The Côte de Nuits is a three-dimensional green setting, a paradise for hiking and biking enthusiasts.

Overlooking the hills of Gevrey-Chambertin down to the Corton woods, the Hautes-Côtes, made up of plateaus and valleys, provide landscapes that change depending on altitude and exposure. Vineyards stand alongside cereal and red berry plots, and the limestone cliffs in the background link earth and sky together. Here, the small roads and trails will delight bike riders and hikers, who will discover the preserved villages, full of cultural, historical and gastronomic attractions, as they explore the Hautes-Côtes.

A few hundred meters wide, the Côte Viticole proudly stretches some 600 metres upwards before the Jura mountains and the Alps, where Mont Blanc can be spotted on a clear day. Further down, the viticultural villages are the perfect setting for the region’s clos: Couchey, Fixin, Brochon, Gevrey-Chambertin, Morey-Saint-Denis, Chambolle-Musigny, Vougeot, Flagey-Echézeaux, Nuits-Saint-Georges. Hikers will have a great time on the many hiking trails that travel across this incredible landscape, while bicycle enthusiasts will enjoy the Voie des Vignes, a bicycle route in the heart of the vineyard.

The Plaine is an opportunity to rest and breathe, with landscapes of forests, ponds and streams. Once a land of passage on the North-South axis, the Plaine still retains traces of the past with several post houses and religious monuments, the most symbolic being the Notre-Dame de Cîteaux Abbey, founding abbey of the Cistercian order that spread throughout the world. The monks have been living in the Plaine since the 11th century in monastic purity, combining prayer with their work on the land and in the vineyards.

Natura 2000 and the Jean Roland National Nature Reserve

Explore our protected nature areas, where you can admire panoramic views and observe a rich variety of flora and fauna.

La Côte dijonnaise

Located to the south of the Côte-d’Or between Nuits-Saint-Georges and Dijon, the Côte Dijonnaise is a series of limestone forest combes topped with cliffs, grasslands and wooded plateaus overlooking the Grand cru vineyards of Burgundy. Protected by Natura 2000, a nature reserve spanning 2,100 hectares, the Côte Dijonnaise boasts exceptional ecological diversity tinged with both mountain and Mediterranean influences. The site is also characterised by its unique geology and a topography that was originally made up of shallow and pebbly soil. The combes of the Côte Dijonnaise were created by the erosion of the limestone plateau by springs that burrowed into the rock beneath the sheer cliffs. The combes are an open book on geological history, testifying in particular to the presence of a sea during the Jurassic period.

The Combe Lavaux – Jean Roland National Nature Reserve – Flora

The Combe Lavaux – Jean Roland National Nature Reserve is located right in the heart of the Côte Dijonnaise. It spans some 510 hectares across the townships of Gevrey-Chambertin and Brochon. Known to botanists since the 17th century, the site was declared a national nature reserve in December 2004 because of its exceptionally rich variety of flora. With over 500 species of flowering plants and ferns representing 25% of Burgundy’s total flora, this nature reserve offers a concentration of rare plants that is unique within the Côte-d’Or, with species native to both the mountains and the south, such as Athyllis montana, Veronica spicata L., Aster linosyris, Daphne alpina, Valeriana tuberosa, Stipa pennata, Scorzonera austriaca, Allium tuberosum and even a species that can’t be found anywhere else in the world: Biscutella divionensis.

The Combe Lavaux – Jean Roland National Nature Reserve – Fauna

The cliffs of Combe Lavaux and Brochon, which have long been frequented by climbing enthusiasts, are also home to a number of noteworthy animal species. The peregrine falcon often comes to the park to hunt or to nest. Two or three mated pairs of falcons move to the reserve each year. The dry grassland provides shelter to a number of rare animal and plant species. Certain reptiles, such as the green lizard and the grass snake, are fond of these dry, sunny areas peppered with bushes. Some species of bird, including the red-backed shrike, the woodlark and the European nightjar, also come to the park to find food or shelter when nesting.

La Voie des Vignes

From Dijon to Nuits-Saint-Georges and Beaune and Santenay further south, the Voie des Vignes is a unique cycling route in the heart of the vineyard. The villages the route goes through are revealed along the way, and between each of them are the vineyards with names that would make lovers of prestigious wines green with envy.
The bicycle route extends over a distance of 90 kilometers between Dijon and Chalon-sur-Saône, from where you can join the Eurovelo 6. The Côte de Nuits takes up 34 km of the route, which is bordered by the Dijon-Lyon regional train line that counts no less than 4 stops on this stretch. The carriages are equipped to transport bicycles, without extra charge.