Bordeaux

My suggestion would be to not have a car and stay somewhere central. But otherwise, look at hotels in the outskirts, if it was my trip I'd look for a hotel that is close to both a tram stop and the Rocade.

Thank you!

We took the train from Paris in March, immediately picked up a rental car at the train station in Bordeaux then headed to the Dordogne for 6 nights. When we returned to Bordeaux, we immediately dropped off the rental car then stayed in the city for 3 nights. There's plenty to do in Bordeaux and the public transit is very good - the tram system is excellent and the buses cover a lot, but are slower because of street traffic. After just trying to get to a gas station before dropping the car, and having to drive around the train station once, I would never want to drive in the city (and I'm a Boston driver.)
If you really want to have a car to do a day trip, you might be better off paying for a one day rental, pick it up early, then return it at the end of the day so you don't have to deal with parking.

davidsudzy,
June of 2023 we spent 3 days in Bordeaux, 2 before going to the Dordogne for 10 days, and one afterward. We spent 2 nights at the Hotel Saint Louis Beaulieu and parking was free behind a locked gate. We walked one long block to the tram stop to head to the center of town (maybe 10-15 minute ride). Cheap and fast and convenient. (Driving in Bordeaux was a bit of a pain due to traffic and road works.) It was $91.00 per night. No A/C but clean, modern, elevator, lovely courtyard, breakfast was good and ample for about $7.00. Cafe on sight for dinner., and I heard from others the food there was good.

The one night stay was near the train station, Hotel Particulier, Bordeaux St. Jean. $150.00 per night, parking in garage about a 1/2 block away, $15.00 per night. We had a sitting room, AC, modern bathroom, two tvs, kitchen area with microwave, toaster, coffee maker, Keurig, small fridge, washer/dryer combo, dishes. I believe you could request breakfast ahead of time (not free), but we just had something in our room.

We reserved both places through Booking.com and opted for the cancellable rate.

With three days I would visit the Cite du Vin, a good 4 hours. We drove there and parking was almost non-existent. If you can take a bus (I don't know which ones, etc,) it might be better. Bordeaux traffic! Other things to see and do: the cathedral is a nice one, a stroll along the river is popular with families and couples, the Bassin des Lumieres show, tasting wines at the Musee du Vin et du Negoce. Take a tour of wineries one day, either for the Bordeaux wines or St. Emilion. I don't recommend driving while doing wine tasting, especially driving in a foreign country.

Put Bordeaux in the search bar, sort for travel forum, and two years or more recent. You'll find lots of recommendations. Have a great trip!

We had a car and based ourselves in Arcachon last summer. We spent one of those days in Bordeaux. We took the train in. Our favorite thing there was this https://www.bassins-lumieres.com/en

Perfect, this is what we were looking for!

I suppose Bordeaux and golf seem like non-intersecting Venn circles, but the Cabot people (reference Cabot Cape Breton and Cabot Highlands) are now operating two courses and associated resort facilities near Bordeaux. I'm stoked. But train access is a non-starter.

Hi David,

Some of the Adagio Aparthotels offer parking (these are more budget friendly places). The higher end hotels all have it.

I believe Hotel de Seze and L'hotel Particulier have parking arrangements.

I'm going to send you to this website for the 2nd time: https://sauvistication.com/where-to-stay-in-bordeaux/

Safe Travels,

Stefan

We stayed at the Novotel Bordeaux Centre and there was a giant parking garage connected to the hotel. The location - while not what I consider "centre" - was not bad. What was bad was that it was during a giant heat wave.

Hi davidsudzy,
Many of the larger hotel chains offer parking but it may be more difficult to find parking with the smaller, boutique hotels. An unsolicited piece of advice is to make sure your rental car has a "CritAir" sticker on the front windshield as it is now obligatory to have this on cars to drive in the city of Bordeaux.

As for suggested itineraries, I'm happy to make suggestions but not sure of your interests. We live on the out skirts of Bordeaux (part time) so have some favorites as we are frequent visitors to the city as well as the environs. If you are driving, definitely visit Archachon (a super cute beach town). Then pop over to the Dune de Pilat (largest sand dune in Europe. It's huge!) Definitely take at least a half day to visit St. Émilion even if you are not into wine. It's a charming village. If you are in to wine...well...there is so much good wine to be had and many ways to access it in April, especially the end of April as many business are open again for the 'season'.

For additional information, check out the website Lost in Bordeaux https://www.lostinbordeaux.com/. She is a fantastic resource for everything that is happening in Bordeaux and the surrounding area. She has a monthly newsletter that highlights events and activities that are happening. And the newsletter is in English (as is the website.)