Q & A

Subject: Burgundy Alsace Strasbourg

Question: My friend and I are flying into Brussels, Belgium on 12/27 and returning 12/31. Cheap air fare, but primary goal is to tour Eastern France, Western Germany. We both are into wine, so Burgundy and Alsace are high on our list. Interested in following: Restaurants, hotels in these two places. Any can't miss places to visit... Appreciate any advise you can offer. (also, am I correct Brussels to Dijon about 4 1/2 hour drive, Dijon to Strasbourg about 2 hours?)

Answer: My brother in law told me that Brussels to Dijon is around a five hour drive, Dijon to Strasbourg is about a three hour drive. I assume that you are going to the part of Burgundy around Dijon? If that’s the case I really don’t know any must see places because the part of Burgundy that I know is the area around Tournus, about an hour to the south from Dijon. With your time frame you might not have enough time for the extra driving it will take to go of the part of Burgundy I know. What I can do is ask my in-laws of any must see places around Dijon, I’ll get back to you if I find anything out.

Here is my list of things to see in Alsace- Strasbourg Centre Ville(center of the city) and Cathedral, Haut-Kœnigsbourh(Go for the view), Mont Sainte-Odile, Ecomusée d’Alsace(Living museum Alsace of near town of Ungersheim)and Route du vin d’Alsace( Wine road of Alsace). I have been to all these places and found then to be great. Any tourist office will have a map of the Route du vin d’Alsace, it is also marked, but you’ll want a map as not to get lost.

Also I have a web site, www.americansinfrance.net you might want to check it out, I talk about driving in France along with other practical info. Make sure what ever you do the car you rent runs on diesel, as it is much cheaper than gas. Try not to by gas on the Auotroute, the French highway system, as it is very expensive, supermarkets are to the cheapest places to buy gas. When you are driving to do wine tasting, look for signs with the word “Dégustation”, your being invited in to taste wine. Also look for “Caves”, they are wine stores that will have lots of different local wines with a good selection. If you do make it to the part of Burgundy around Tournus, my brother in law has a vineyard, Domaine de l’Echelle in the town of La Chapelle-sous-Brancion. He mostly has white wine, I am told that it is very good, as believe it or not I don’t drank wine. Also near by is the town of Chardonnay, I thought it was kind of cool going to the town where Chardonnay wines get their name.

With restaurants and hotels I am not too sure as my French wife is a very good cook and I stay with in-laws or we have our own place. I have to say it hard to find a bad French restaurant, but it is easy to find an expensive one.

One of my sponsors, Viator has guided tours in the Burgundy cities of Dijon and Auxerre.

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