Bordeaux

I thought the Museum of the Aquitaine was awesome. I was with a tour group (Road Scholar) and for my taste we did not spend enough time there. I wish I'd gone on my own on one of my days ahead of the tour. SO much to see and they have a very well done history of slavery as Bordeaux was a major center for the slave trade.

I also enjoyed the Bordeaux Cathedral (Cathedral of Saint Andre) which is where Alienor d'Aquitaine married the future King Louis VII (his dad died 2 weeks after they married and he acceded to the French throne then) although only one wall in the nave is from her time frame.

The Musee des Beaux Arts is pretty good if you enjoy art.

I also loved walking along the promenade along the Gironde River. I was surprised at the banana plants along with hibiscus and Palm Trees there! There is an interesting statue there of Modeste Testas, an Ethiopian woman, captured as a slave and transported to Haiti via Bordeaux. One of her grandsons became President of Haiti.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modeste_Testas

I stayed in the tour hotel which was the Best Western Etche-Ona which was nice and had a good breakfast (went in Oct 2021 so Covid policies were in place and they were serving food instead of it being buffet style). I liked the location which was near the old town and also a short walk to the riverside promenade. I'm not a foodie, so no recommendations on food although we did have a quite good group meal at La Belle Epoque at 2 Allee des Orleans.

BTW, Bordeaux was the first place I ran in to where several restaurants I went to had only QR codes on the table for menu access so if you are not used to that, have data for your phone and practice scanning things before you go, lol!!

I'm also not much of a wine drinker but that is something many enjoy when they visit the area.

I was in Bordeaux in 2019 and loved it.

I second the cathedral, it is gorgeous.

We also spent almost a full day at the Cité du Vin. Lots of interactive exhibits and interesting information. The building itself is quite interesting as well.

We did 2 tours out to wine areas thru the Tourist Centre. Both were really good. We did a harvest tour where we went out the vines and harvested, then we had a five course meal that was great.

I can recommend a wine bar across from the Tourist office called Le Bar à Vin. It is in a lovely old building, but modern inside. There are many wines to choose from. Lots @ 2 or 3 Euro per glass. They also have charcuterie boards, and dessert boards. We stopped there about 3 times. It was such a good value for a glass of wine and a snack.

Four of us were in Bordeaux for 3 weeks. We had a great Air BNB. Lovely hostess and great accomodation. I may be able to dig up the info if you are interested.

My sister and I borrowed V3 bikes, and rode along the waterfront, then to the big covered market. Our intention was to have a typical market breakfast of wine and oysters, but we chickened out. Neither of us are oyster fans. But the market is amazing. We ate in small restaurants there a number of times.

There is also an open air market along the waterfront on Sundays? I think. It was great too. We got Paella there for dinner.

Transportation is great in the city. Trams and buses can get you anywhere.

We rented a car to go to Arcachon and St Emilion, and discovered some other places along the way.

One of my favourite trips!

My husband and I did a Go Ahead food and wine small group tour to Burgundy and Bordeaux, which started in the city of Bordeaux. We arrived two days early and thoroughly enjoyed exploring Bordeaux. It looks like Paris in architecture, but in fact Bordeaux's Hausmannian style architecture came first by Baron Hausmann we learned. It is easy to get around, and they have a modern and easy to use tram system. We used it to go to the La Cite du Vin --a must do if you love wine. Very interactive and informative. Spent about 3 hours and didn't see everything. There are places to eat there and you get a free glass of wine of your choice at the end.

In addition to the St. Andre Cathedral, we did a lot of walking in the old town area. There is a long street --Rue St Catherine--that is the longest pedestrian street in Europe. There are major brands and small cute shops as well as cafes, restaurants and such.

Spending time in the area of the Place de la Bourse is a must do because of the Water Mirror! It's hard to describe but definitely a must - see. Water comes out of a large plaza periodically and when it does, it makes a mirror where you can see the beautiful buildings reflecting across from it. Then a mist appears which is quite ghostly. Truly unique!

If you are interested in French and culinary arts, I highly recommend booking the Bordeaux in Bites food tour. It is owned by a woman who is highly knowledgeable about French food and wine. She takes you to very high quality shops where she buys food to taste (but NOT tiny portions) like an artisan boulangerie, pastry, butcher for terrines and pate, ending at a fabulous cheese shop where cheeses are chosen and the food is eaten with wine. She gives you information about the food you are eating and we learned so much. You can see my review on Trip Advisor (AnaBelle). It's about 3 hours long and we enjoyed it immensely.

She gave us a dinner recommendation for restaurant called Echo--it was very good--farm to table type cuisine. Excellent.

The group tour hotel was a Hotel Mercure Bordeaux Centre-ville so we stayed there for the two days we arrived early. Convenient and very nice.

Overall we really enjoyed doing a lot of just and looking at this beautiful city which is quite easy to navigate!

Bordeaux is such a wonderful city! I would suggest starting with www.lostinbordeaux.com for the latest and greatest of all that's happening in Bordeaux (she knows her stuff and always has great, timely and local information from a local!) As others stated, Cité du Vin is interesting as are the other museums (Musée d'Aquitaine, Musée de Beaux-Arts and the Musée du Vin et du Négoce--the original wine museum). Walk around the Chartrons neighborhood for it's lovely shops and great restaurants (the area by l'Église Saint-Louis). If you are there on a Sunday, definitely head down to the Quai for the Sunday Market. Another market is Marché des Capucins, which is a great covered market open Tuesday-Sunday (closed Monday.) But get there before noon as stalls start to close down around lunch time for the rest of the day. It is a great place to eat lunch, too. If you want to venture out to the vineyards, there are a plethora of tours. One I like is Rustic Vines (https://rusticvinestours.com/) They operate out of either Bordeaux OR St. Émilion. In keeping with wine, Le Bar à Vin (https://baravin.bordeaux.com/en/) is a Bordeaux classic and a good place to taste wine without leaving the city. Look for Portes Ouvertes (you can google Portes Ouvertes Bordeaux or ask the Tourist Office.) These are "open houses" for wineries and often happen in April/May for the Spring. I believe St. Émilion's is first weekend in May. The Médoc (left bank area) is usually the first weekend of April. Finally I'd check out Bassin des Lumières (https://www.bassins-lumieres.com/en). Ostside of the city is Archachon, Dune de Pilat, Biscorosse, Médoc, St. Émilion, Blaye, etc. I know I've missed many other things to do/see (especially if you want to venture outside of the city.) The weather should be just perfect that time of year, too. I hope you enjoy your visit!

I am just back from a conference in Bordeaux and it had been many, many years since my previous visit. I am truly amazed at how polished the city has become; the entire city center and the adjacent Chartrons neighborhood are a real delight to wander around, with lots of cute shops, cafes, restaurants, etc., and everything is beautifully restored.

I greatly enjoyed dinner at the Mama Shelter hotel, fun atmosphere and good food.

I found transportation to be crowded, slow, and unreliable though, so I strongly recommend staying right in the center.

Sadly I cannot recommend the hotel I stayed in (Grand Hôtel Français), the reviews are good but the room I got was very tiny for the €150 price tag.

We loved Bordeaux! You’ve gotten great advice above but I will second the suggestion for https://www.bassins-lumieres.com/en. It’s a light art exhibit in an old WWII submarine base. It’s really excellent.

I don’t know how long you have in Bordeaux but one of the day trips we did from there was to take the train to Angouleme. That is one fantastic city - the range of architecture there was impressive and it was a really lovely place to wander.

The initial reason we went to Angouleme - and it’s a quick train ride from Bordeaux - was because I have always wanted to get to Oradour sur Glane. From Angouleme, I hired a driver to take us out to the site and then drive us back to the train station.

The village is frozen in time - in its terrible Nazi/SS destruction - as a testament to the horror of war.

It is one of the most moving places I have ever been.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oradour-sur-Glane_massacre

Adding on to @Balso comment regarding Mama Shelter Hotel...they have a great rooftop bar that should be open when you are there in May. Definitely worth a visit (https://mamashelter.com/bordeaux/eat-drink/rooftop/)

We spent 6 nights in Bordeaux in late May this year. Enjoyed the city immensely. I don’t have anything else to add to the advice above as far what to see and do. We did book 3 days of private wine tours through Rustic Vines mentioned above and highly recommend them. We stayed at the Quality Inn Bordeaux in the city center. The room was basic but comfortable and quiet. Breakfast was not included but there was a patisserie across the street that my husband visited every morning. We spend 960 euros for the 6 nights. It was a great location in the old city - close to lots of restaurants, shopping, and the wonderful water front park that we enjoyed strolling through in the evenings soaking up the local culture. We did not spend a lot of time in the room. Since our wine tours included a wonderful and large lunch we only ventured out for a real dinner a couple of times. Lot of choices in the area.

Agree that the Musee d'Aquitaine was lovely. Other enjoyable experiences in our 2+ days were

• Musee du Vin et Negoce (quite different from Cité du Vin)
• Picnic lunches in Le Jardin Publique
• A 1-1/2 to 2 hour 'wine tasting class' at Olala Bordeaux (in the heart of the city; they also have excursions, but we did not go to St Emilion or Medoc)
• I quite enjoyed dinner at Arcada. My wife's travel journal entry was that I liked it better than she did: "Very elegant and creative, but not 100% successful in my opinion." Take a look at Trip Advisor: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g187079-d17393615-Reviews-Arcada-Bordeaux_Gironde_Nouvelle_Aquitaine.html

We stayed at Villa Erizio, an apartment style "hotel." https://villaerizio.fr/en/ Lovely accommodation, though no hotel common rooms. About a ten minute walk from the main Cathedral & Hotel de Ville, AWAY from the heart of town (SWW direction); not a bad location - and quiet. They delivered a lovely breakfast of pastries, jam, (beurre et confiture) in the morning abut 7 am, hung on the door handle. Nicely equipped kitchen with an espresso maker (and coffee & milk), as well as some fruit and cheese.

When we arrived in Bordeaux, last May, we were pleased to learn that the Airport to City tram line had just opened, two weeks earlier. So, for about 3 Euros each, we took the tram towards the Hotel de Ville/Cathedral stop, got off one stop earlier, and we were just about 4 blocks from our "hotel." Sweet.

Bordeaux was merely a convenient starting point for us. We went on to bike 8 days in the Dordogne, see a friend in Nantes, bike another week in the Loire Valley, and finish up by heading to Chartres, Versailles and finally Paris.

We spent a few days in Bordeaux in September, and as I read the preceding posts I keep saying, yep, yes, good idea... We had a wonderful time, and I don't think I'd have much to add. Except this: a review of the place we stayed. This guesthouse only has 2 rooms to rent, but it's lovely and the hosts are great.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/france-reviews/les-chambres-d-art-a-great-choice-in-bordeaux

Oh, and I'm bookmarking your post; a few of the things that have been mentioned we didn't get to. Thank you!