Perfectly preserved 18th-century architecture, uncountable sunny terraces, great wines and all sights within walking distance.. welcome to Bordeaux! Lonely Planet ranked this French city nr. 1 on its ‘best in travel 2017’ -list. And for good reason. At the moment it receives little tourism but this is rapidly changing, so don’t push off your Bordeaux-plans for too long!
– Practical Information –
When
Bordeaux can be visited throughout the year but the best weather can be experienced in April – June and from September and October. In the summer months the temperatures can rise to almost 40 degrees Celsius and from December – March the days get shorter and there is a higher chance of rainy weather.
In & Out
The two main ways to get to Bordeaux are by plane or by train.
Train
If you are on a Eurotrip (possibly with an ‘Interrail-pass’) you’ll be pleased to hear that a new TGV line has cut the travel time from Paris to Bordeaux to just 2 hours. The Saint-Jean railway station (Saint-Jean Gare de Bordeaux) is located 25 minutes south-east of the old centre (Saint-Pierre area) but there are also tram-connections departing from the train-station to most locations in the city.
Airplane
Getting there by plane is just as easy. Bordeaux has a big budget-terminal so it shouldn’t be too hard to find a Ryan-Air, EasyJet or WizzAir direct flight in. from the budget-terminal, you walk 2 minutes to the main terminal (big arrows will show you the way) from where you can take the public bus (line 1) to the city-centre for only EUR 1.60, that leaves every 10 minutes and takes about 40 minutes. Alternatively, there is a shuttle bus that only stops twice on the way, takes about 30 minutes but costs EUR 7.40 which in my eyes is just a waste of money.
Budget
Hotels in Bordeaux are quite pricey and you will be hard-pressed to find a hotel for under 50 euro’s a night. The better option is Airbnb, where you should be able to find a reasonably sized room + small kitchenette & bathroom for about 30-50 euros. Food, wine and getting around is actually pretty cheap when you compare it to other Western-European Cities. A 3-course menu can be found for about 14 euro’s (not the best quality though) and a carafe of wine to accompany it goes for as little as 7 euro. If you prefer a hot meal during lunch-time, even better! You’ll pay only 10 euro’s for the exact same meal.
The cheapest way to get around is to buy a Metropole City-pass (at the ‘office de tourisme’ located at the Place de Comedié) It will give you 24H (or 48H or 72H) of unlimited use of trains, trams, ferries and buses. But what is even better is that it gives you free entrance to the Cité-de-Vin (the main wine-museum which costs 20 euro’s to visit), a few churches that normally cost 5 euros to enter and includes an open-air bus-tour through the city. all for 29 euro in total. I recommend buying the 24H pass and exploring the rest of town by foot.
– What to do in Bordeaux –
Old City Center (Saint-Pierre)
The heart of Bordeaux is the old centre where you can wander through the many streets and alleys all lined with 18th-century facades that connect the main architectural sight in town. Bordeaux is a reasonably sized city, but small enough to be explored by foot. And that is exactly how you should spend your days here. There are excellent free walking tours starting at approximately 11.00 and 15.00 o’ clock (check trip-advisor for details) that provide an insight into the history and meaning of the old buildings but Bordeaux is perfect for self-guided tours as you really can’t go wrong.
Me and Lisan are the kind of couple that is really bad at finding good places for a drink and some food. Most often we will find a place that looks okay but we reject thinking ‘we will find a better place‘, only to stroll around for 20 more minutes not finding better places and getting hungrier, thirstier, more tired and grumpy by the second. Bordeaux is filled with so many pretty little authentic squares all giving host to at least 5 cafes and restaurants with sunny terraces and great Bordeaux-wines that you really don’t have to go look for a place as you will stumble upon it when in need!
Architecture
The main sights worth visiting are the stunning Place de la Bourse, where the slave-market used to take place which has a ‘water-mirror’ in front of it making it also very photogenic. The Monument au Girondins, Porte Cailhau, the Cathedrale de Saint-André, the Basilique Saint-Michel, the Grosse Cloche de Bordeaux and the Opera building with the old Grand Hotel across the street (that is now serviced by the InterContintal and hosts a restaurant ran by Gordon Ramsey). A little further away is the Marché des Capucins – a beautiful indoor market where locals come to get the best local produce. It has little coffee-corner that serves breakfast overlooking the market and of course, you can sample most wares before buying them.
The best squares & streets for food and wine
As I stated before, Bordeaux has a huge amount of terraces and nice eateries but some are slightly more charming than others. A nice little square (especially during the day) that is situated a bit south of the centre is the Place Général Serrail and located next to a the bigger (but less charming) place de la Victoire. Even better is the Place du Palais with is small trees and wide terraced steps. One of the better squares at night has got to be Camille Julian with beautiful facades on all sides of the square. Rue de Parlement is filled with small wine-bars, a ‘Gineria’ which specializes in local Gin and many eateries making it the perfect place to go after sundown.
Shopping
This isn’t my favorite activity when going on a city-trip (after all why would you undertake the horrendous task of shopping when you are on your holiday?!) but the Rue de Saint-Catherine that connects the Place de la Victoire to the Place de Comédie (where the Opera-house and the tourist-office is located) is the place to go. it is pedestrian only and gives host to all major clothing brands as well as authentic little Bordeaux-boutiques.
La Cité du Vin
Next, to the city itself, the recently opened La Cité du Vin (wine-museum) is a must-visit. When you enter, it is obvious that the municipality spent good money on making this the NR. 1 wine-museum in the world. The amount of information can become a little overwhelming and I found the set-up a bit unstructured but the use of digital media is impressive. To top-off the visit you get a free glass of premium wine of your choice which you can enjoy in the beautiful wine-bar on the 8th floor of the building, which also provides a nice view over the Garonne -river.
Winery tours
A trip to Bordeaux without visiting the wineries is an absolute no-go. There are dozens of tour-companies providing half-day and full-day tours that visit multiple wineries in one (or more) of the micro-wine-regions surrounding the city. On a tour you’ll learn about the different grape-varieties, how they produce the wine, the history of the winery you visited and since most wineries are located in beautiful castles, you’re also visiting French Chateaux at the same time.
I decided on going with BordoVino which provided an excellent tour. It gives fun and light tours in small groups (6-9 persons) and all guides have an excellent command of English. The tour provides little bites to go with the wines you sample at the wineries. It is not the cheapest tour out there but it is worth the money spend.
– Eating & Sleeping –
As I considered the hotels in Bordeaux as a bit overpriced I opted for an Airbnb. For food and drinks – apart from the squares and streets I named before – I have two recommendations. Simeone dell’Arte at the Place Camille Julian serves good food for reasonable prices. I know trip-advisor does not agree but my best guess is that a lot of people with shitty taste had a meal there. The service is a bit slacking but while the prices are similar to many fairly average places throughout the city the chef here ensures that the preparation is on par. A great place to sample excellent premium wines without paying the full price is by going on a ‘blind tasting’ at THE WINE BAR at Le Boutique Hotel Bordeaux. The wines they serve there are all premium wines, but on a blind tasting each glass costs 7 euros. Considering the quality of the wine and the allure of the place, this is excellent value for money.