just to keep your legs moving. You cross the Saône and ride along a riverside bike path, then enjoy gentle hills through vineyards and villages. To get in more miles, follow our third route, a challenging spin on the voie verte, or greenway, to a bike path with a gradual ascent to 2,520 feet and a nice coast past more wineries and hamlets.

Back at the château, immerse yourself in the wine culture of Beaujolais. Enjoy a relaxing stroll along the vineyard’s walking trails, perhaps following the romantic “wine history walk in the park.” At an additional expense, attend a wine initiation course or a self-guided wine educational tour and tasting in the onsite Oenotheque. You might also take a dip in the heated outdoor swimming pool, get in a match at the tennis court and (at additional cost) treat yourself to a massage or other spa treatment.

An elegant dinner is included in the fine-dining restaurant of your château, a fitting end to celebrate your exploration of Beaujolais. Depending on the weather, enjoy the stylishly decorated historic dining room or dine al fresco in the castle’s courtyard.

Today’s Ride Choices

Château de Pizay southern Beaujolais loop — 32 km (20 miles) | Château de Pizay to Beaujeu challenging option — 46.1 km (30 miles)

What To Expect:

Château de Pizay southern Beaujolais loop

villagesthen cross back over the Saône and gently ascend through vineyards and villages. You reach your maximum elevation of approximately 1,000 feet at the 24-kilometer mark (15 miles), then gently roll back to the Ardiere River Valley, joining the Beaujolais Greenway back to your hotel.

Château de Pizay to Beaujeu challenging option

villages, and into an easy coast through vineyards and villages to your hotel.

Included Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Enjoy breakfast at your hotel. Check-out is at 10:00 a.m., when complimentary transportation of about 45 minutes is provided to Lyon and the Hotel Carlton Lyon MGallery by Sofitel (4 rue Jussieu, Lyon). Your tour concludes here, and you may make your arrangements to your next destination. For details, refer to your VBT Handbook. If you are flying home, note that airline schedules might prevent you from departing for the U.S. today. Please check airline schedules carefully. If you plan to schedule return flights immediately following the tour’s conclusion, please call your airline directly for specific check-in requirements.

If you are departing Belleville on your own and do not require VBT transportation to Lyon, note that the Belleville-en-Beaujolais train station on the main train line between Paris and Lyon is a short taxi ride (2.6 miles) from your hotel.

Included Meals: Breakfast