Day trip from Paris to Bordeaux or ______ in November?

Paris to Bordeaux or St. Emilion as a day trip? In a TGV it will take 2 hours minimum from Gare Montparnasse to Gare St. Jean in Bordeaux. If you want to spend enough time there to do some wine tasting, you should stay at least one night there, taking an early train from Paris and a late one the next day from Bordeaux. There are many wine tours available for St. Emilion from Bordeaux, and for the wineries around Bordeaux, but you will be rushed trying to do it in the partial day you would have there. To be fair to Bordeaux, you should give it 3-4 days, but at a minimum, two. It is not as close as Giverny or Versailles.

I don't like wine, so I have no comments on that subject.

I enjoyed making a day trip to St-Emilion from Bordeaux a few years ago. The lower part of St-Emilion is very touristy, but I took the little tourist pseudo-train from the train station (which is some distance away) up to the top of the town, saw the church and wandered slowly downhill. There were few other tourists in the upper town.

I wouldn't recommend visiting St-Emilion from Paris, though. You'd have to go all the way to Bordeaux, change trains (I see a lot of almost-half-hour layovers) and take a slow train to St-Emilion (also about 30 minutes). Total time required will be over 3 hours each way not including the time required to travel between the train station and the town.

Have you looked at rail fares from Paris to Bordeaux? The TGVs are wonderful trains, but when you cover that much distance and don't buy tickets really early, you are at risk of paying a lot of money for your tickets. Check SNCF Connect right away to see whether you can find a date that works for you with reasonable ticket prices for trains that give you enough time in Bordeaux to make the trip worthwhile. If you find a bargain, you'll need to buy the tickets right away lest the fare increase. Investigate the change/cancellation rules.

https://www.sncf-connect.com/en-en/

The basic trip from Paris-Montparnassse to Bordeaux will take over 2 hours each way, but then you have to get from the train station (not in the historic part of town, and even farther from La Cite du Vin) to what you want to see. There's frequent bus service heading in the right direction, but check schedules carefully before deciding to stay late in Bordeaux. I remember another poster reporting that bus service ends surprisingly early.

How far is your hotel from Paris-Montparnasse? You'll need to add the travel time to the Montparnasse Station to the train time.

I really can't recommend this idea. There are many interesting places considerably closer to Paris that will cost you less in rail fare and give you more time at your destination. In addition, Bordeaux is a key transportation gateway to the Dordogne/Lot area, which offers a wide variety of sightseeing opportunities. It seems a shame to take an expensive, extremely brief trip to Bordeaux and not have time to see anything in the area to the east. Maybe make this part of your next trip to France?

Thank you for the replies! Our hotel is actually in Montparnasse so good to know we're right next to the train station. I had read in several places that 2 days was enough so was hoping we could do it in a day. However, we plan to visit again next year so completely open to saving it for next time to visit other places nearby.. What are the other destinations you would recommend that would be a good day trip? We've already done Versailles and other popular tourist spots. Our travel dates are Nov. 22 to the 28 - any chance there would be some Christmas markets?

If the r/t cost on the TGV is no issue, then this 4 hour trip is very doable. It depends on how desperate you are to see Bordeaux.

I've done as much in Germany for a day trip, 4.5 hours r/t on the ICE.

RE: being close to Montparnasse. That's one of the distinct advantages staying near the train station. Several hotels at Gare Montparnasse of varying prices.

Here are just a few possibilities; I don't know which train station you'd need to get to for each of these.

Chartres
Giverny
Reims
Lille
Le Mans
Senlis (probably requires a bus)

I'm sure there are many more. I haven't yet really dug into the area immediately around Paris. I really liked Troyes and Rouen, but they're 75-90 minutes from Paris.

Re: "other suggestions as day trips from Paris."

Are you interested in seeing towns where no foreign visitors go to, the only visitors, if any, being locals? If so, then I suggest these: (all accessible on the TER)
Soissons...leave from Paris Nord.

Chaumont....leave from Paris Est.

Bar-le-Duc....leave from Paris Est

If not, then I suggest : Rouen and Orleans...lovely and interesting places.

I do not recommend touring vineyards after leaves have fallen, in general... (so, anytime after late October/early Nov in the far south). The rows of sticks feel bleak to me.

Trains to Chartres leave from Montparnasse, so you're well situated for that !

There are at least a couple dozen great day trips within an hour of Paris. Go to the current VanGogh exhibit at the Orsay which focuses on his last weeks in Auvers and then take a day trip to Auvers. Or head for Reims - 45 minutes away-- to tour a Champagne house. and on and on.