My husband and I did a Go Ahead food and wine small group tour to Burgundy and Bordeaux, which started in the city of Bordeaux. We arrived two days early and thoroughly enjoyed exploring Bordeaux on our own. It looks like Paris in architecture, but in fact Bordeaux's Hausmannian style architecture came first by Baron Hausmann we learned. It is easy to get around, and they have a modern and easy to use tram system. We used it to go to the La Cite du Vin --a must do if you love wine. Very interactive and informative. Spent about 3 hours and didn't see everything. There are places to eat there and you get a free glass of wine of your choice at the end.
In addition to the St. Andre Cathedral, we did a lot of walking in the old town area. There is a long street --Rue St Catherine--that is the longest pedestrian street in Europe. There are major brands and small cute shops as well as cafes, restaurants and such.
Spending time in the area of the Place de la Bourse is a must do because of the Water Mirror! It's hard to describe but definitely a must - see. Water comes out of a large plaza periodically and when it does, it makes a mirror where you can see the beautiful buildings reflecting across from it. Then a mist appears which is quite ghostly. Truly unique!
If you are interested in French culinary arts, I highly recommend booking the Bordeaux in Bites food tour. It is owned by Diane, a woman who is highly knowledgeable about French food and wine. She takes you to very high quality shops where she buys food to taste (but NOT tiny portions) like an artisan boulangerie, pastry, butcher for terrines and pate, ending at a fabulous cheese shop where cheeses are chosen and the food is eaten with wine. She gives you information about the food you are eating and we learned so much. You can see my review on Trip Advisor (AnaBelle). It's about 3 hours long and we enjoyed it immensely.
She gave us a dinner recommendation for restaurant called Echo--it was very good--farm to table type cuisine. Excellent.
The group tour hotel was a Hotel Mercure Bordeaux Centre-ville so we stayed there for the two days we arrived early. Convenient and very nice.
Overall we really enjoyed doing a lot of just and looking at this beautiful city which is quite easy to navigate!