A first-time guide to Beaujolais

08.10.2024 - 13:35 / lonelyplanet.com

Oct 8, 2024 • 6 min read

It’s impossible not to relax in Beaujolais. Calm roads criss-cross through green vineyards, golden-stone villages and forest trails. Throw in a wine-tasting or two and you’ll be breathing more deeply and untensing your shoulders before you know it. 

Beaujolais is the perfect destination for independent travelers looking for a quintessentially French experience without hassle. You can cover a lot of ground and experiences in two days without feeling rushed and leaving plenty of time for spontaneity. Just 40 minutes from Lyon but a world away from urban life, this compact region packs a punch that’s more than their world famous wine.

With high temperatures in August topping out at 26℃ (78℉), the region can make for a pleasant escape from city heat in the summer, though if you visit at the weekends, you will be joined by plenty of Lyonnaise locals looking for fresh country air.

Autumn makes for an exciting time to coincide with the wine harvest and stunning autumnal covers creeping over the region’s greenery. Celebrations such as Fete du Paradis and the Vendanges Musicales festival carry on the celebratory feeling. 

Beaujolais is relatively compact and with decent roads, even in the most rural parts. With a car, you can see a good deal of the region in two days, with plenty of time to explore small villages and take detours to interesting winemakers whose signs you will undoubtedly pass along the way. 

A longer trip will be rewarded with uncovering the often overlooked delights of Beaujolais Vert, including excellent hiking trails, a UNESCO Global Geopark and plenty of outdoor activities to try your hand at.

For international travelers, Lyon is the easiest jumping off point to explore the region. You can get to Beaujolais from Lyon center by train in 40 minutes or drive from Lyon airport in 45 minutes, making it a favorite weekend destination for the Lyonnaise. Trains from other major destinations like Paris and Geneva go through Lyon first.

Getting to the region is easy by public transport but after that you’re on your own. You can hire a car at Lyon airport, Villefranche-sur-Saone station or Macon station. Bike tours are becoming more common with electric bikes being the standard to tackle those rolling hills. 

Guided tours like those Semita Tours offer, can bring you around vineyards and villages and even on wine tasting without a car, giving you access to small, rural tracks largely unused except by cyclists, walkers and the odd farmer. 

With more than 2,000 wine makers across 12 appellations, you’ll be spoiled for choice for wine tastings. History lovers will love the emblematic Château de la Chaize, home to Beaujolais’ longest wine cellar and stunning gardens planted by Versailles’