Worth getting out of bed for...

Viewpoint

Climb the 315 steps of the Philippe le Bon Tower in Dijon for a splendid view over the rooftops of the city’s well-preserved mediaeval quarter.

Arts and culture

Located in Dijon’s magnificent Ducal Palace, the Musée des Beaux-Arts (mba.dijon.fr) has collections both ancient (Egyptian art) and modern (20th century). In Autun on the Rue des Bancs, the Musée Rolin is a cultural archive of the area, housing an impressive restored mosaic of Bellerophon from the 2nd century (www.autun.com). Castles are fairy-tale fabulous in these parts: Château de Commarin in the north has beautiful formal gardens and opulent interiors (www. commarin.com). Château de Drée, in the south, is all formal gardens and 17th-century finery (chateau-de-dree.com).

Something for nothing

Drive 90 minutes west of Dijon to Vézelay, a hill-perched town recognised by Unesco for its significance to pilgrims on their way to Santiago de Compostela. They stop off to pay their respects to Saint Mary Magdalene and her relics at the town’s soaring basilica: tours and programmes cost, but it’s free to admire the vaulted ceilings and 12th-century stone carvings (+33 (0)3 86 33 39 50).

Shopping

The Place de la Mairie in Autun has stalls selling fresh produce, baked treats, saucissons and cheeses every Wednesday and Friday morning. Get your Dijon mustard at La Boutique Maille on Rue de la Liberté, a shrine to the city’s favourite condiment. Dijon’s Central Market was designed by Gustav Eiffel and is a treasure trove of local specialities. Mâcon, in the south of the Burgundy region, has a fruit, vegetable and flower market every morning (Tuesday to Saturday) in Place aux Herbes, and on Saturday morning on Esplanade Lamartine. The Sunday market in Chablis is also a culinary treat.

Daytripper

Two hours’ south of Autun, the city of Lyon rivals Paris for shopping. In the chic area between Place Bellecour and Cordeliers in the Carré d’Or district, browse the boutiques on Rue Emile Zola, Rue Président Edouard Herriot and Place Kléber. There are great food markets on Quai Saint-Antoine and Croix-Rousse hill. Bring flat shoes for sightseeing in the traboules (cobbled alleys) of Vieux Lyon, where you’ll notice 18th-century traces of the city’s silk industry. Lunch at a bouchon, one of Lyon’s tiny emblematic bistros: try Le Laurencin on Rue Saint-Jean (+33 (0)4 78 37 97 37) or Café des Fédérations at 8–10 rue Major Martin (+33 (0)4 78 28 26 00).

Perfect picnic

Bottle of Burgundy, goat’s cheese, baguette – fill your rucksack and make for the town of Volnay, set high on the slopes of the Côte de Beaune. It has magnificent views of the surrounding countryside – the source of those wonderful red wines.

Children

Meet the menagerie at Touroparc zoo at Romanèche-Thorins, which has rides and a summertime waterpark (+33 (0)3 85 35 51 53; www.touroparc.com).

Activities

Visit Beaune’s Marché aux Vins on Rue Nicolas Rolin, housed in an old church, and sample 15 of the region’s wines for €10 (9am–11.30am; 2pm–5.30pm). Get a bird’s-eye view of Burgundy’s vines from a hot-air balloon with Air Escargot (www.air-escargot.com). The Morvan National Park has over 2,000 square kilometres of countryside to explore, and is popular for cycling and mountain biking (www.parcdumorvan.org). If you don’t mind looking daft, it’s fun to tour Dijon on a Segway; you can hire the contraptions from the tourist office in Place Darcy (www.dijon-tourism.com; over-12s only).

And

In Burgundy, DRC stands for Domaine de Romanée-Conti, a small vineyard in the Côte de Nuits that produces some of the world’s most expensive 39 Burgundy wine in tiny quantities. If your budget won’t stretch to one of the fabled bottles (reported estimates ricochet between £2,000 and £7,000 a pop), content yourself by reading Richard Olney’s Romanée Conti.