Villa Séverine

As this is prime Burgundy wine country, you’ll have plenty of choice when it comes to tasting and buying fine regional vintages. Big-name villages to seek out include Puligny-Montrachet (45 minutes), Pouilly Fuissé (40 minutes) and Saint-Véran (30 minutes), where countless vineyards are open for tours – and en route you’ll discover gorgeous, hilly countryside too. If you’d rather take your Burgundy break at a more relaxed pace, you can always sample a local bottle (or two) in the bars of Tournus (10 minutes’ drive). And if wine just isn’t your thing, this lovely old town has plenty to entrance you, from its riverside setting to the serene beauty of Saint Philibert Abbey, with its medieval cloisters and ceiling murals. There’s masses for outdoorsy families to do close to base camp too: hire canoes to explore the Saône river (10 minutes), fish for roach at Etang de Seille (five minutes) or go hiking across dunes and heathland at the Dunes des Charmes (10 minutes).