Le Village Insolite

This part of the world is pretty interesting from a geological point of view, with a couple of excellent natural sights to see not far from base. You may like to start with a trip to the Grottes de Blanot (half an hour’s drive), where you’ll venture 80 metres below the surface for an hour-long tour of the underground maze of caverns and tunnels. Back up at ground level, continue on to Solutré (25 minutes) to see the limestone Rock of Solutré and visit the Musée de Préhistoire de Solutré, on the site of one of the richest prehistoric collections ever found in Europe. The area’s buildings are just as impressive, as you’ll see if you make trips to Cluny Abbey (15 minutes), Berzé-le-Châtel castle (20 minutes) and the lavish Château de Cormatin (half an hour). And of course, this is Burgundy, so several of the local châteaux house wineries – many of them are open for tours and tastings, and feature on local wine trails. For open-air activities, you may like to tackle the treetop trails at Acro’Bath adventure park or head into Matour, which has a swimming pool and a fishing pond (both are 15 minutes’ drive away).