Bordeaux: Itineraries

Seeing Bordeaux' best sites takes a leisurely couple of days. A walking tour is the best way to take in the city's different personalities.

Begin south of the centre at the Richard Rogers-designed law court, a stunning building designed to emphasise transparency and raise the judiciary's credibility.

The city boasts the most beautiful collection of 18th-century edifices in all of France. It was during the 18th-century that Bordeaux underwent major urban redevelopment, having found new wealth from the trade in slaves and sugar with the Antilles (or West Indies) and Africa. Much of the historical centre of Bordeaux dates from this period, particularly the recently renovated area between the Place des Quinconces to the north, and the Église Saint-Pierre to the south. The large avenues - lined with grand freestone buildings, their ornamental facades decorated with mascarons and sculpted arches - are a unique example of neoclassical architecture. Nowhere else in France is there such a well-conserved and architecturally harmonious ensemble from this period.

Having crossed the Allées de Tourny , stop to admire the majestic Grand Théâtre before continuing to Place de la Bourse , by the Gironde river. Also worth admiring is the Église Notre-Dame , with its beautiful baroque edifice from the end of the 17th-century. The quays that skirt the river are lined with an opulent stretch of identical neoclassical facades, built to impress travellers arriving in Bordeaux by boat. Further south, between the Cours d'Alsace & Lorraine and the Cours Victor-Hugo , the older and less renovated district of Éloi reveals the face of Renaissance Bordeaux. Its streets conceal some beautiful 15th- and 17th-century houses. The area is dominated by the 15th-century Porte de la Grosse Cloche , which was the clock-tower-cum-gateway to the city during the Middle Ages. Further south again, don't miss the Quartier Saint-Michel , a vibrant cosmopolitan working-class district, with its wonderful Basilique Saint-Michel . An impressive example of the flamboyant Gothic style, the basilica is now a Unesco World Heritage Site. Its separate belfry, the 114m-high, late-15th-century Flèche St-Michel , offers a stunning panorama over the city.

Finally, north of the city centre and the Esplanade de Quinconces, the Quartier des Chartrons is a lovely place to wander through. This area was once a favourite spot for wine merchants, and many wine shops are still there today. The rue Notre-Dame, lined with antique shops, traverses this district.