Known as “the daughter of Cluny,” the Collégiale Notre-Dame, pl. du Général Leclerc, is a Romanesque church dating from 1120. Some remarkable 15th-century tapestries illustrating scenes from the life of the Virgin Mary are on display in the sanctuary, and you can view them from April to mid-November (days and times vary). Admission is 3€ for adults, 2€ for children 12 to 18, and free for children 11 and under.

The best shopping streets are rue de Lorraine, rue d’Alsace, rue Maufoux, and place de la Madeleine. For smaller boutiques, stroll down the pedestrian rue Carnot and rue Monge. You’ll encounter plenty of designer labels, vintners, and antiques dealers. Just beyond the historic center, Moutarderie Edmond Fallot, at 31 rue Bretonnière (fallot.com; tel. 03-80-22-10-10) claims to be the last family-owned mustard mill in Burgundy. Open since 1840, it offers factory tours and tastings, and, of course, has a shop.

Every Saturday morning (7am-1pm), the streets around place de la Halle and place de Fleury are chock-a-block with Burgundy’s liveliest market. The most serious meat and cheese producers have their stalls in Les Halles.

Consider learning how to cook with all this mouth-watering produce with American expat chef Marjorie Taylor at her beautiful cooling school;  The Cook’s Atelier (www.thecooksatelier.com; tel. 03-80-24-61-80).

Wine Touring

In 2015, Les Climats du vignoble de Bourgogne (Burgundy vineyards) became a UNESCO World Heritage Site, marking their importance. Beaune is the epicenter of Burgundian winemaking, with many of the world’s most coveted and expensive wine appellations within a 1 hr. drive. To the north lies the Côte de Nuits, famed for its red Pinot Noir vineyards with legendary appellations such as Romanée-Conti and Richebourg. To the south lies the Côte de Beaune, home to the great names of white chardonnay wines such as Meursault and Chassagne-Montrachet.

You may want to start your wine tour in Beaune with a visit to the Maison des Climats (at the tourist office; same hours; free), a discovery center, to get an overview of the wine-producing area and find out why it got listed by UNESCO. Beaune is where many of Burgundy’s négociants (wine merchants who process and bottle the produce of smaller winemakers and then sell under their own name) have their bases. As well as being able to simply turn up with no appointment, you’ll often be able to taste a wider variety of appellations than at an individual vineyard. Patriarche Père et Fils (www.patriarche.com; tel. 03-80-24-53-78) offers 1-hour visits to its fabulous 13th- to 14th-century vaulted tasting cellars where millions of bottles are held along 5km (3 miles) of underground cellars; it’s open daily from 9:30 to 11:15am and 2 to 5:15pm; admission is 20€. Bouchard Père et Fils, 15 rue du Château (www.bouchard-pereetfils.com; tel. 03-80-24-80-45) has cellars in the 15th-century Castle of Beaune, a former royal fortress. A guided tour in English is available by reservation and costs 119€ or 139€, including tastings of 8 premium wines. Just opposite the celebrated Hôtel-Dieu, the Marché aux Vins (www.marcheauxvins.com; tel. 03-80-25-08-20) is housed in a former Cordeliers church. With over 100 hectares (247 acres) of vineyards, this wine négociant offers a wide range of appellations to taste. Tastings of five wines cost 25€ and seven wines cost 59€. It’s open daily  with tours leaving between 10 and 11am, and 2 to 5pm. On the northern outskirts of town on the D18, Maison Louis Jadot (www.louisjadot.com; tel. 03-80-26-31-98),is open for a tasting and a visit to its modern cellars Monday to Friday from 3 to 7pm and Saturday from 11:30am to 5:30pm, and costs 20€.

If you fancy visiting vineyards outside Beaune, head south along D974 to the Château de Pommard, 15 rue Marey Monge (www.chateaudepommard.com; tel. 03-80-22-07-99), the largest privately-owned estate in the Côte d’Or. Built for Messire Vivant de Micault, equerry and secretary of Louis XVI in 1726, this castle was bought in 2014 by the Carabello-Baum family from San Francisco. You can pre-book one of several “experiences,” from the 45-minute long introduction to Burgundy’s climats and their wine (25€) to an hour-long private tasting of six wines (95€).

Next, you can head farther along the D974 to the Château de Meursault (www.meursault.com; tel. 03-80-26-22-75). This domaine owns over 60 hectares (148 acres) of vineyards covering appellations such as Aloxe Corton, Pommard, Puligny-Montrachet, and of course Meursault. You should pre-book for a visit to the cellars of this fabulous 19th-century castle, followed by a tasting of eight wines in the art gallery for 49€ (55€ if you just turn up). It is open daily 10am to noon and 2 to 6pm (no lunchtime closure May to September). For food and wine pairing opt for their En Vigne offer (115€, which takes place at Loiseau des Vignes in Beaune, another Bernard Loiseau institution. 

You may also like to stop for a wine-tasting lunch along the way at La Table d’Olivier Leflaive, 10 pl. du Monument in Puligny-Montrachet (hotel.olivier-leflaive.com/le-bistro-d-olivier; tel. 03-80-21-95-27), which costs 35€ and 90€ on top of the fixed-price menu (40€), depending on the accompanying wines.

For those who’d like to visit independent family winegrowers but don’t know where to start, Burgundy by Request (www.burgundybyrequest.com; tel. 06-85-65-83-83), run by English expat Tracy Thurling, should be your first port of call. Cristina Otel of Burgundy Wine School (www.burgundywineschool.com; tel. 06-68-84-24-28) is a highly qualified winemaker whose courses and tours offer a more in-depth knowledge of the local AOCs. A good introduction to grape varieties is also offered by Sensation Vin at rue Paul Bouchard in Beaune (www.sensation-vin.com; tel. 03-80-22-17-57) during their “Essential Burgundy” session, Monday to Friday at 11am, that lasts 1 hr. and costs 50€.

Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip.