Bordeaux
A crescent of eighteenth-century stone on the Garonne, the great châteaux of the Médoc and Saint-Émilion within an hour, and a business terminal of its own at Mérignac.
- Arrival
- Bordeaux-Mérignac · BOD
- To the city
- About 12 km to the centre by car
- Private jets
- Business aviation terminal at BOD, open 24 h
- Best time
- May to October
The city
Stone quays and the vines beyond.
The old port grew rich on wine, and spent the money on its river front: the place de la Bourse, the Grand-Théâtre that Victor Louis finished in 1780, and the Grand Hôtel across the square from it. Trams run where the docks were. From the quays the vineyards begin within a few kilometres, Pessac-Léognan to the south, the Médoc to the north, Saint-Émilion across the river.
The season runs long. May brings 20 °C and the first tables on the pavement, July and August reach 26 °C with the least rain of the year, and October, at 19 °C, is harvest in the châteaux. Winter is mild but wet, with close to a hundred millimetres a month.
Arriving
One airport, with a door of its own.
Bordeaux-Mérignac lies about twelve kilometres west of the centre and is open around the clock, with a 3,100-metre runway equipped for low-visibility landings and a second of 2,145 metres.
- Madrid 1 h 05
- Geneva 1 h 05
- Marrakech 2 h 25
- Doha 6 h 55 long-range jet
- Palm Beach 9 h 35 long-range jet
When to go
May to October.
An Atlantic climate softened by the Gironde: mild, green and wet in winter, warm and fairly dry from May to October. July and August are the warmest months at 26 °C, with under 60 mm of rain. Autumn turns quickly after the harvest.
- 10° J 96
- 11° F 83
- 14° M 73
- 17° A 70
- 20° M 75
- 23° J 57
- 26° J 46
- 26° A 56
- 24° S 74
- 19° O 84
- 13° N 93
- 10° D 97
What to see and do
Days in and around Bordeaux.
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Landmark
Place de la Bourse
The eighteenth-century square on the river, doubled in the thin sheet of the water mirror on the quay.
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Landmark
The Grand-Théâtre
Victor Louis's colonnade of 1780 on the place de la Comédie, with the Grand Hôtel facing it since 1789.
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Landmark
The châteaux
Smith Haut-Lafitte and its neighbours in the Graves, twenty minutes south; the Médoc and Saint-Émilion within the hour.
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Food & wine
La Cité du Vin
Opened in June 2016 beside the Bassins à Flot, its 3,000 square metre permanent tour of wine ends with a glass in the eighth floor Belvedere.
Official site -
Culture
CAPC musée d'art contemporain
In the Entrepôt Lainé, a colonial goods warehouse of 1824 in the Chartrons, about 1,600 works include pieces by Richard Serra, Sol LeWitt and Daniel Buren.
Official site -
Culture
Musée d'Aquitaine
Bordeaux and its region from prehistory to today, from the Venus of Laussel to eighteenth century galleries on the Atlantic trade and slavery.
Official site -
Culture
Bassins des Lumières
Since 2020 Culturespaces has projected immersive art shows across the four water basins of the wartime U-boat base in Bacalan.
Official site -
Food & wine
Marché des Capucins
Known as the belly of Bordeaux, the covered market in Saint-Michel is the city's largest, with oyster counters busy from early morning, Tuesday to Sunday.
Official site -
Golf
Cabot Bordeaux
Formerly Golf du Médoc, the resort has two courses among the pines: Bill Coore's Châteaux of 1989 and Rod Whitman's Les Vignes of 1991.
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Nature
Dune du Pilat
At the mouth of the Arcachon basin, Europe's tallest sand dune rises to about 106 metres and runs 2.7 km along the Atlantic forest.
Official site
Where to stay
A hotel among the vines.
Shown for information. We have no arrangement with any of these hotels.
Where to dine
Two stars on the river, and in the vines.
From the MICHELIN Guide 2026, shown for information. We have no arrangement with any of these restaurants.
- Maison Nouvelle Two Michelin stars Modern €€€€ Rue Rode, Chartrons
- L'Observatoire du Gabriel Two Michelin stars Modern €€€€ Place de la Bourse
- Le Pressoir d'Argent – Gordon Ramsay Two Michelin stars Modern €€€€ InterContinental Bordeaux – Le Grand Hôtel
- Amicis One Michelin star Creative €€€€ Rue Mably
- Cent33 One Michelin star Creative €€€ Rue du Jardin-Public
- Ressources One Michelin star Modern €€€ Rue Fondaudège
Elsewhere in France
More reasons to come.
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Paris
The Louvre, the Left Bank, and the couture houses of the Avenue Montaigne.
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Nice
The pastel façades of Vieux-Nice, and the flower market of the Cours Saleya.
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Monaco (Principality)
A principality of its own on the French border: twenty minutes from Nice by road, seven by helicopter.
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Cannes
The Croisette in festival season, with its own business airport at Mandelieu.
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Saint-Tropez
A former fishing village, best reached by helicopter from Nice.
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Courchevel
Ski-in chalets at 1850, and more Michelin stars than most cities.
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Megève
Horse-drawn sleighs, a medieval square, and Geneva an hour away.
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Biarritz
Belle Époque villas, surf and the Basque coast.
Flying to Bordeaux?
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A Business or First Class seat on a scheduled airline, or an aircraft of your own. Tell us the date and how many are travelling, and we reply with one final price, our margin included.