Getting there

By car it is 75 minutes on the D936 and the A89 motorway. Leave the car at a tram park-and-ride (the Buttinière or Galin P+R on the east bank are closest for traffic from our direction) and ride the tram across the river into the centre. By train, drive 15 minutes to Sainte-Foy-la-Grande station and sit back for an hour along the river to Bordeaux Saint-Jean; the tram runs from the station into town. Trains run roughly every hour.

What to see

Bordeaux’s 18th-century centre is the largest UNESCO urban site in the world. Walk from the Place de la Bourse and the water mirror along the quays to the Place des Quinconces, then into the Saint-Pierre quarter with its restaurants and wine bars, through the Grosse Cloche gate and up the Rue Sainte-Catherine, the longest shopping street in Europe. The cathedral and the Pey-Berland tower, the Grand Théâtre and the Jardin Public fill the afternoon. Across the river, the Darwin eco-district has street food and skate ramps that teenagers rate.

The Cité du Vin

At the north end of the quays, the Cité du Vin is a spectacular museum of wine cultures from around the world, with a tasting on the panoramic top floor included in the ticket. Allow two to three hours. The tram stops outside.

Eating

The covered Marché des Capucins is the locals’ market and the place for oysters and a glass of white at eleven in the morning. The Chartrons quarter has the best Sunday market along the river. For dinner, the small streets around the Place du Parlement.

Combining with Saint-Émilion

Saint-Émilion is on the way, 30 minutes from Bordeaux. Many guests do Saint-Émilion in the morning and Bordeaux in the afternoon and evening, or make it two separate days.