Both are great! I would highly suggest spending 3 nights in each town, or, even better, 2 nights in each + 2 nights in one of the vineyard villages: Chambolle Musigny and Vougeot have hotels and chateaux and Gevrey Chambertin has several possibilities, overlooking the vines (Hotel des Grands Crus has the best view).

Bon voyage!

That is how I was leaning, splitting it up. Thank you for your post.

Good advice there, I would add Chateau Ziltener in Chambolle Musigny which got great reviews.

Bienvenue en Cote d'or (and on TA board) :-)

Dijon is a city with about 150,000 inhabitants while Beaune is a small town with under 25,000, which does make a difference to the feel of the two places.

If you're focussing on food and drink, that sounds like it's a priority to have a good dinner each evening. If so, it could make sense to move on a couple of times at least, possibly even choosing your hotel according to their dinner menu! Lameloise in Chagny? Another idea is http://www.olivier-leflaive.com - table and rooms, which is on our list to visit sometime.

All that said, if I had to choose one base, it would be Beaune ... but then again, it would be a shame to be limited .....

This is great stuff and very helpful. Thanks

We have stayed in Dijon two times in a charming apartment, www.myhomeindijon.com. It is centrally located and you can walk to many restuarants and points of interest. We did not have a car but we took the train to Beaune. It goes back and forth several times a day.

The Cote d'Or of Burgundy is a very small area. Tourism is low even though October will be the tail end of harvest time when there will be more activities. As one of the respondents have said, Hotel des Grands Crus on the edge of the village of Gevrey-Chambertin is a great place to stay. It is very refined without being overly formal. They do serve wine but do not serve food except for breakfast. You can walk from there to several restaurants in Gevrey-Chambertin. Beaune is fine as well with more hotel choices from quaint to modern and restaurants are accessable on foot. None there will be as nice as having vines grown up to the building at the des Grands Crus. With concentration on food and wine, do not miss chances to picnic along the low walls of Burgundian vineyards. There are places to pick up prepared food, cheeses and wine practically in every village. Around the vineyard of Clos Vougeot is a good place to picnic.

My husband and I are leaving this Saturday for a two week trip to France. This is our third trip to France and we chose to begin our journey in Beaune as we prefer its size over Dijon. We will stay for four nights in a small B&B (our room apparently looks over the vineyards) just a short walk outside the walls of the town then our fifth night we are off to Olivier Leflaive. Since we are going there for lunch and indulging in the Oliver Table and all its wines we thought it best to stay put for the evening. Making reservations with Domaine Leflaive was an exercise in patience trying to get acknowledgement and confirmation for lunch and accommodation reservations which we finally did. If you choose to book with them, be patient and persistent and hopefully your reservation process will be a smooth one.

Other than that, splitting your stay between the two main locations is a great idea if you have not spent time in either before. The distance is rather short and both places are incredible and so is everything in between.

After Burgundy we are off to the Champagne region where we are staying for three nights at Domaine Ployez Jacquemart (champagne producer), then off to Paris for four nights staying at Hotel Muguet which promises to be a totally smoke free hotel, rare in Paris!

Good luck with you plans and enjoy every moment.

Just got back from a 3 night stay in Dijon. Stayed at a WONDERFUL loft. www.dijon-rentahome. 21 Rue Berbisey. It was even nicer than the photos, and very reasonable. Easy walk to many restaurants, as well as the Dijon Market on Tuesday. We'd rather be in town, and go out to the vineyards. There are several companies that offer tours to wineries, either full or half day. The owners of the apartment do a full day, which sounded quite nice, but was booked. Have fun!

I debated the same options for a trip in February. I was in Paris for business, so I added 3 extra days to my trip. I ended up staying in Dijon and took the train to Beaune one day which was very easy. I much preferred Beaune. It's all about wine and food there, and it's very quaint. Dijon was OK, but I prefer the experience of a small town. It's a very charming town that has everything you need.

Mosty importantly giving your interest in wine and food, Beaune has many options for wine tastings and the vineyards are near by.

I vote for Beaune. You can alway take the train to Dijon to explore historical sites for a day and then return to Beaune.

Amy