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Boozing Around Bordeaux: French Wine Travel Guide
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items A girls trip guide to sampling the best French reds in the region. To recreate a similar 3-days around Bordeaux, explore the fairytale, almost Parisian wine hub on foot before hopping in a van to Saint‑Émilion and Margaux châteaux 🍷
Find the full guide at: https://destination195.substack.com/p/boozing-around-bordeaux-red-french?r=5eqvwq
Find the full guide at: https://destination195.substack.com/p/boozing-around-bordeaux-red-french?r=5eqvwq
Sections
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what to do in bordeaux
where to eat in bordeaux
where to shop in bordeaux
wine tasting around bordeaux
what to do in bordeaux
the unesco-listed old town landmarks you can't miss plus more modern museums in the floating, new neighborhood of bassin à flot
a visit to porte cailhau is included in the bordeaux citypass–as well as entrance to la cité du vin, bassins des lumières, and 15+ other museums and monuments–during which you can climb the 35-meter structure and see pont de pierre, the oldest bridge...
Bordeaux CityPass
pey-berland is the place (get it) to be with hôtel de ville or the city hall in a former archbishop’s palace, tour pey-berland with a climbable tower for panoramic views, and the main gothic cathédrale saint-andré serving as landmarks grounding this ...
Cathédrale Saint-André
the fairytale gate of the medieval bell tower, a former city gate tied to the old prison and one of the oldest landmarks in bordeaux 👑
Grosse Cloche
a giant water installation reflecting the symmetrical 18th-century architecture of place de la bourseon next to the river 🪞
Miroir d'Eau
one of europe’s longest pedestrian retail lanes–keep an eye out for the galeries lafayette and massive l’appartement sézane & octobre along the way 🛍️
Rue Sainte Catherine
where we stumbled upon a vintage market spread across one of europe’s largest squares. i read ahead of time that antiquing was one of the major to-dos in town, so if this piques your interest be sure to have cash on hand–which we didn’t have the fore...
Places des Quinconces
a modern wine museum shaped like vino swirling around a glass. exhibits range from the history of wine in various ancient societies to modern production in wine country around the world, plus interactive games where you can squash grapes, put your so...
La Cité du Vin
situated across the street from la cité du vin in the relatively new neighborhood of bassin à flot, vibes were incredibly high as the sun shone and the outdoor seating area buzzed with locals enjoying their sunday–a much preferred food market experie...
Les Halles de Bacalan
immersive digital art installation inside a grungy, repurposed warehouse
Bassins des Lumières
after exploring the city it’s time for the main event: visiting the châteaux which made this red wine region famous to begin with!
while the majority of tours online are offered as half-day experiences, we go big or go home and naturally booked a full-day, 9-hour extravaganza with olala bordeaux 🍷
while the majority of tours online are offered as half-day experiences, we go big or go home and naturally booked a full-day, 9-hour extravaganza with olala bordeaux 🍷
From Bordeaux: Full Day Wine Trip to Saint-Émilion & Margaux
where to eat in bordeaux
from haute french cuisine to chic bistro bites, the food we simply stumbled upon ended up being our favs to be repeated again and again
a lyon bakery we frequented each and every morning. from pink candied praline topped croissants to thin shortbread cookies coated in a similar sugary glaze and my final taste of a braided brioche covered in the same nut–each and every variety was lif...
Le Boulanger de l’Hôtel de Ville
one of the larger lunch-to-late night options in café-filled place camille-jullian. the perfect place to sit back and relax with one (or many…) bottles of château lauduc rosé, munching on escargot and a delightful caesar salad 🐌
Le Saint-Georges
if you need a sweet treat along the way, pop inside for a warm, gooey brookie 🍪
Woody's Brownies
a taste of large, local oysters from nearby i’île d’oléron 🦪
L’Huitrier
the unexpectedly ultimate café en terrasse where we’d return time and time again. elevating simple dishes in an unpretentious way, the truffle croque monsieur was peak following a plate of 30-month aged pata negra and apricot chutney topping sheep’s ...
Chantilly
italian restaurant festif from the big mamma group–over the weekend a reservation is a must considering there was quite line we had to wait in and that was just diners with tables booked ahead of time; everyone attempting to walk in was turned away. ...
Palatino
inside the le palais gallien hôtel & spa, a scrumptious 5-course tasting menu awaits–white asparagus is everything to me now and you’ve gotta go with the almond & amaretto textures for dessert.
while the service was exceptional, it was a bit bizarre that we were quite literally the only diners inside–which i’m not sure speaks more to the lack of tourism in bordeaux or the timing of our visit. either way, we were attended to immediately the ...
while the service was exceptional, it was a bit bizarre that we were quite literally the only diners inside–which i’m not sure speaks more to the lack of tourism in bordeaux or the timing of our visit. either way, we were attended to immediately the ...
Le Cercle de Montaigne
home to fine french cuisine since 1825 inside a peculiar rococo interior with faux rocks and plants encapsulating the dining room in a sort of grotto. we opted for the 6-glass wine pairing on top of the tasting menu, chock full of culinary delights l...
Le Chapon Fin
a swanky spot for rooftop beverages 🍸
Intercontinental Bordeaux
where to shop in bordeaux
rue des remparts is THE place to shop–not even rue sainte-catherine, unless you’re looking for brands you can find at home anyways
i made my friend come back here twice since i couldn’t stop thinking about the sick, vintage-inspired sporty jackets on display…or the beaded bracelets and necklaces strung over vinyl records 📼
Socool
a bouquet can be useful for getting ~the~ romantic vacation shot, or if you’re also celebrating a special occasion in bordeaux 💐
Efflorescence
a flouncy, girly, colorful boutique perfect if you have a more preppy style 🎀
Mimicciu
quite literally any accessory you could ever need is inside, organized in a color-coded feast for the eyes 💎
Bébou la coquette
i dragged us back here to secure art deco–inspired travel postcards featuring both bordeaux and saint-émilion, although there's plenty of destinations around france represented to remember each stop of your trip 🗺️
Marcel Travel Posters
wine tasting around bordeaux
the exact lineup from saint-émilion through margaux châteaux we hit during our full day, 9-hour wine tour linked in the “what to do” section above
the unesco-listed old town is a quaint medieval haunt on a hill 🏡
Saint-Émilion
a quick pitstop for breakfast in saint-émilion home to quite possibly the best pain au chocolat of my life 🍫
Glacier des Vignobles
where the first macarons were concocted in 1620 from only 3 ingredients. take it from me and buy the big pack, we were out of our box of 12 soft almond circles by the end of the tour 🥠
Macarons de Saint-Émilion
once-forgotten cloisters with a striking wood-paneled four horsemen of the apocalypse mural running the length of the interior ⛪
Cloître des Cordeliers
a historic 5-star wine hotel and restaurant in saint-émilion–where to stay if you're taking the week to hone your sommelier skills at les vins de saint-émilion 🛌🏻
Hôtel de Pavie
taste vino from the pomerol terroir. this is a family-run operation–there’s quite literally only 6 individuals running the whole show–so they have to do things the old-school way 👩🌾
Château Taillefer
in the left bank margaux region, whose owner was named the 2024 best winemaker in france. a more organic, all-natural approach is taken here to produce biodynamic wines–and even an orange variety–with innovative techniques like maturing subsets of th...
Château Ferriere
take a photo pitstop at the iconic first-growth château 🥇
Château Margaux
a much larger-scale, more commercialized operation with barrels on barrels on barrels of their signature yellow-labeled brand 🌟
Château Dauzac