Bordeaux – Tips

Transport

Getting there

	By Car		By Train
From	Via	Time	Time
Calais	A16, A28, A10	8 hours	via Paris (station change) 5:30 hours
Paris	A10	6 hours	direct with TGV 2 hours
Dieppe	A28, A10	7:45 hours	via Rouen and Paris (station change) 5:30 hours
Le Havre	A28, A10	6:30 hours	via Paris (station change) 5:30 hours
Cherbourg	A13, A84, A83	6:45 hours	via Paris (station change) 6:30 hours
Marseilles	A62	6 hours	Direct 6 hours

Air: Bordeaux operates an international airport with flights (scheduled and charter) throughout Europe.

Click here to access the airport’s website.

Ferry: There are no direct ferries from the UK to Bordeaux. The closest in distance would be Bilbao or Santander (both in Spain). For a ferry coming to France, the closest would be Cherbourg.

Bus: There are several long distance bus operators going to this city from different cities in France (and Europe). Click on one of the links below to see which departure city is covered.

Flixbus
Ouibus

Within Bordeaux

Walking in Bordeaux is quite easy despite its size. Bordeaux is flat, and the roads and sidewalks are big enough for cars, bicycles and pedestrians. There are also quite a lot of pedestrian streets.

You only need to pay attention when you are in the old city centre where roads are very narrow and often there’s no sidewalk.

The public transportation system is very good, ranging from trams to buses to shuttle boats. The agency managing the systems is called TBM which stands for Transport Bordeaux Metropole.

You can see the lines and schedules, or even buy tickets on their web site. Click here to access the TBM site.

The same agency manages an electric bicycle sharing program (called V3), and even the “park & ride” platforms. And of course, they offer an Apple IoS and Android smartphone app.

Restaurants

With some 2400 restaurants in Bordeaux alone, there’s plenty of choice for your appetite and wallet. Ranging from cheap fast-food to Michelin rated restaurants, it’s all there. Of course, wines are an important ingredient for any of the restaurants, after all you are in the heart of the wine country.

There are two 2-star Michelin Restaurants and three 1-star Michelin restaurants in Bordeaux.

The famous British TV chef, Gordon Ramsay, has a restaurant in the InterContinental hotel called “Le Pressoir d’Argent“. It’s a 2 star Michelin restaurant.

If you want the pleasure of eating in a Gordon Ramsay restaurant but don’t have the wallet or the time to reserve months in advance, he has a bistro in the hotel that serves less expensive food, but not as great as in his Michelin-starred restaurants.

The restaurant is called “Le Bordeaux Gordon Ramsay“, and it has a very nice terrace outside where you can have a coffee while admiring the opera building.

Click here to read our review of this restaurant.

Hotels

Bordeaux is big, and therefore there is a wide selection of hotels, B&B, AirBnB, hostels and gites to choose from, ranging from 5 star de luxe to tents.

In total, there are some 400 hotels and more than 300 AirBnB places in Bordeaux.

Things To See/To Do

• Walk the city, admire the buildings and parks
• Visit and admire the opera building (The “Grand Theatre de Bordeaux“)
  
  
• Admire the enormous Girondin Monument
  
  
• Sit in one of the many sidewalk cafes and watch the people
  
  
• Visit the Cathedral (Click here to read our review)
  
  
• Visit the churches (click here to see some of them).
• Visit the Water Mirror (Miroir d’Eau) and sights
  
  
• Visit one of the many shopping malls or galleries
  .

• Visit the tourist office

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