Where to stay in Bordeaux

Bordeaux is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture of the Gironde department.

Bordeaux and the whole province of Aquitaine came under English rule for 300 years from 1154, when Eleanor of Aquitaine married the future King Henry II. The English rulers enjoyed drinking the wines of Bordeaux, but they enjoyed the profits even more – trade with Bordeaux was their largest source of income. Most wine came from the Graves region just upriver from the city, and this was a clear, deep rosé called clairet, still produced today. The English came to call any Bordeaux red wine “claret”.

Getting in

It has many connections from other cities in west Europe, UK and Ireland, and North Africa (Tunis, Algers, Agadir, Casablanca, Marrakesh, Oujda and Fez). Other destinations include Istanbul and Tel Aviv. Air Transat have seasonal transatlantic flights. For the time being there are domestic flights from Paris Orly and CDG, but these will fall foul of the law banning flights between cities reached overland in under 2½ hours. Other domestic routes are from Ajaccio, Lyon, Lille, Marseille, Montpellier, Nice and Strasbourg.

Getting around

Bordeaux's centrepiece is the elegant riverfront and former port, where fine 18th-century buildings stretch for 3 km (2 mi) along the west bank of the Garonne, from Quinconces in the north to St Croix in the south. The old central districts of St Pierre and St Michel extend inland for about 1 km. Most city sights are in this area. The railway station is south, at the foot of Cours de la Marne. To the north, Quai des Chartrons has been redeveloped as the “City of Wine”, and has the wine museum. The main university campus is in the suburb of Talence, 10 km southwest.

Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.