Bordeaux / seeking ideas for activities!

Hi, Victoria:

There are some great museums in Bordeaux, and a very interesting market. Here's a trip report I filed last fall:

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/a-short-stay-in-bordeaux-september-18-21-2023

Have fun; it's a great town.

La Cité du Vin and the Musée du Vin et du Négoce de Bordeaux are can't-miss attractions for wine lovers. A trip to the delightful village of St-Emilion might be a great idea. And I highly recommend Les Drôles for dinner. As good a duck breast as I've had.

Jane, your trip report mentioned several things we didn't see; thank you! We'll put them on our list for next year.

Must agree with the Cite du Vin. We spent hours there. Also took a private guided tour. I wouldn't necessarily recommend our guide (he was knowledgeable, a driver so we could drink, and nice enough...we just didn't click terrifically). St. Emillon is beautiful. A guide did give us an insider's look at the underground cathedral. We did enjoy our visit to the Bordeaux winery which was more relaxed. Coming from wine country in CA, having an absolute wonderful guide in Basque Rioja country probably jaded us. Having a driver was a plus. Check this site out, https://www.lostinbordeaux.com/the-detailed-guide-to-the-bordeaux-wine-region-and-how-to-visit-it/

We are not typically contemporary art fans, but one exception is the CAPC Musée d'art Contemporain de Bordeaux. The space itself is quite interesting -- an old 1820s warehouse -- and the art installations in the historic surroundings makes for a nice visit. Good cafe and museum shop onsite too.

Also, if you are up for a splurge or want to have a "special" meal, we really enjoyed Le Gabriel on Place de la Bourse. There's actually a couple restaurants within the building -- the Michelin starred L'Observatorie and the more casual 1544, where we had lunch. If it is just the two of you, ask if you can sit in the window table overlooking Place de la Bourse.

The museum is really cool - super modern, if a little light in knowledge.

We went to the tourist office and bought tickets for a day bus tour. We stopped at two wineries and did a little tasting, saw that Nazi uboat pens from a distance and walked around a dilapidated chateau in need of refurb.

We also spent two nights in nearby St Emillon which is a unesco ancient stone village with a lot of tasting options

There are also famous wineries north of Bordeaux and possibly tours.

Just my thought but Bordeaux’s original claim to fame was not the excellence of their wines - merely that the Brits controlled that area of Aquitaine and lived wine, and so set up a lot of export to UK. Also the area is fairly flat and devoid of many castles.

I personally find the Burgundy region more interesting. Also the Pinot Gris wineries near Colmar.

There are also wine areas near Cahors and Chsmbord and Provence. Near Avignon is a famous winery.

We just spent 3 days in Bordeaux, and it was more fun than I expected. We got the city pass, which was probably worth it for us, because one of our group couldn't do a lot of walking, so we used the trams and buses a lot - excellent public transit system. The historic center is impressive if you like to just wander through the streets and admire the buildings. On the city pass we visited City Du Vin, excellent - budget at least 2 hours, could spend longer; The basin of lights (at the old sub base) very interesting, probably 1-2 hours. If someone in your group needs to sit down, just walk through the first 3 bays, to the last one that has seats available. We also did a tour of the moon harbor distillery (reservation needed), in an old WW2 bunker/fuel tank, on the sub base. The tour was in French, but they gave us a pamphlet in English and the guide answered our questions in English. We climbed the Pey Berland tower (reservation needed, easy to do online), for a great view of the city and we visited the museum of fine arts - not very big, but a nice stop, maybe 1-2 hours max. All of those were on the city pass.
If you decide to do the city pass, I recommend not choosing the electric train 1 hour tour (you get to choose 1 of 4 city tour options). It is probably best for little kids and young families!

We quite enjoyed the Musée du Vin et Négoce and the Musée d'Acquitane, already mentioned by others. Defintely recommend those. BTW, in planning our trip, I was not the least bit enthused to go to the big, glitzy Cité du Vin. Since we did not go, I cannot compare the two museums. I can just say that we were pleased with one we chose and we learned a lot about the history of the wine trade over hundreds of years, including the role of the wine trade in the "Triangle Trade" a/k/a the slave trade.

We also had a couple of nice picnic lunches in the Public Garden (Jardin Public).

There are many wine tours from Bordeaux to Medoc or St. Emilion for a full day or half-day, as well as wine tastings in shops in the city. We did not really have the inclination for a somewhat spendy wine tasting tour outside of Bordeaux, but we were very pleased with an instructive tasting by Olala Bordeaux, in the heart of the city. For the "Trip Advisor" reviews of that particular 90+ minute experience, see https://www.tripadvisor.com/AttractionProductReview-g187079-d23324489-Bordeaux_Wines_Masterclass_paired_with_cheeses_charcuterie-Bordeaux_Gironde_Nouvel.html Maybe you don't need the "in city" class that we had - or maybe it will be good preparation for an enhanced wine tasting experience on your planned day trip. We found the class enhanced our understanding of how also those various descriptions of flavors or aromas -- such as lemon, melon, floral, honey, grassy, cherry, chocolate, tobacco and dozens more -- are used and applied. You will learn how well you might pass those tests of scents.

We also enjoyed a two-hour walking tour of Bordeaux. On our last morning in Bordeaux, as we had a little time to kill over lunch before we took a train to Bergerac to commence our week of cycling in the Dordogne region, we stumbled onto a great jazz trio that was busking in Place Meynard, adjacent to St. Michel Basilica. Always be open to what you don't plan, but just stumble onto. If you are inclined to visit a market, the Marché des Capucins is quite near there, but be aware that it closes in the early afternoon.

Just a note about Cité du Vin: I would not describe it as "glitzy." What it is, is a large multistory museum that is exceptionally informative about viticulture and viniculture as it varies around the world. It's unquestionably a different experience from the Negotiant Museum, but both are extremely informative. Real wine lovers will enjoy both immensely.

By the way, the nearby Marriott has a rooftop bar that provides a stunning view at dusk and afterwards. Worth a visit for a late cocktail.