Burgundy pours all year, so the season changes what you see, not whether you can taste. Spring and summer give you long opening hours and green vines, and autumn brings the harvest and the Hospices wine sale. Check the dates below before you make your Burgundy booking.
Each season changes three things: the light in the vines, the hours of the two big sights, and how busy the domains are. Here they are in the order the year runs.
The vines are bare and the villages are quiet. Both sights keep short hours, and the Hôtel-Dieu closes at lunch. You get the domains nearly to yourself, and a cellar tasting is the best part of a cold day.
Long hours begin at both sights on 1 April. The vines come into leaf, and May is the wettest month of the season in Dijon, so pack a waterproof for the rows.
The longest days and the most sun. July brings about seven or eight days of 30 °C in Dijon, so you want the vines in the morning and the cellars after lunch.
The harvest, the turning leaves and the wine sale. Heritage Days fall in September, and the Hospices sale closes the season in mid-November.
There is no fixed harvest date in Burgundy. Each domain picks when its own parcels are ripe, so the start moves from year to year. It is the busiest time of the year for the winemakers you will meet.
The tours still run, and the tastings still pour, but a cellar can change. The 2CV half day from Beaune, for example, visits its barrel cellar outside the harvest and fermentation period. So if the cellar matters to you, ask your operator about it when you book.
The good news is the colour. After the picking, the leaves on the Côte turn gold and red, and the villages are calm again. Late autumn is one of the best times for photographs of the vines.
Every year, the Hospices de Beaune auction the wine of their own estate: 60 hectares and 53 historic cuvées. By tradition the sale falls on the third Sunday of November, under the Halles de Beaune.
Who bids: professionals only. Charity: one barrel, the Pièce de Charité, is sold for a cause; in 2026 it supports people with rare diseases. Your part: the tastings and the festival around it, not the bidding.
For the whole weekend, Beaune fills with tastings: at the Hospices' estate, in wine shops and in the domains around the town. Beaune Tourisme lists them for booking. A funfair, a food market and parades fill the streets too.
So if you visit that weekend, book your bed and your tastings early. If you prefer quiet cellars, come the week before or after.
The two sights you can walk into both switch hours with the season. The Hôtel-Dieu keeps its long hours two weeks longer than the Clos de Vougeot.
| Sight | Long hours | Short hours |
|---|---|---|
| Hôtel-Dieu, Beaune | 1 April to 15 November: 9 am–7:30 pm | 16 November to 31 March: 9 am–12:30 pm and 2–6:30 pm |
| Clos de Vougeot | 1 April to 31 October: 9:30 am–6 pm | 1 November to 31 March: 10 am–5 pm |
Both open every day of the year. The Hôtel-Dieu's ticket desk closes an hour before the doors, and the Clos de Vougeot's half an hour before.
A day tour drives you between the domains, so the short hours cost you nothing in the cellars. The private days fit the route to your dates.
Where: the Clos de Vougeot. Price: the guided tour costs EUR 12, and EUR 5 for ages 8 to 17. Tip: book, because the château takes reservations for its guided tours.
Where: the Clos de Vougeot. What changes: guided tours from 23 to 27 September may be affected. Tip: call the château on +33 3 80 62 86 09 before you plan a guided visit that week.
Dijon averages about seven hot days reaching 30 °C in July and August each. On those days the Clos de Vougeot may shorten its guided tours, and the e-bike day is seven hours in the sun. Take water and sun cream, and plan the rows for the morning.
Winter brings the opposite. Dijon averages 16 frosty nights in January and 14 in February. Cold does not stop a tasting, but you want gloves on the e-bike. The full monthly figures are on the Burgundy weather page.
| Month | What changes for your visit |
|---|---|
| January | Short hours at both sights; the Hôtel-Dieu opens only at 2 pm on 1 January |
| February | The driest month in Dijon; short hours continue |
| March | The last month of short hours |
| April | Long hours begin at both sights on 1 April |
| May | The wettest month of spring; the vines are in leaf |
| June | Hot days begin, about three reaching 30 °C |
| July | The hottest month; the Clos de Vougeot may shorten tours in extreme heat |
| August | Almost as hot as July; book the shared days early |
| September | Heritage Days on 19–20 September 2026; Livres en Vignes on the 27th |
| October | The Clos de Vougeot's long hours end on 31 October |
| November | The Hospices wine sale on Sunday 15 November 2026; short hours from the 16th |
| December | The Hôtel-Dieu opens only at 2 pm on 25 December |
Book as soon as your dates are fixed. The shared days from Dijon, Beaune and Paris take eight people at most, so a date can fill weeks ahead, above all in summer and on the sale weekend.
Most fares refund in full up to 24 hours before, so you risk little by booking early. A few cannot be refunded: the 2CV half day, the Authentica private days and the custom planner. For those, fix your dates first. The rest of the planning is in the visitor guide.
The sale comes from the Hospices' estate and Beaune Tourisme, the hours from the Hôtel-Dieu and the Clos de Vougeot, and the climate from Météo-France. Verify before you travel.
Three hours in a Citroën 2CV from the Beaune tourist office, through Pommard and Volnay to a Meursault cellar and five wines. One child can join two adults.
From $275 per person
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Join at Saint-Bénigne in Dijon at 9:45 am or at the Hospices de Beaune at 11 am. Eight wines, a family winery, and a lunch of charcuterie and cheese in the fare.
From $252 per person
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A Citroën 2CV for up to four from Saint-Loup-Géanges or Place Madeleine in Beaune, for seven to nine hours on your own route south of Beaune. Fuel is extra, and so is delivery to your lodging.
From $292 per group, up to 4
Check AvailabilityNext: see the weather month by month on the weather page, choose a base on where to stay, or compare every tour on Burgundy Tours.