Bordeaux is a lovely city and region, with so much to see! If you only have limited days off, this itinerary will show you how to spend 2 days in Bordeaux, St. Emilion, and Arcachon!
How many days
So officially this is a 2-day itinerary, and you can definitely see everything mentioned in this itinerary in 2 days (clearly!). We flew in Friday night, and left Monday morning – so we really had 2 FULL days! However, if I would have more holiday days available, I think next time I would plan to spend one more day in the area, especially in summer! With 3 days you can see all the things in this itinerary with a little less rush 🙂
Where to stay
With only a little time in the area, I would definitely recommend to stay in the city center of Bordeaux! There are lots of hotels in different price ranges to choose from, especially if you book a little in advance! We stayed at L’Apparthôtel Particulier Bordeaux, which was perfectly located right next to the Cathedrale de Saint André.
Since the second day is spent outside the city, I’d book the second night either in Arcachon, or somewhere close to the airport, depending on when your flight out it the next morning! We stayed at ibis Styles Bordeaux Aéroport, since our flight was suuuuper early on Monday!
How to get around
By foot
In Bordeaux city, CLEARLY the best way to get around is on foot 🙂 The city is sooo walkable and there are beautiful sights all around. This is one of those European cities, where you can turn in any direction and there is something interesting to see!
By tram
If you do get tired of walking there is a GREAT tram system in the city! A ticket is valid for 2 hours and only costs 1.8 euros. There are stops all over the city (and it even runs to the airport). I’d recommend to check Google Maps for which line to get on and to check the timetable.
By car
The soon you want to head out of the city limits, I’d highly recommend to rent a car! While there are some train lines that can take you places, they usually take way longer and you’ll still need to walk to your final destination at the end. You can either pick up your car at the airport, or there are also 2 locations in the city center (we got ours at the train station!).
We went with SIXT and had a lovely, seamless experience.
ITINERARY
Friday
Arrive in Bordeaux in the evening. Make your way to your accommodation in the city center. Depending on how late it is, either head straight to bed or hit some of the restaurants and bars 🙂 A great place to go is around Place Saint-Pierre!
Saturday
Since in this itinerary you only really have one full day in the city of Bordeaux, you’ll want to get started quite early! However, it’s also Saturday morning, which means the city will be dead 🙂 Hence, this itinerary starts with a nice, cozy breakfast to let the city wake up a little…
9 am – Breakfast at books and coffee
We stumbled upon a breakfast place called Books and Coffee by chance, and we instantly fell in love! As the name suggests, this café is very cozy and inviting. In true French fashion, they have awesome pastries and coffee! But you can also have any other popular breakfast food you might desire….
10 am – Start exploring
Now that you are fueled for the next couple of hours, it’s time to start exploring! I suggest to slowly make your way from one side of the city to the other, in this case from South to North.
Here are some stops I would hit along the way:
- Rue Saint James: If you had breakfast at Books and Coffee, you’re already on this picturesque street!
- Grosse Cloche: Probably the most famous landmark in the city! It’s a very impressive, fat bell (this is the literal translation of grosse cloche :)).
- Place de la Victoire: Enjoy this lovely open square, with the different monuments around here.
- Rue Saint Catherine: This is THE shopping street in Bordeaux. Stores open up around 10 am, and things tend to get quite crowded during the afternoon!
- Cathedrale Saint André: Beautiful, romanesque cathedral.
- Place de la Bourse: A bright, open square right by the river Garonne.
- Porte Cailhau: Along make your way to the Porte Cailhau. This used to be the main gate to the city.
1:30 pm – Lunch around Place Saint Pierre
By now you’ll have likely worked up quite the appetite! Luckily this itinerary is planned in a way, that you are right around Place Saint Pierre for lunch time. There are hundreds of restaurants to choose from in this area. We opted for a typically French bistro, which had a great lunch deal. The name of the restaurant was Le Grilladin St-Pierre.
2:30 pm – continue exploring…
Time to continue going North, which will lead you to the following attractions:
- Place du Parlement: Another cute little square…
- The Opera: Now you’ve reached the “rich part”. The opera is awesome, and there are plently of luxury shops and hotels in the clos vicinity. Especially in the Triangle d’or, which is the triangle enclosed by the streets L’Intendence, Condillac and Tourny. If you look on Google Maps, you’ll clearly see why it’s called Triangle d’Or 🙂
- Rue Notre Dame: This street takes you through Chartrons, which is more of a “hipster” area in Bordeaux. If you’re not planning on going to the Cité du Vin, you could also skip this part and spend the rest of the day roaming other streets in the areas you already visitied.
- Cité du Vin: This museum is located on the Northern end of the city. If you feel like it, you can walk along the riverwalk from the city center until you reach this unique building. It took us about 30 minutes…
7:30 pm – dinner
You already know where I’m going to send you…. To Place Saint Pierre! Haha. Maybe you already scouted a cool restaurant while exploring the area earlier, if not I’d recommend to check out the options on Rue des Faussets. We love Indian food, so we went with Le Rajwal, but there’s all kinds of restaurants!
If you’re trying to visually imagine where this itinerary takes you, here’s all the stops marked on a city map of Bordeaux:
Sunday
Buckle up, you have another busy day ahead of you today! Today you’ll visit the areas outside of Bordeaux city, namely St. Emilion and the Arcachon Bassin.
8:30 am – Breakfast & get rental car
There are two locations where you can rent a car in the city. All major rental agents have an office by the main train station Saint-Jean. There’s also another Sixt office close to the Triangle d’Or, which is even more central.
Depending where you pick up your car, I’d recommend to eat somewhere closeby.
10 am – Explore St. emilion
After about 50 minutes of driving, you’ll reach the medieval town of St. Emilion. You’ll see that this quaint little town has a completely different vibe than Bordeaux, a lot less extravagant. If you’re following this itinerary, you’ll have around 1 hour to explore the town until your wine tasting 🙂
Where to park: Park somewhere close to Espace Guadet, you can type this into Google Maps!
Insider tip: When we were there on a Sunday there was a market in the building of the tourist office. Check it out!
11:30 am – Visit winery
Time to taste some wine!!! There are so many wineries around, so I’d recommend to do some research and find one that you like. We picked Château de Pressac, because we wanted one with a very pretty estate. But there are tons more, at lower and higher price points, longer tours, only tastings, etc…I really recommend to google a little and figure out which one speaks to you 🙂
1:30 pm – Lunch at St. Emilion / Winery
Depending on what winery you chose, I’d recommend to either have lunch right there, or head back one more time to St. Emilion 🙂 We ate at Amelia Canta, which had both delicious food and a delicious view!
3:30 pm – Drive to Dune du Pilat
Your next stop is the Dune du Pilat, which is 1h 15 mins to the East of St. Emilion. The Dune du Pilat is the biggest sand dune in Europe. I think you’ll still be surprised just HOW BIG it really is!! I’d definitely recommend to go up to the top, and if you feel like it you can even walk down to the water. Just be prepared, everything you walk down you need to go back up!! And walking up in sand is no easy task 😉
5 pm – Visit Arcachon
You’ll end your day at the city of Arcachon. The city is divided into different seasons. There is the “summer city”, the “winter city”, etc.. Before you head into the city center (“summer city”), I’d recommend to take a drive through the winter city and admire the beautiful architecture of the villas.
After that, head to the city center. Spend the rest of the day walking around, in the city and along the beach 🙂
Since Arcachon is a seaside town, I’d recommend to have dinner and or drinks by the sea. There are many nice restaurants along the beach, for example Diego Plage. Arcachon is famous for oysters, just saying…
Where to park: There is street parking, but it’s a nightmare. Hence, I’d recommend to directly go to Parking Indigo. It’s kind of pricey, but very convenient…
9 pm – Drive to airport / stay in Arcachon
Depending on how early your flight is on Monday morning, I’d recommend to either drive back and spend the night at an airport hotel, or find an accommodation in Arcachon.
Since our flight was at 7am, we stayed at the ibis Styles Bordeaux Aéroport.
Monday
The only thing left to do today is return the car, and fly home 🙂
Aaaand this is how you truly MAXIMIZE your weekend away in Bordeaux. In an ideal world you’d have more time, but all of you working in corporate will understand that days of are limited… If you’re wondering how much all of this cost, check out my blog post here.