In the last blog post we talked about our “slow travel” discovery of canal cruising in France. On four different trips, with the barge as our floating hotel, we’ve been on excursions to châteaux, museums, champagne caves, and fascinating historical sites. Back on the boat we enjoyed all of our meals, an open bar, and even learned how to make Chantilly that we might otherwise call whipped cream. While each waterway vacation shared similarities, there were enough differences to make them unique and encourage us to try another. When an advertisement for a trip on the canal de Bourgogne (Burgundy) arrived, we took a look at the port stops and the planned excursions to see if we could arrange something comparable on our own using the train.

The train came to mind, not only because it’s our favorite mode of transportation, but the total journey time from the canal boat boarding town to the disembarking point would take 47 minutes on the rails rather than 7 days on the water. We weren’t in a particular hurry but the do-it-yourself idea was more about customizing the week to our specific preferences while having a similar sightseeing experience. This wasn’t intended to be a total carbon copy of the cruise; instead, we wanted to see if the ‘spirit’ of that itinerary—the history, the wine, and the slow pace—could be captured on land while enjoying the extra space and flexibility of traveling on our own. Here are some comparisons:

Accommodation: The canal boat room is 8 m² (86 ft²) while our apartment in Dijon was 41 m² (441 ft²) with terrace and kitchen. 

Food: On the boat was a buffet breakfast with at-seat service for lunch and dinner plus crunchy snacks available all day. In Dijon we had some meals at restaurants while others we prepared ourselves in the apartment along with Happy hour snacks.

Beverages: Onboard (unlimited) you could start the day with a mimosa, have the drink-of-the-day before lunch, wine with the mid-day meal, drinks during the afternoon sailing,  before-dinner cocktails, wine with dinner, plus after-dinner drinks. When we’re on our own on vacation we have wine at lunch, an afternoon cocktail, then wine at dinner.

Excursions: With the other 20 passengers—2 guided city walking tours, 2 vineyard tours with tastings, park hiking, visits to a museum and to a château. Bill & Bob’s DIY—2 self-guided city walking tours, a museum visit, a wine tasting, plus a full-day private tour (guide & car) of the area around Dijon including villages and a château.

Taxes & insurance: Boat fare includes port taxes plus Emergency Assistance and Repatriation. Our annual travel insurance covers cancellations/emergency/ repatriation, and the apartment fee included taxes.

While the canal cruise offered daily guided excursions, from our apartment base in Dijon, we did a walking tour around town, two rail trips including one of the canal boat’s port stops, and a full-day into the countryside with a private guide. Here are some details of what we saw:

• Dijon: We’d already stayed here so we just revisited some familiar sites, reserved a wine tasting at La Cave du Palais plus created our own dégustation of local sparkling wines in our apartment.
• Chalon-sur-Saône: a medieval canal port town, half an hour by train from Dijon. A free walking tour map guides you through the historic city center, with half-timbered houses, ancient towers, and the Belfry from 1420.
• Dole: A town of canals and stone bridges, just 30 minutes by train from Dijon. The free, self-guided “Circuit du Chat Perché” (Perched Cat tour) leads you through winding streets, along the scenic Canal des Tanneurs, and past the birthplace of Louis Pasteur.
• Day out with a guide: 
  • The Most Beautiful Villages of France members Flavigny-sur-Ozerain and Châteauneuf-en-Auxois
  • Medieval town Semur-en-Auxois
  • Renaissance château de Bussy-Rabutin

So, for our next trip will it be DIY or all-inclusive? We can’t decide because we like both formats. When we do all of the planning then the vacation is customized to our specific desires. If we go with a pre-planned trip, then from the time we step aboard the canal boat until we disembark, every decision is made, every meal and drink is prepared and served, every excursion with tickets is already paid for—all we have to do is enjoy. Either way we win because we get to discover even more of France.

Photo notes: Featured across the top of today’s post is Semur-en-Auxois and in the first paragraph is the village of Flavigny-sur-Ozerain where the movie “Chocolat” was filmed. More photos from the week are in the gallery below. Click on any photo to open the gallery.