One day in Cherbourg & Bordeaux

Have you considered talking to a cruise director?

Going to Bordeaux and not including at least a wine-related experience is like going to Paris and never seeing the Eiffel Tower. Check out the La Cité du Vin: https://www.laciteduvin.com/en. It you enjoy it you may want to drive by some of the famous wine chateaux north of the city around Pauillac. It's on our list of places we'd like to visit even though we're not huge wine people. Have some fun being a wine snob for a day!

There is a tram system in Bordeaux that is fairly easy to use but it depends on where you are being dropped from the cruise ship. Is this a ship that docks away from the city center or is it one of the river cruise sized ships that will dock in the river near the city center?

I enjoyed seeing the Cathedral where Alienor d'Aquitaine married Louis VII as well as the Musee d'Aquitaine which covers a comprehensive history of the area including some really interesting pre-history artifacts. The promenade along the Gironde River is excellent on a nice day as well as walking thru the pedestrian areas of the old town. I also did the Fine Arts Museum but the collection was not good enough for me to suggest it to you for a stay of just a couple of hours.

I was there for 2 nights on my own, then met up with a multi-day tour and found plenty to do that didn't have anything to do with wine.

I also think this is a perfectly fine question to ask on the forum. If people don't have an interest in answering a question they can skip to the next one.

We have spent 2 port days in Cherbourg. The first time, we rented a car and drive to Mont St Michel. It was about a 1-1 1/2 hour drive. Roads very very well marked and driving was easy. On our second time in Cherbourg, we rented a car and drove to Utah beach. There was sn excellent D Day museum there. Stopped for lunch in St Marie du Mont and made another stop in St Mere d’Eglise on the way back to Cherbourg. Would highly recommend both destinations. We used Hertz which was an easy walk from dock. If you don’t care to drive, I am sure you could find a tour to either place

In Bordeaux, there is an excellent tourist information office which can book you on available tours. We actually took a 45 minute little train ride through center of city which was quite interesting. Would second recommendation for Acquitaine museum and cathedral

Thanks to KBK, Pam, & marymcgol1 for your helpful information & advice. It’s always great to get input from people that have visited the towns & not from the “cruise director” once we’re on the ship. This forum has never steered me wrong with any trips we have taken to Europe.

I agree with marymcgol1…..if you don’t have anything helpful to say….just move along!

Thanks kerouac2