Must-see attractions in Bordeaux

  • Top Choice
    La Cité du Vin

    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…

  • Top Choice
    Miroir d’Eau

    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…

  • Top Choice
    Cathédrale St-André

    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…

  • Top Choice
    La Base Sous-Marine

    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…

  • Top Choice
    Basilique St-Michel

    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

    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

    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…

  • Musée d’Aquitaine

    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

    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

    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

    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

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

  • Basilique St-Seurin

    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

    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

    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

    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

    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

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

  • Église Ste-Croix

    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

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