• Medieval Burgundy Explorer

• From the beginning of April to the end of October (depending on availability)

• 7 night holiday (without car): From £1075 / €1190
• Price per person based on 2 sharing a room
• Please consult us for price of holiday with 5, 6, 8 or 9 nights and single supplements
• Loyalty scheme reduction applies for returning customers (see terms and conditions)

• 7 nights: 6 days three-centre independent walking holiday.

• Walking through pretty historic villages with medieval castles and romanesque style churches
• A picturesque Burgundy landscape of rolling hills, valleys covered in vines and rocky outcrops providing great views as far as the Alps
• Visiting historic monuments
• Visiting the historic town of Cluny with the remains of its influential abbey.
• This multi-centre-based walking holiday can be tailor-made to suit your wishes
  
• Variety of landscapes & range of historic architecture

• 7 nights accommodation in charming, very comfortable, chambres d'hôtes style guest houses and 3 star hotels, double and twin rooms with own bathrooms.
• All breakfasts included, 4 picnic lunches and 5 delicious evening meals

1. 7 nights accommodation
2. All breakfasts included, 4 picnic lunches and 5 evening meals
3. Detailed walking notes and maps
4. Transfers between accommodation with luggage
5. Transfer between Lyon and southern Burgundy at start and end of holiday

1. Travel between the UK and Lyon, France
2. Lunches on the day of arrival and departure
3. Two lunches and two evening meals
4. Drinks
5. Any excursions or entrance fees
6. Travel insurance

Return to our full list of self-guided walking holidays

Walking profile

The walks on this independent walking holiday average about 15km per day over undulating terrain. Individual ascents and descents are generally no more than 150m at a time, with a maximum of 500m in a day. You can alternate between longer and shorter walks, so as to allow time to recover and take advantage of some of the interesting sites on route. The paths are generally good, although they can be rough and stony in places.

Day 1: Arrival

Your French walking holiday starts with a welcome in Lyon and transfer to guest house.

Walks from first accommodation in Fuisse

Roche de Solutre

This walk explores the rocky outcrops which characterise this part of the southern Burgundy. Enjoyable walk through Chardonnay vines of the famous Pouilly Fuisse label to the villages of Pouilly and Solutre. Then climb to the summit of Roche de Solutre for spectacular 360 degree views. The site has a rich wildlife and is also an important archaeological site which you can discover in its museum. You can choose to extend the trail via the adjacent summit of Vergisson. 13km or 22km, +320m or +650m

Historic villages

This circular trail goes via several pretty historic villages on the border between the Beaujolais and Burgundy including Chanes and St Verand with their impressive churches built from a warm limestone. You'll return via the village of Leynes its historic buildings built from a local outcrop of sandstone. Finish back in Fuisse, a wonderful historic village and famous for its Pouilly-Fuisse wines. 16km, +300m

Berzé - Village and chateau (with car)

Explore some of the finest historic monuments of the region. You will first explore the historic village of Berzé la Ville with its pretty stone houses with double arcades decorated with flowers and supported by slender columns. Afterwards you'll ascend to the top of the Roche Coche which provides fantastic views over the village. Undulating pastures will lead you to the impressive 13th century chateau Berzé le Chatel with its 3 defensive walls and 13 towers. After lunch you can visit the chateau and then return by the hamlet of Vernay, little changed in centuries, and the chateau des Moines. 14km, +280m

Walks from second base in Cluny

Cluny

Explore the town of Cluny one of the most important historic towns of the region. Cluny grew up around the Benedictine Abbey which was founded in 910AD. Enjoy looking around the ruins of the Abbey and the historic medieval properties that line the pretty streets.

Rolling green hills

Explore the rolling hills to the west of Cluny. This is an unspoilt and picturesque area with good views of the surrounding countryside as you pass through small hamlets and fields grazed by charolais cows. 18km, +350m

Blanot and the Grisson Valley (with a car)

Explore the upper part of the pretty and secluded Grisson valley. A number of hamlets sit on bluffs just above the stream which meanders through a tapestry of green pastures and willows. Our route will follow this valley before rising up onto the hills above to find the village of Donzy which seems to date from another era. Our walk will finish by exploring the historic village of Blanot with its remarkable stone dwellings and its clunisien church and priory. Wine tasting visit. 16km, +280m

Walks from third base near Brancion

Brancion

A relatively short walk which starts by descending to the west and passes by historic farmsteads and the chateau of Nobles before reaching the charming village of Chapelles sous Brancion with its historic buildings surrounding the pretty village church. After a walk through pretty countryside with good views, climb to reach the hill top medieval village of Brancion. The fortified site is surrounded by its defensive walls with its well preserved stone buildings which include the chateau (which can be visited - parts of which date from about 1000AD), the 12th century church and the impressive market hall built just after the religious wars. 11km, +300m

Ozenay and Vines

Head east and pass through a landscape of vines, woodland and pretty villages such as Martailly les Briancon, Ozenay and Royer with romanesque churches. Ozenay is particularly picturesque with its historic chateau and pretty houses. 16km, +300m

Chapaize & Cormatin (with a car)

Your walk starts from Cormatin with its beautiful 16th century chateau which you can visit. The circuit passes though undulating countryside of vines and fields to reach the remarkable villages of Chapaize, Ougy and Bissy-sous-Uxelles. Chapaize has a wonderful 11th century church. 17km, +200m

Departure

Breakfast and transfer to Lyon.