Bordeaux
Bordeaux is the largest urban World Heritage area on the planet, and it cares enough that its trams run on ground-level power so no wire crosses the view.
Bordeaux in a nutshell
Bordeaux: what to expect
Our travellers have planned 311,000+ stops in France on Stippl. That is where the numbers here come from.
Bordeaux's Port of the Moon is the largest urban World Heritage area on earth, 1,810 hectares of it, and you can walk the core end to end in forty minutes. The Miroir d'Eau lies in front of the Place de la Bourse, two centimetres of water over three and a half thousand square metres, alternating between mirror and mist. The Cité du Vin explains wine as a culture rather than pouring it, the Bassins des Lumières projects inside a submarine base, and Saint-Émilion is a day out on a limestone hill.
The French south-west is planned as one region, and nowhere else in France is. A traveller with Bordeaux on the itinerary is far likelier than average to also have La Rochelle, Tours, Carcassonne, Biarritz or Toulouse: no other French destination produces six partners that strong. Bordeaux also sits on the longest trips we measure in the country, and it is planned further ahead than anywhere else in France.
Two nights in the city, and put the wine outside it. The châteaux are a day trip and the city keeps the Cité du Vin, the Chartrons bars and Saturday oysters at the Marché des Capucins. Come in May, June or September if the vineyards are the point, because four in ten of our arrivals fall in July and August at twenty-seven degrees, when the châteaux are quiet. And skip the winter: the mirror everyone photographs is drained from November to April.
Who Bordeaux is for
Wine travellers, obviously
though the wine itself is a day trip. The city has the Cité du Vin, the Chartrons bars and the Halles; the châteaux are outside it
Architecture and history
1,810 hectares of listed 18th-century city is a different proposition from a listed quarter
On a long south-west loop
A Bordeaux trip averages 16.0 stops, and its partners, La Rochelle, Biarritz, Toulouse, Carcassonne, Nantes, form a coherent arc
Weekenders from Paris.
Two hours by TGV, and the reason the city's tourism changed in the last decade
Cyclists.
Flat, compact, and with a river path and vineyard routes out of it
When to go to Bordeaux
Shoulder
May–June, September–October
38.1% of our arrivals, the mirror running and the vineyards working
Vendanges
September
the harvest, and the reason our own data names September specifically. Châteaux are busy and some restrict visits
High summer
July–August
41.4% of arrivals in two months, at 27° and with the August closures
Winter
November–April
10.2% November to February. Mild, wet, cheap, and the mirror is dry
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What not to miss in Bordeaux
Photo by Pierre Ducher via Unsplash
Photo by Valentine Kulikov via Pexels
Photo by Roma Dik via PexelsStand on the Miroir d'Eau
April to October only, 3,450 m² of water two centimetres deep in front of the Place de la Bourse, alternating between mirror and mist
The Cité du Vin
€23, a museum about wine as a global culture rather than a tasting room, with a glass included at the top-floor belvedere
Oysters at the Marché des Capucins on a Saturday morning
a dozen, a glass of white and a small hot sausage, standing, before nine
A day in Saint-Émilion
a medieval wine village on a limestone hill, with a monolithic church carved out of the rock beneath it
The Bassins des Lumières
immersive projections inside a WWII submarine base, the largest digital art centre of its kind
Cross to La Bastide for the skyline
the river shuttle, an ordinary ticket, and the only place the 18th-century front reads as one composition
The neighbourhoods of Bordeaux
Saint-Pierre
First visits
The historic heart and the city's birthplace: almost entirely pedestrian, centred on Place de la Bourse, the Miroir d'Eau and Place du Parlement
Every 18th-century façade the listing is about, in one walk.
Chartrons
foodies
The old wine-merchants' quarter: antique shops, wine bars, galleries and a Sunday riverside market along Rue Notre-Dame
Where you drink Bordeaux rather than read about it.
Saint-Michel
Budget, nightlife
Cosmopolitan and loud around the Gothic basilica, with the Capucins covered market and a flea market at the weekend
The Capucins market and about thirty bars in a few streets.
La Bastide
Quiet, views
The right bank opposite the centre: botanical garden, the Darwin creative campus in old barracks, and the best view of the UNESCO skyline
The skyline photograph, from the side nobody stays on.
Triangle d'Or / Quinconces
Upscale central
The grandest quarter: opera house, luxury boutiques, 18th-century mansions and the vast Place des Quinconces
The Grand Théâtre and the best restaurants, on the smartest streets.
Bacalan / Bassins à Flot
Modern Bordeaux
The reinvented industrial docks: Cité du Vin, Bassins des Lumières in a submarine base, dockside restaurants
The city's two newest attractions, in its oldest working port.
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Where to stay in Bordeaux
Saint-Pierre and the Triangle d'Or for central UNESCO walkability, Chartrons for wine bars and a bohemian feel, Saint-Michel for value: our own data's own division, and our sources agree
Saint-Pierre
€80–170
The historic heart and the city's birthplace: almost entirely pedestrian, centred on Place de la Bourse, the Miroir d'Eau and Place du Parlement
Chartrons
€80–170
The old wine-merchants' quarter: antique shops, wine bars, galleries and a Sunday riverside market along Rue Notre-Dame
Saint-Michel
€55–120
Cosmopolitan and loud around the Gothic basilica, with the Capucins covered market and a flea market at the weekend
La Bastide
€60–130
The right bank opposite the centre: botanical garden, the Darwin creative campus in old barracks, and the best view of the UNESCO skyline
Triangle d'Or / Quinconces
€110–230
The grandest quarter: opera house, luxury boutiques, 18th-century mansions and the vast Place des Quinconces
Bacalan / Bassins à Flot
€70–150
The reinvented industrial docks: Cité du Vin, Bassins des Lumières in a submarine base, dockside restaurants
What to eat in Bordeaux
A small fluted cake, black and caramelised outside, custardy inside; rum and vanilla
Rib steak with a red-wine and shallot sauce, traditionally grilled over vine cuttings
Arcachon oysters, eaten with a small hot sausage and white wine
Lamprey stewed in red wine, a genuinely local and genuinely divisive dish
Salt-marsh lamb from the Médoc, with a protected designation
Rolled, spiced pork stomach, sliced cold, a Médoc charcuterie speciality
The 17th-century almond version, flat and chewy, unrelated to the Parisian sandwich
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Bordeaux customs and what not to do
Greet on entering
Greet on entering
Wine talk is unpretentious
technical, but not showy. Naming an appellation rather than a grape is normal, and asking for a recommendation by price bracket is completely ordinary
The city was scrubbed clean
not rebuilt. The blackened city of thirty years ago is the same buildings cleaned, which is why the stone is uniformly pale
Châteaux need appointments
not drop-ins. Most of the Médoc requires booking, some of it days ahead
Sunday is the Chartrons market
and Sunday afternoon closes most of the centre
Do
- Check whether the Miroir d'Eau is running before you plan the photograph.
- Buy the Cité du Vin ticket with a valid TBM ticket in hand for the 20%.
- Eat oysters at the Capucins on a Saturday morning, early.
- Book Médoc châteaux ahead; Saint-Émilion is more walk-in friendly.
Don't
- Don't expect the great châteaux to be in the city, they are not.
- Don't get off at Saint-Émilion station expecting the village; it is 2 km uphill.
- Don't buy cannelés to eat tomorrow.
- Don't book La Bastide for the location.
Daily budget in Bordeaux
Budget
€55–95
Hostel dorm, market lunch, tram, free monuments
Mid-range
€130–200
Three-star in Saint-Pierre, a bistro dinner, the Cité du Vin
High-end
€300+
Hotel in the Triangle d'Or, a starred kitchen, a private château tour
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Fun facts about Bordeaux
Bordeaux's Port of the Moon is the largest urban UNESCO World Heritage area on the planet at 1,810 hectares, listed in 2007
The Miroir d'Eau is the world's largest reflecting pool at 3,450 m², opened in 2006
The wider Bordeaux wine region covers about 110,000 hectares: the largest fine-wine appellation area in the world
The Bassins des Lumières occupies a WWII submarine base, and is the largest digital art centre of its kind
The city tram runs on a ground-level power supply through the centre specifically so that overhead wires do not cross the listed views
Local tips for Bordeaux
TBM ticket, 20% off
A valid TBM transport ticket takes 20% off the Cité du Vin, which is the one combination worth planning
Flat, compact, walkable
The city is flat and compact enough to walk, with the tram for the docks and the right bank
The station is 2 km below
Saint-Émilion's sits 2 km below it. It sits about 2 km below the village and the walk up is steep; most visitors take a tour or drive
Médoc needs a car
The Médoc châteaux are not reachable by public transport in any practical way. A tour, a driver or a hire car is the honest answer
Theft, not much else
Bordeaux is a low-risk city and the risk it has is theft: pickpocketing around Place de la Bourse, the Capucins market, Gare Saint-Jean and on the tram
Around Gare Saint-Jean
The area immediately around Gare Saint-Jean is the one sources name for night-time caution, and it is ordinary by day
Bordeaux questions, answered
Earlier than the rest of France. 29.3% of the trips that include Bordeaux are built six months or more ahead on Stippl, the highest share in the country, because the chateau visits and the good tables go first. Put the dates into Stippl, then book the vineyard day before you book anything else.
Two, or three if a vineyard day is the point. Most people give Bordeaux 2 nights in the plans they build on Stippl. The city itself is walkable in a day, so the second night is what buys you Saint-Emilion or the Medoc without rushing the return train.
Mostly they stay, but not long. 39.21% of Bordeaux stops planned on Stippl are a single night, which is a city being treated as a stage on the way south rather than a destination. The second night is what turns it back into one, and it costs you nothing but a hotel.
No, and it catches people out. Saint-Emilion, the Medoc and Pessac-Leognan all sit forty minutes to an hour outside the city, so the wine is a day out rather than an afternoon. Saint-Emilion is the easy one by train; the Medoc needs a car, a driver or a booked tour.
A regional train, about forty minutes, several a day. The catch nobody mentions is that the station sits two kilometres below the village and the walk up is steep in the sun, so plan for a taxi at the top or a shuttle. Last trains back are early, so check them before you order the second bottle.
It is a museum about wine culture rather than a tasting room, so go for the story and not the glass. The ticket includes one pour on the panoramic top floor, which is the best view in Bordeaux. If your two days already have a vineyard in them, this is the thing to drop.
Every guide is written by the Stippl editors and checked against the trips our travellers actually plan. Spotted something out of date? Let us know.
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