Bordeaux City Guide by Jill Starley-Grainger
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As you’d expect, Bordeaux is overflowing with top-quality wine and fantastic food to match, but it offers so much more. The city is packed with beautiful 18th-century architecture, parks, galleries and museums, as well as a thriving nightlife scene, while the surrounding areas have sandy beaches, medieval villages, pretty rivers and stunning chateaux.
The Trip
With just one relatively painless change across Paris, the train journey from London is a breeze, taking around seven hours door to door. Eurostar arrives at Gare du Nord in the north of Paris, while the trains for Bordeaux depart from Montparnasse in the south, so you have to get across the city on line 4 of the Metro - a bit of a hassle when you’re laden with luggage. If you book straight through with Eurostar, more than an hour is always allowed for your cross-city transit, although it usually takes only 30-40 minutes. From there, a three-hour journey on a TGV takes you to Bordeaux St Jean station, a 20-minute walk or a fast bus, tram or taxi to the city centre.
The Destination
With its prime location in sunny southwest France and a young, affluent population, Bordeaux is a fantastic city for a weekend break. Recently named a UNESCO world-heritage site for its lovely Belle Epoque centre, it’s packed with plenty of diversions for day and night. Head an hour in any direction for everything from beaches and boats to chateaux and spas.
In the UK, the entire region is often referred to as Bordeaux, but properly it’s the Aquitaine region. To the west of Bordeaux city are the calm, warm waters of the Bay of Arcachon, with great swimming and wildlife spotting, and the more tempestuous Atlantic coast, providing some of the Europe’s best surfing. North will take you to the geographically dull, but oenologically outstanding, Medoc, where you can enjoy wine-tasting at the chateaux of the world’s most famous vineyards. South is The Lot, filled with miles and miles of flat roads and pine forests, perfect for family cycling and camping holidays. But the richest rewards start an hour to the east, with UNESCO world-heritage sites, fortified villages, gorgeous vineyards, crumbling castles and magnificent chateaux. Keep going just a little further, around two-and-a-half hours east of Bordeaux, and you’re bang in the Perigord region (known simply as ‘the Dordogne’ in the UK), with the incredibly pretty Dordogne river, gorgeous villages and stunning chateaux.
If your visit is short, it’s best to stay in the city of Bordeaux and take day trips to the pretty town of St Emilion and its surrounding vineyards, the beautiful Bay of Arcachon for bird-spotting and sun-bathing, and the intimate, luxurious wine spa Caudalie for pampering among the vines. But there’s so much to do in the region that it easily fills a one- or two-week holiday, in which case it’s better to take a gite and visit Bordeaux city on day trips.
Booking ahead is a necessity for certain elements of a trip to Bordeaux, especially for visits to fine restaurants and vineyards. You can’t just rock up and expect to get in. Depending on the star status and size of the restaurant or vineyard, you should book anywhere from a few days to a few weeks in advance, especially for the most famous vineyards, such as Chateau Margaux and Chateau la Tour, where it’s best to book at least a month ahead, although the best introduction for complete beginners is probably at Château Mouton Rothschild, one of the few first-growth chateaux easily accessible to outsiders.
Culture
In the past few years, Bordeaux has really turned itself around from a crumbling 18th-century relic to a thriving, buzzy city. This is largely thanks to huge investment renovating the old town, riverfront and docklands, attracting a young population and securing it UNESCO World Heritage status and the Rugby World Cup in 2007. It has a dozen museums and innumerable galleries covering art, history, shipping, wine and more, but where this forward-looking city really excels is in the modern and futuristic. Your first stop should be the Contemporary Art Museum CAPC (CAPC Le Musée d'Art Contemporain, Entrepôt Laîné, 7 rue Ferrère, Chartrons). Housed in a magnificent 19th-century warehouse on the Garonne River, CAPC is home to hundreds of works from the mid-20th century to today, including pieces by the likes of Gilbert and George and Anish Kapoor. The permanent collection is on rotating display, and a series of temporary exhibitions takes over part of the space.
Fans of the architect Le Corbusier should make their way to the suburb of Pessac. In this otherwise ordinary area is Cité Frugès, a neighbourhood of houses designed by Le Corbusier in 1926 for the workers of a sugar foundation. The simple square, white boxes were far too wacky for the 1920s working class families they were intended for, but in recent years, they’ve been snapped up and renovated by fans of Modernism. At the Maison Municipale Le Corbusier (4 rue Le Corbusier, Pessac), you can take a short tour through one of the houses, then follow a self-guided walk through the neighbourhood.
Out in the Bacalan docks area, down a long, slightly dodgy-looking back road, is the unmissable, quirky Garage Moderne (Le Garage Moderne, 1 rue des Etrangers, Bacalan). It’s a multi-functional space of garage, modern art gallery, café and sometimes nightclub, all housed in a former warehouse. The café is friendly and the art gallery entertaining, but the main draw is the garage, even for non-car fans. In fact, they do a big sideline in bicycles. Visitors are welcome to wander around the garage, where some of the disused cars have been turned into installation artworks. If your car or bicycle is in need of a repair, you don’t simply bring it here and drop it off. This is a co-operative where the members join in. Come here to use the tools to fix your automobile or bicycle yourself, get advice, lessons and assistance from the knowledgeable male and female mechanics, or, for complicated work, pay them a fee to do the work for you.
Shop
You can find everything from haute couture to trendy boutiques in Bordeaux, and the pedestrianised old town make for a pleasant shopping experience. All the big names are here, but where Bordeaux really excels is in wine and food, including local specialities, such as canelés. Shops are usually open Mondays to Saturdays from around 10am to 7pm and closed on Sundays.
For clothes shopping, those with cash to splash will want to get lost in the Golden Triangle, the area between Allées de Tourny, Cours Georges Clémenceau and the Cours de L’Intendance. Here you’ll find Christian Dior, Hermes, Cartier, Louis Vuitton et al. A little further south on the long, pedestrianised Rue St Catherine, you’ll find classy department store Galeries Lafayette, adorable baby shop Natalys and a host of high-street favourites, including Etam, H&M and Zara. Poke around Rue du Pas St George and Rue des Remparts for smaller, independent shops and boutiques.
A Bordeaux speciality everyone should try is the scrumptious canelé, a small eggy sponge flavoured with rum and vanilla. The most famous speciality shop is Baillardran (main shop in Galerie des Grands Hommes, branches throughout the city centre), who sell the sticky sweets singly or in boxes.
Even if you’re planning vineyard visits, you might want to stock up on wine in the city. Some vineyards have no wine available to sell to the public, while others keep only a limited supply. One of the most beautiful wine shops in the city is L’Intendant (2 Aallées de Tourny), with four floors of bottles to choose from, but since it specialises in the grand crus, don’t expect bargains. This is instead a place to visit to find wines you’re unlikely to get anywhere else in the world, and for the ones you’d get in the UK, the prices are marginally better.
Eat
Where fine wine flows, excellent food invariably follows, and that’s certainly true of Bordeaux. You won’t have to look far to find a decent meal, from simple snack bars to Michelin stars. The regional specialities are seafood, especially oysters and eel, beef, asparagus, prunes and mushrooms. Cooking varies from refined or fussy (depending on your perspective) to hearty or lardy (again…), with plenty of rich sauces in the rustic restaurants, and froths, foams and jus at the other end. Luckily, the area has such as a strong wine and food heritage that it’s difficult to have a bad meal.
Leading the gourmet brigade is La Tupina (6 rue Porte de la Monnaie), where Jean Pierre Xiradakis dishes up regional cuisine in a relaxed atmosphere. The restaurant has a country house theme, and while the food is rustic, it has a sophisticated edge. The seasonal menu might include roast black pig loin with mashed potatoes and gravy or a hearty cassoulet, but it’s worth trying the special ingredient-led menus, with every course, including dessert, based on a single, seasonal ingredient, such as tomato or mushroom.
For Michelin-starred magnificence, visit Le Chapon Fin (5 rue Montesquieu) located in an unusual Art Nouveau building. The restaurant creates exquisite dishes, such as lightly roasted John Dory with chilled lentil cake and warm truffle cream, at one of Bordeaux’s swankiest addresses in the old town.
Fans of fromage should pay homage at Baud et Millet (19 rue Huguerie), a restaurant with a large menu of cheese-based dishes. Don’t miss a visit to the chilly, dark cheese cellar, where you’ll see a range of unusual French cheeses, perhaps including the local Tome d'Aquitaine, a goat’s cheese bathed in Sauternes sweet wine. You can come down here to choose a plate of cheeses to go with your meal.
Other restaurants worth seeking out include Chez Greg Le Grand Theatre (29 Rue Esprit des Lois), the trendiest eaterie in town, and Le Bouchon Bordelais (2 Rue Courbin), which offers a modern take on regional cuisine.
For light meals and snacks, visit L’Orangerie (Jardin Public, entrance Cours de Verdun) for great views of the park, L’Autre Salon de Thé (11 Rue des Remparts) for its teas and pastries, and Le Grand Café (65 Cours de l’Intendance) for city centre people watching.
Sleep
Brits have been flocking to Bordeaux since Eleanor of Aquitaine married King Henry II in the 12th century, and we were the primary catalyst for spreading the word around the world about the quality of Bordeaux wines, so British visitors are sure to get a warm welcome. Most hotels are of the refined olde worlde variety, but more and more, such as Seeko’o, which opened in 2007, are targeting a younger market.
The city has a good selection of hotels in every price range. For luxury, the Regent Bordeaux (2-5 Place de la Comédie) has just reopened after an extensive renovation. The décor is very Marie Antoinette and the location unbeatable – just across from The Grand Opera right in the heart of the city. Another option is the four-star Le Burdigala (115 rue Georges Bonnac), which has nice, spacious rooms and friendly service.
One of the chicest sleeps in the city is Seeko’o (54 quai de Bacalan), a new design hotel in a modern building overlooking the river north of the centre near the trendy dockside area. For charming country-hotel ambience in a fantastic old-town location, try La Tour Intendance (16, Rue de la Vieille Tour).
Bargain beds with a difference can be found at Une Chambre en Ville (35 rue Bouffard), a small hotel in a former art gallery in the city centre, and Hôtel Acanthe (12-14 rue Saint-Rémi) for its rock-bottom price and old-town location.
Beyond the City Limits
For a spa day with local flavour, take the short 15-minute cab ride to Caudalie Vinotherapie Spa (Chemin de Smith Haut-Lafitte, 33650 Bordeaux-Martillac) outside Bordeaux. Located in an excellent Grand Cru Classe vineyard, the intimate spa feels very French and sophisticated. All the treatments use Caudalie’s patented products, which feature the powerful antioxidants of wine-grapeseed oils. While waiting for treatments, take a dip in the small thermal pool, get steamy in the hammam or recline in the indoor and outdoor relaxation areas.
Hop on a train in Bordeaux, and you can be hitting the beach in less than an hour at the beautiful Bay of Archachon. By rail, the main access point is Archachon, a friendly seaside resort at the bottom near the Atlantic, but you can also start at the tip of the bay, La Teich, which is about 10 minutes closer to Bordeaux by car or train. Archachon itself is full of attractive restaurants, shops and cafes, and its sandy beaches are pretty and calm enough for families. It does get very busy, though, so if you’re seeking peace and quiet, you’ll be better off heading elsewhere.
Take the ferry across the bay to swanky Cap Ferret, a headland with the bay on one side and the Atlantic on the other. Watch millionaires pose on their yachts on the bay side from while you recline on the quiet sandy beach, or take surfing lessons on the Atlantic side. You can hire bicycles from most towns around the bay, and the 70km of flat, easy cycle paths take you through quaint oyster farming villages and along pretty coastal routes. Just outside Arcachon is the dramatic Dune du Pyla, Europe’s tallest sand dune, with glorious views of the Atlantic on one side, the bay on the other and the pine forests of the Landes behind.
Wildlife lovers shouldn’t miss the magnificent, 120-hectare Parc Ornithologique du Teich (Maison De La Nature Du Bassin D'arcachon, BP 11 - 33470 Le Teich). A protected nature reserve, it’s host to more than 260 species of birds, 80 species of which are permanent residents. You’ll need at least an hour, but preferably two or three, to stroll around the wetlands, spotting white storks, black kites, kingfishers and hoopoes.
While in the Area
Less than an hour east of Bordeaux is some of the region’s most beautiful scenery. The rolling hills of the Entre duex Mers (Office of Tourism, 4 rue Issartier, Monsegur) are host to pretty vineyards, small and large chateaux, historic villages and the UNESCO world heritage town of St Emilion. If you just want to visit St Emilion and a few vineyards, Bordeaux tourist information does some good coach trips, but to really appreciate the area, you’ll need a car or bicycle, but be warned it’s very hilly.
Ideally, you’ll have a car, allowing you plenty of time to wander through the vineyards and villages. A visit to St Emilion (Office of Tourism, Place des Créneaux) is a must. Stroll through the cobbled streets, visit the monolithic church and join the excellent two-hour wine tasting course at the Wine School of St Emilion (Ecole du Vin de St Emilion, 4 Rue du Clocher, 33330 Saint-Émilion) for an introduction to the region’s wines. The prettiest scenery is south of St Emilion, including plenty of fortified bastide villages, the Garonne and Dordogne rivers and plenty of vineyards, sunflower fields, chateaux and castles. Stop off in Castillon la Bataille to watch the locales play petanque by the river, lively La Reole for its Saturday morning market, Loubens and Bagas for their water mills and picture-perfect Castelmoron for its quaint houses with cascading flowers.
When it’s time for food, sample the gastronomic delights and magnificent town views at the Michelin-starred Hostellerie de Plaisance (Place du Clocher, Saint Emilion) or, on a fine day, stock up on provisions for picnics by the Garonne river (on picnic tables in Castillon la Bataille or on the ground near Barsac) or in the hills (try the Grotte Ferrand near St Emilion).
For a real treat, book a classic convertible sports car with Gourmet Touring, who provide wonderful tailor-made tours of Entre duex Mers and all the surrounding regions. This is easily the most glamorous way to cruise around the countryside.
Down the Dordogne
Just an hour northwest of Bordeaux is one of the prettiest stretches of water in Europe, the Dordogne River. Hugely popular as a recreational waterway, it’s easily navigable, even by beginners. The section between Bergerac and Sarlat, around two hours from Bordeaux, flows at just the right speed to minimise paddling, and the scenery is diverse, including chateaux, medieval villages, prehistoric caves and a wide variety of birds and plants. Most hire canoes are for two people, but some hold up to four. The main canoe season is April to September, but with advance planning, you can usually arrange out-of-season canoeing, especially in the early spring and late autumn.
You should go with the flow of the river, east to west towards Bordeaux, so you’ll need to take a train, bus or car from Bordeaux to start your adventure. Canoe companies offer self-guided trips from an hour to a week, and they can arrange hotels for you, ferrying your luggage from place to place so you can dawdle along the river without a care in the world. With the longer trips, you could keep going until you almost reach Libourne, an hour east of Bordeaux by train and just 10 or 15 minutes from St Emilion. If you’re coming back to the UK by Eurostar, trains from Libourne run direct to Paris.
Canoe trips depart from almost everywhere along this 490km-long river, but the most popular stretch is from Calviac, around two-and-a-half hours from Bordeaux near St Julien de Lampon, to Tremolat. The scenery here takes in chateaux, cliffs and caves. You can cover it in a day, but two will allow for more stops along the way, and you’ll want to take them. Perigord Loisirs is a reliable tour firm.
Making a start at Calviac, you quickly get in your stride, but even if you’re completely hopeless, the river will carry you along slowly but surely here. Before long, birds start swooping across your bow, and damsel and dragonflies act as your guides along this thickly wooded stretch of river. The first hour passes by quickly and peacefully, offering ample time to gawp at the castles and chateaus along the way, including the strange Medieval-meets-Renaissance exterior of Chateau de Fenelon and the clifftop Montfort Castle. Thirsty? Pull over for a quick drink in Grolejac.
Back on the river, you pass an island bird sanctuary (keep your eyes peeled for black kites, herons and cormorants) and troglodyte caves in the cliffs, then you pull over at Cenac for a refreshing swim. If you’re feeling peckish or just want to stretch your legs, stop off further along in Le Roque Gageac, a beautiful riverside village. On the river here, you’ll suddenly be joined by some strange-looking craft – replica 19th-century gabares river boats. About five minutes from the village is a nice, open patch of grass along the riverbanks for a picnic, where you might spot some fishermen or local families out for an afternoon by the water.
The last leg of your one- or two-day trip is possibly the most spectacular, thanks to the looming Castle of Castelnaud that you glimpse periodically through the trees. If you want to take a side trip to the castle, pull over in Beynac and take a taxi or, if you’re feeling really fit, walk up. To finish your day, you’ll go past pretty Beynac village, where the canoe company will be waiting to take you and your canoe back to base or to your hotel for the night.
After all that hard work, you deserve a fantastic dinner, so take a taxi to Le Vieux Logis (24510 Tremolat), a Michelin-starred restaurant and hotel serving some of the region’s finest food. Indulge in the six-course Perigord menu for a taste of the region’s finest fare, such as white truffles and local cheeses, but beware that you’ll be offered foie gras almost everywhere in Perigord, so make sure to specify if you don’t want it. Now you’ve refuelled, you’ll be ready for another day on the Dordogne, making your way slowly and leisurely towards Bergerac.
Perigord Loisirs (La Riviere, 24200 Vitrac) have a base in Vitrac, two-and-a-half hours from Bordeaux.