Trips to Bordeaux – check out the list of things to do in Bordeaux, France. Our brief guides for planning a trip will help you get ready for family vacations and holidays with friends.

Bordeaux is the capital of Gironde department and of Aquitania region of France. It is often called “Petite Paris”, ”Sleeping Beauty” and the “Moon Port”.

The city is located on the picturesque banks of Garonne River and occupies the biggest territory in France, with the population of almost one million citizens. Bordeaux is highly popular among the tourists all year round.

Things to do in Bordeaux city – travel recommendations

Start your trip to Bordeaux with the historical center, take a walking tour to see the top interesting places or take bike tour. This is the best way to explore more of the city and also bring variety to your trip to Bordeaux in France.

Numerous restaurants of Bordeaux city will offer you great cuisine and you should not miss the opportunity to try world known Bordeaux wines. There are specially designed wine trip to the local wineries, where you can discover all about the history of local winery production and enjoy the taste of wines.

We have listed several trip ideas to make sure that visiting Bordeaux would be your best travel experience.

Bordeaux is very comfortable for walking tours in the center of the city. In case your decide to make a longer trip, and visit more remote historical sights – use buses, trams and bikes.

How to arrange trips to Bordeaux on bikes and by car

Trips by bikes are relaxing and easy in Bordeaux. This is really a city convenient for the bikers – there are about 580 km of bike roads are available for bikers. Bikes can be rented at the rent centers anywhere in the city.

There is special program VCUB (bikes free access) according to which for a fixed amount of 1 Euro per day or 5 EUR per week bikes can be rented from any rent center. You can plan your trip for a day for example and pay only for the day during which you used the bike.

Keep in mind that first 30 minutes of rent will be free of charge, after that 2 EUR per hour will be charged for your bike trip.

Another convenient means of transportation in Bordeaux is ferry. It goes between the Southern part Quai Richelieu and Aristide Briand Square. Trip by ferry for sure will be one of the most interesting experiences you would have in Bordeaux.

In case you prefer a trip by car to explore Bordeaux, keep in mind that the historical part of the city is easily accessible by feet and is a pedestrian zone.

Please note that it is rather hard to find a place for parking near the center. Parking in Bordeaux city is rather expensive

Travel notes for planning trips to Bordeaux

If you are going to Bordeaux, be aware of the following: 

• The Luna Port since 2007 is in the list of UNESCO world’s treasures.
• The Les Quais district and Aquitaine bridge are in the old bay of Bordeaux with the longest bridge in France.
• Pont Neuf, means new bridge, but in fact is the oldest bridge in the city of Bordeaux. Old military ship Colbert is moored near it. The ship hosts museum and a restaurant.
• Historical part of Bordeaux city in pedestrian area of Saint Michel, Saint Pierre, Saint Crua and Saint Epali.  The architecture is really amazing here and you will see buildings of different epochs.
• Sainte-Katherine street is one of the most vivid places of the city.
• Marvelous view will open in front of your eyes from the Saint Michel Tower.
• Another place to see during Bordeaux trip is La Victoire district with the Triump Arch.
• Gambetta Square is sometimes called La Petite Paris. This is also beginning of elite districts of Bordeaux and a nice place to start your trip.
• If you plan a trip to Bordeaux and prefer relaxing rest, the shadows of Les Jardines Public trees would be the best choice. You can take a guide excursion or just come here for few hours for a picnic with friends.
• Visit Aquitania Museum if you would like to find out more about the history of Bordeaux.
• Another popular tourist spot is Museum of Modern Art (Musee D’Art Contemporain). This is where you will get acquainted with the modern tendencies in creative works of Artists and Sculptors.

Plan day trips to Bordeaux museums:

Addresses of popular museums in Bordeaux city:

Musee d’Aquitaine

20, cours Pasteur

Tel. : 05 56 01 51 00

Musee des Beaux-Arts

Jardins de la Mairie

20, cours d’Albert

Tel. : 05 56 51 71 70

Capc Musee d’Art Contemporain

7, rue Ferrere

Tel. : 05 56 00 81 50

Musee National des Douanes

1, place de la Bourse

Tel. : 05 56 48 82 82

Stone Bridge or Pont de Pierre

Stone Bridge, called Pont de Pierre in French, is very popular among the tourists. The stone bridge connects the two parts of the city across Garonne.

Pont de Pierre connects cours Victor Huge and Avenue Thiers.

The bridge was built in 1819 – 1922 according to the order of Napoleon, by engineers Deschamps and Billaudel and it was the first bridge built across Garonne River.

Erection of stone bridge was complicated due to the flow of the river. The interesting fact about the bridge is that it counts 17 arches – the number of letters in Napoleon Bonaparte name.

The length of the Stone Bridge is 486 meters. It remained the longest bridge until 1822, when the Saint-Jean Bridge was built in 1965.

Things to do in Bordeaux and area nearby – join a trip to Winery

Is wine testing in your list of things to do? If not – then add it to your trip schedule! You will taste local Bordeaux wines, which are highly appreciated all over the world.

Also, you will discover how to maintain the vineyard, learn about the differences between vintages and ask any question that you want about wines.

Trips to the wineries can be booked at the hotels or in the tourist information centers. Some of the trips to wineries are scheduled for half of the day while others for the whole day.

Interesting facts about Bordeaux

The history of Bordeaux is closely connected with the names of famous French people. François Mauriac was born here, Montesquieu was the President of the city parliament for example.

When the German army in 1940 approached Paris the French government moved to the city of Bordeaux.

Interesting fact about the city of Bordeaux is that it is called the Wine Kingdom.

Each wine producer has a castle and according to the tradition the wines are called in the names of the castles, where they were produced and aged.

Bordeaux is always beautiful, welcoming guests and offering a lot to see and to discover during trips. You will never get bored and will always find plenty of interesting things to do in Bordeaux.

The city of Bordeaux is located on both banks of Garonne River, with the historical center on the left bank.

The so called Port of Moon, is a bay reminds moon in shape.

On the right bank of Garonne River there are several hills, which mark the beginning of the industrial zone of Bordeaux.

You can make a trip – 12 km to the South from the city Garonne, and see how it merges with Dordogne and creates Gironde delta, which is the biggest in France.

How to get to Bordeaux city?

Most convenient way to make a trip to the city of Bordeaux would be of course by plane.

The International airport Bordeaux-Mérignac is located only 10km from the city center. The airport hosts mainly internal flights from France.

Travelers can get from the airport to the city center the following ways:

Make a trip by bus Jet’Bus, departing every 45 minutes, from 7:45am till 10:45pm. The final stop is train station of Bordeaux (Gare St. Jean) with few stops on the way. The trip will take round 45 minutes, the cost is 7 EUR.

There is also bus #1, going between the airport and the center of the city with stops in Mérignac Soleil, Mérignac Centre, Barrière Judaique and Gambetta Square.

Price per ticket is 1,40 EUR. The bus leaves every 10-20 minutes depending on the time of the day, from 5:30am till 0:20am.

Trip by taxi to the center of the city will cost about 20 EUR.

Train connections to plan trips to Bordeaux

Railway connection in the city of Bordeaux was established in 1841.

The first line between Bordeaux and Paris was open in 1952, when the company Paris-Orlean established the railway connection between Bordeaux and Angulem.

In 1855 Bordeaux Segur railway station was destroyed and a new one – Bordeaux-Saint-Jean was built instead.

Today Bordeaux is an important city, a connection point between Paris and Spain. Basically you can make a trip to any European city by train from Bordeaux.

The main train station is Saint – Jean. Trains from Bordeaux go to Nant, Perig, Archashon, Clemont Ferrat. The high speed trains are connecting Paris, Toulouse, Daksem, Pau, and Endaime.

Climate and weather in Bordeaux

The climate and weather conditions in Bordeaux city are determined by the Atlantic Ocean. Mild winters and hot summers are common in this region and that is one of the reasons why so many tourists prefer visiting Bordeaux.

The statistics says that 150 days per year are rainy here. During summer time the rains are with thunderstorms.

The average temperature in January in Bordeaux is +6,4 C. In August the temperature reaches the point of + 20.9C.

The maximum temperature in Bordeaux was recorded in summer 2003, when the temperature went up to +41C. The coldest winters in the city were recorded in 1985 and 1987.

Bordeaux is the city, where you will have excellent rest, learn about the history of France, taste great wines. All of this and much more activities can be planned for your trips to Bordeaux any time of the year.