Must-see attractions in Bordeaux

  • New museum of wine in Bordeaux City

    La Cité du Vin

    Bordeaux

    The complex world of wine is explored in depth at ground-breaking La Cité du Vin, a stunning piece of contemporary architecture resembling a wine decanter…

  • Visitors having fun on the Mirroir d'eau (Water Mirror) of the Place de la Bourse in Bordeaux, France on a hot summer day during a heat wave.

    Miroir d’Eau

    Bordeaux

    A fountain of sorts, the Miroir d'Eau is the world's largest reflecting pool. Covering an area of 3450 sq metres of black granite on the quayside opposite…

  • Bordeaux Cathedral

    Cathédrale St-André

    Bordeaux

    The Cathédrale St-André, a Unesco World Heritage Site prior to the city's classification, lords it over the city. The cathedral's oldest section dates…

  • La Base Sous-Marine

    Bordeaux

    By far the city's eeriest and most menacing sight, this mammoth hulk of a submarine base (1941–43) was one of five built on the Atlantic Coast by the…

  • Basilique St-Michel

    Bordeaux

    This imposing Flamboyant Gothic church lies at the heart of St-Michel. Begun in the 14th century, it took more than 200 years to complete and is best…

  • Place de la Bourse in Bordeaux.

    Place de la Bourse

    Bordeaux

    This is Bordeaux's most iconic square. A mirage of elegance and symmetry, it was laid out by architect Ange-Jacques Gabriel between 1730 and 1775 and…

  • Porte Cailhau, one of the main entrances to the old city, in Bordeaux, France.

    Porte Cailhau

    Bordeaux

    The main entrance into medieval Bordeaux, this grandiose 15th-century city gate was built to celebrate King Charles VII's victory at the Battle of Fornovo…

  • Exterior of the Museum of Aquitaine in the centre of Bordeaux city in France.

    Musée d’Aquitaine

    Bordeaux

    Gallo-Roman statues and relics dating back 25,000 years are among the highlights at this bright and spacious, well-curated history and civilisations…

  • Musée du Vin et du Négoce

    Bordeaux

    This small Wine and Trade Museum, hidden in one of the city's oldest buildings – an Irish merchant's house dating to 1720 in the ancient trading district…

  • Le Garage Moderne

    Bordeaux

    A trio of dedicated mechanics help locals fix their own cars and bicycles at this alternative garage that doubles as experimental cultural space in the…

  • Musée de la Mer et de la Marine

    Bordeaux

    Slated to open in early 2019, this landmark new museum by the Basins à Flot comprises three floors of exhibition space devoted to almost everything there…

  • Institut Culturel Bernard Magrez

    Bordeaux

    Glittering glass chandeliers, parquet flooring, original moulded ceilings and pretty peppermint-green painted wood-panelling create a wonderfully romantic…

  • Basilique St-Seurin

    Bordeaux

    It was around this vast Romanesque complex that the quartier of Saint-Seurin grew in the 11th century. As early as the 5th century, a church dedicated to…

  • Grosse Cloche

    Bordeaux

    Guarded by a twinset of witch-hat capped towers, this Gothic belfry was built on the vestiges of 13th-century protective ramparts and later served as both…

  • Place de la Victoire

    Bordeaux

    The city's finest people-watching square, place de la Victoire throbs with students lingering over drinks on the vast cafe terraces here. Tray-wielding…

  • Musée National des Douanes

    Bordeaux

    This unusual museum explores the role of French customs from modern day to the 1730s when the magnificent Hôtel des Fermes du Roy (1735–38) was built on…

  • Musée des Beaux Arts

    Bordeaux

    The evolution of Occidental art from the Renaissance to the mid-20th century is on view at Bordeaux’s Museum of Fine Arts, which occupies two wings of the…

  • Les Vivres de l’Art

    Bordeaux

    Rub shoulders with bohemian Bordeaux at this ramshackle atelier (artist workshop) where Jean-François Buisson, one of several resident artists, welds…

  • Église Ste-Croix

    Bordeaux

    Exquisite decorative sculptures representing greed, lust and other terrible age-old vices adorn the striking Romanesque façade of this elegant church in…

  • Musée d’Art Contemporain

    Bordeaux

    Built in 1824 as a warehouse for French colonial produce such as coffee, cocoa, peanuts and vanilla, the cavernous Entrepôts Lainé creates a dramatic…

  • CAP Sciences

    Bordeaux

    An imposing concrete hangar on the riverfront is the venue for this cutting-edge science museum, host to various temporary exhibitions focusing on…

  • Pont Jacques Chaban-Delmas

    Bordeaux

    Europe's highest lift bridge crosses the River Garonne with grace and aplomb near the entrance to the Bassins à Flot. At night, its four distinctive…

  • Tour Pey Berland

    Bordeaux

    This gargoyled, 50m-high Flamboyant Gothic belfry was built for the adjoining cathedral between 1440 and 1466. Its spire was added in the 19th century,…

  • Musée des Arts Décoratifs et du Design

    Bordeaux

    Faience pottery, porcelain, gold, iron, glasswork and furniture are displayed at the small Decorative Arts and Design Museum, at home in an elegant golden…

  • Cox Gallery

    Bordeaux

    In a city increasingly known for its street art, it was inevitable that a gallery dedicated solely to street art would open. Enter Cox Gallery, with a…

  • France, Paris, Galliera museum

    Palais Gallien

    Bordeaux

    It was Celtic tribes who first established Bordeaux, but it wasn't until about 200 years later, under the rule of the Romans, that the town started to…

  • Église Notre Dame du Chapelet

    Bordeaux

    On 17 April 1828 the funeral of Romantic Spanish painter Francisco Goya (1746–1828) took place in this magnificent French Baroque church, a stone's throw…

  • Site Archéologique de St-Seurin

    Bordeaux

    Not to be confused with the small crypt inside Basilique St-Seurin, this archaeological site was uncovered in 1910 when archaeologists excavated part of…

  • Pavé des Chartrons

    Bordeaux

    Nowhere is the immense wealth that 18th-century Bordeaux amassed from its port more explicit than on this posh avenue lined with elegant hôtels…

  • Place Gambetta

    Bordeaux

    The old street plaques – place Dauphiné and place Nationale – remain firmly on the wall of one building as a reminder of this tree-shaded square's…

  • Église St-Pierre

    Bordeaux

    Saint-Pierre's enchanting labyrinth of narrow lanes inevitably leads to the predominantly 15th-century church around which the medieval neighbourhood…

  • Porte de Bourgogne

    Bordeaux

    This Roman-style city gate was designed in the 1750s by 18th-century celebrity architect Ange-Jacques Gabriel (1698–1782), best known for redesigning…

  • Jardin Public

    Bordeaux

    Landscaping is artistic as well as informative at the Jardin Public. Established in 1755 and laid out in the English style a century later, the grounds…

  • Musée d’Ethnographie

    Bordeaux

    A visit to this Museum of Ethnography is as much an excuse to nose around the old medical faculty of Bordeaux's prestigious university, established in…

  • Monument aux Girondins

    Bordeaux

    This imposing fountain on vast square and public-transport hub Esplanade des Quinconces is a riot of horses. It was created between 1894 and 1902 in…

  • Promenade des Remparts

    Bordeaux

    An alley of centurion plane trees charts out the course of this elevated garden behind the Capucins food market, built into the remains of the 5km-long…

  • Jardin Botanique de la Bastide

    Bordeaux

    On the right bank, attractive botanical gardens showcase six different zones, including a water garden with impressive lilies, a vertical garden planted…

  • Musée Bordeaux – Sciences et Nature

    Bordeaux

    With more than one million different specimens on show, Bordeaux's former Natural History Museum is among France's most impressive. Closed at the time of…

  • Église Ste-Marie de la Bastide

    Bordeaux

    La Bastide's neo-medieval church, consecrated in 1884, was designed by Paul Abadie (1812–84) – the same architect who designed the Basilica de Sacre-Coeur…

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