Burgundy & Lyon with Andrea Calstier and Elena Oliver

Bienvenue to Lyon! We’ll meet at our hotel and kick off the adventure with a walk in the city guided by a local historian. We’ll trace the hidden traboules and ochre courtyards of Vieux Lyon, where Renaissance facades lean toward cobbled lanes polished by time. Along the way, we’ll pause for one of the city’s small obsessions: pink pralines folded into delicate pastries, their almond crunch giving way to caramelized sugar.

Back at the hotel, the evening begins beneath the soaring dome of a cocktail bar, where travelers, chefs, and locals have gathered for generations. Dinner follows just downstairs at a table set with the kind of cooking Lyon built its reputation on. Imagine thoughtful sauces, seasonal produce from nearby farms, and wines that carry the earth of the Rhône Valley. It’s the perfect way to start an incredible week together.

After a traditional Lyonnaise breakfast, we’ll make our way to the world’s most storied gourmet market: Les Halles Paul Bocuse. Named after Lyon’s revered chef, this hall is a foodie’s haven. We’ll mingle with locals as we peruse fresh cheeses, foraged mushrooms, and even the odd table of antiques, tasting our way through its fifty-odd stalls. Together with our guide, we’ll move from counter to counter tasting regional cheeses, charcuterie, pastries, and warm slices of brioche pulled fresh from the oven.

After time to wander the market at your own pace, the afternoon turns toward pâtisserie. Under the guidance of a professional chef, we’ll learn the precision behind laminated doughs and classic French pastry techniques, working butter into delicate layers before our creations disappear into the oven.

Tonight, we gather in a beloved bouchon to experience Lyon at its most convivial. Copper pots gleam against wood-paneled walls and the menu leans unapologetically rich. Imagine slow-braised meats, quenelles folded with cream, and deep red wines poured generously into small glasses.

Today, we make our way from Lyon to Beaune, but not with out a few stops along the way. The first is Beaujolais, called the “little French Tuscany,” and today is all about learning why. After our first wine tasting, lunch unfolds over thoughtful regional cooking paired with wines drawn from surrounding hillsides, before we continue toward Beaune.

Upon our arrival in Beaune, we’ll hit the ground running with a tour of the medieval village, paying particular attention to the limestone ramparts that once protected its inhabitants. Our walking tour threads through medieval streets lined with wine merchants, hidden courtyards, and centuries-old cellars before arriving at the city’s architectural heart: the famed former hospital whose glazed geometric roof has become an emblem of Burgundy itself. Inside, Gothic halls and Flemish masterpieces tell the story of a city shaped equally by charity and wine.

The evening is left intentionally open because Beaune rewards wandering. Perhaps a glass of Pinot Noir beneath stone arches or late dinner tucked inside a candlelit cellar is on the agenda as the pace of Burgundy begins to settle in.

This morning we make our way just outside Beaune in search of one of Burgundy’s most elusive ingredients. Alongside a trained Lagotto dog and local hosts, we’ll walk the truffle grounds learning how climate, soil, and patience shape these intensely aromatic treasures hidden beneath the earth. Back at the estate, slices of fresh truffle appear beside mature cheeses and older vintages poured from the cellar, including wines that have spent more than a decade evolving in bottle.

After, we’ll sit down for lunch at La Rôtisserie du Chambertin before spending the rest of the afternoon in a vaulted cellar in the heart of Meursault. Upon arrival, we’ll taste our way through another of Burgundy’s oldest traditions: cheese. From creamy, delicately earthy rounds to nutty, cave-aged classics and the region’s famously pungent washed-rind varieties, we’ll taste seven regional cheeses alongside Crémant de Bourgogne as a local expert shares how breed, pasture, and generations of craftsmanship shape each distinctive wheel.

Once we’ve had our fill, we’ll return to the hotel for the day and the rest of the evening is yours to embellish. Might we suggest another cellar dinner, perhaps, or simply a slow walk beneath the city’s lantern-lit streets.

Burgundy is renowned for the sheer number of individual vineyards in the region. Each grower imparts their own personality to their wine; the result has been some of the world’s best Chambertin-Clos de Bèze, Clos de Tart, Clos des Lambrays, Échezeaux, Romanée-Conti, La Tâche, Musigny—and the list goes on. Today, we’ll see it all with our own eyes as we visit various vineyards revered by collectors, chefs, and winemakers across generations. Along the way, we learn how tiny shifts in limestone, elevation, and exposure have shaped some of Burgundy’s most sought-after wines for centuries.

We’ll spend the day immersed in the process of hand-stitched wines among the plots of the world’s most expensive vintages before a bit of downtime at the hotel in the afternoon. But don’t get too comfortable, as our dinner experience awaits. This evening, we’ll descend into the historic Parliament Cellar at Maison Joseph Drouhin for an evening that traces the estate’s centuries-long relationship with Burgundy’s vineyards. After a private tour of the estate’s remarkable cellars and a guided tasting, we’ll sit down for a four-course dinner paired with wines from one of the region’s most respected family producers.

This morning belongs to the market. Farmers arrive early with crates of cherries, mustard greens, asparagus, fresh eggs, and wheels of Époisses wrapped carefully in paper. We’ll gather provisions together, discussing what looks best, what the season is offering, and what will eventually be featured on our table later in the day.

After the market, the day offers two windows into Burgundy’s culinary traditions. One part of our group will roll up their sleeves for a hands-on cooking class as the other descends into historic 13th-century cellars for a wine tasting where five kilometers of vaulted galleries shelter millions of aging bottles. The groups then trade places before gathering around the table to share the meal we’ve prepared together for lunch.

Once our bellies are full, the rest of the afternoon is yours to explore, shop, and, of course, taste some local wine. By evening, we’ll reconvene in the vaulted tunnels of a centuries-old cellar for an unforgettable farewell dinner. Bottles rest quietly in the dark while our sommelier guides us through the maze of underground passageways before we sit down to enjoy sublime French cuisine paired with wines so exquisite we may never want to leave.

Alas, all good things must come to an end. We’ll bid adieu to each other and make our way to the airport.