Beaujolais Wine Tasting Without a Tour: What Works Alone

You can taste in the Beaujolais without a tour. The vines start less than half an hour from Lyon, trains run to the edge of the vineyard, and Inter Beaujolais itself invites you to drive the wine route and stop along the way whenever you feel like it. Here is what works alone, what does not, and where a tour still earns its fare.

Can you visit the Beaujolais on your own?

Yes. There is no gate, no ticket and no single site to enter. The region is a 55 km strip of vines and villages north of Lyon, and the Beaujolais Wine Route runs through it.

What you give up is the booking. A tour arrives with its visits arranged and its tastings paid. On your own, you arrange each stop yourself, and you need a way to reach them.

Can you get there by train?

You can reach the edge of the vineyard by train. Belleville-sur-Saône is about half an hour from Lyon Part-Dieu, and Mâcon Ville sits at the north end.

The catch is the last few kilometres. A station is not an estate, and the wineries are spread over the hills. That is why the Land Rover and Defender days meet you at Belleville station: the train does the easy part, and they do the rest. Every route in is on how to get to the Beaujolais from Lyon.

What about driving yourself?

A car gives you the most freedom. You can follow the wine route from the golden-stone villages to the crus and stop wherever a sign or a view tempts you.

The problem is the tasting. Whoever drives cannot drink freely, and a Beaujolais day is built around the glass. If you drive, agree on a sober driver before you set off, or plan to spit. That one problem is the main reason people book a tour.

Which village should you base a visit on?

In the Pierres Dorées, the southern half, choose Oingt. It is one of the Plus Beaux Villages de France, and it has a Maison du Terroir tasting room, a 12th-century tower with a panoramic terrace, and a mechanical-music museum.

In the north, the cru villages are the places to aim for: Fleurie, Villié-Morgon, Juliénas and Romanèche-Thorins, where the Moulin-à-Vent windmill stands. The tours stop there for a reason. More on each is on things to do in the Beaujolais.

How far apart are the places you will want to see?

Further than a map of Lyon suggests. The vineyard runs 55 km from south to north, and Oingt alone is about 30 km from the city. A morning in the south and an afternoon in the crus is a real drive, not a hop between villages.

So pick one half for a day on your own, the way the half-day tours do. Start in the south if you want the shortest drive from Lyon, and the north if the crus are the point. Our guide to the Pierres Dorées or the crus sets out the difference.

Is Pérouges worth a detour on your own?

It can be, but it is not in the Beaujolais. Pérouges is a medieval town about 30 km from Lyon, overlooking the plain of the Ain, east of the city rather than north. It is one of the Plus Beaux Villages de France.

You can visit the Maison des Princes, a 14th- and 15th-century manor that is now a museum, and a 15th-century church built into the ramparts. The local tourist office runs guided visits. Combine it with the vineyard on the same day and you are driving in two directions, which is why the day that pairs them is a private one, with its own car.

Do estates need an appointment?

Some do. These are family estates, and the family is often in the vines. One private day sells visits at wineries it describes as sometimes closed to the public, which tells you not every door is open to a walk-in.

So phone an estate before you drive out to it. Destination Beaujolais, the region's tourist office, also sells wine experiences you can book ahead. Its phone number is 04 74 07 27 40.

Is there a way to taste Beaujolais without leaving Lyon?

Yes. The Croix-Rousse blind tasting is two hours in a 19th-century silk workers' loft, five minutes on the flat from the Croix-Rousse metro. A sommelier pours five wines blind: a Crémant de Bourgogne, a Beaujolais, a Burgundy, a Northern Rhône and a wildcard.

A board of local cheese, charcuterie and bread comes with it, and ten people at most take part. It costs $114. It is not a day in the vines, but it tells you what you like.

How do the options compare?

Four ways to taste, side by side. The private column covers both pickup at your hotel and the train to a Land Rover.

What does a tour still do better?

Three things. It drives, so everyone tastes. It books the estates, so you meet a producer instead of a closed gate. And it puts the tastings in the fare, so the price you see is the price you pay, apart from lunch on most days.

A shared half day costs from $112 a person for about four hours and two estates, with eight guests at most. The Rhône Trip south half day is a good example: a white and a red around Oingt, then a family estate at Le Bois-d'Oingt. Every shared start is on beaujolais wine tour from lyon.

Is a private day the middle way?

For many people it is. You keep the freedom of your own plan, and someone else drives. The Land Rover day meets the train at Belleville, pours along the way and includes lunch, with grape juice for anyone not drinking.

Some private days are priced for the whole group, which makes them fair value for three or four friends. The choices are on private beaujolais tours.

How would you plan a day on your own?

1. Pick one half. The south for villages and a white, the north for the crus.
2. Choose a base village. Oingt in the south; Fleurie or Villié-Morgon in the north.
3. Phone ahead. Call the estates you want to visit, or book a wine experience through the Beaujolais tourist office.
4. Settle the driving. Agree who stays sober, or take the train and a taxi of your own arranging.
5. Plan lunch. A tasting is not a meal, and village restaurants are where the tours eat too.

That is a good day, and it needs more planning than a tour. If the list above feels like work, a shared half day from $112 does all five for you.

What should you bring on your own?

• Water: a reusable bottle, since tastings come without it.
• Food: something to eat between stops. A tasting is not a meal.
• Cash or a card: for any bottles you buy at the estates.
• Shoes: for steep village streets and vine rows.
• A plan for the driver: agreed before the first glass.

Who should just book a tour?

Book a tour if nobody in your group wants to drive, if you have one day and want two good estates in it, or or if you want a guide who speaks English at the cellar.

Go alone if you love to roam, have a designated driver, and would rather see one village properly than two estates quickly. Both are good days. They are simply different days.

Frequently asked questions

Where these facts come from

The region, the villages and the weather come from the official pages below. Everything about a tour comes from its own booking page. Check both before you travel, because both change.

• Inter Beaujolais: visit the vineyard and the wine route
• Inter Beaujolais, the Beaujolais wine council
• Les Plus Beaux Villages de France: Oingt
• Destination Beaujolais: wine experiences and bookings
• Destination Beaujolais, the Beaujolais tourist office
• ONLYLYON, Lyon's official tourist office

Tastings that do the driving

Lyon Wine Tasting: Small-Group Blind Tasting with a Sommelier

Two hours in a silk workers' loft in the Croix-Rousse: five wines poured blind by a sommelier, a Beaujolais among them, with a board of cheese, charcuterie and bread.

From $114 per person

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Beaujolais wine tour from Lyon half day

Four hours in the Pierres Dorées from the Bellecour tourist office: a white and red introduction around Oingt, then a family estate at Le Bois-d'Oingt where you meet the producer.

From $126 per person

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Full Day Private Tour of Beaujolais by vintage Land Rover

A vintage Land Rover from Belleville station at 9 am, with a courtesy train ticket from Lyon on request: the northern crus, lunch in the vines, and grape juice for anyone not drinking.

From $567 per person

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