We are big fans of art, architecture, and history, particularly medieval history including Romanesque and Gothic. In looking at daytrips from Bordeaux, I keep coming back to Saint Macaire and Saint Emilion. BUT (and these are big BUTs...) Saint Macaire is not the easiest to get to by train (carless) and Saint Emilion is frequently described as very touristy and not much fun to visit. So, am I missing overlooked gems as alternatives? Our travel will likely be in the spring, and again, we are train-dependent. But any other medieval villages or sites daytrip-able (is that a word???) from Bordeaux that might hit many of these same notes? Thanks!
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Pacific Northwest
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We did a quick trip to Angouleme from Bordeaux. You can get there in under an hour on the fast train. It is a riot of fabulous architecture for such a small old town. Every corner we turned had another fantastic building!
In addition, the city is a street/building art mecca and so there’s a lot of cool murals. There’s a great market, nice cafes…I loved this city.
I’ve sent you a private message on this site with more detailed information.