Even though Bordeaux is famous for its wine, it isn't really a famous city with lots of tourists, so when my friend asked me If I wanted to go there on a 3 day trip, I was curious what this city had to offer!
So, if you are wondering what to do on your stay in Bordeaux, or are just curious about this cute town, stay tuned!
We actually flew there early in the morning so after we landed and took a bus to the city, it was around 14h. So we had half of that day, one whole day, and half of the next before getting on a bus back to the airport, and in terms of discovering the city, I think it was just the perfect amount of time! Keep in mind if you want to go for a wine tour or a bicycle ride in the country side, you should add one more day to your stay!
Here is the full list of all the things we saw!
Basilica of Saint-Michel
Porte Bourgone
Big Bell of Bordeaux
Cathedral of Saint-André of Bordeaux
Sainte-Catherine Street
Palais Gallien
National Bordeaux Opera House
Jardin Public
Monument aux Girondins
Palais de la Bourse
Saint Pierre-Church
Fine Arts Museum
Decorative Arts and Design Museum
Architecture Museum
DAY 1
Start by checking out the Basilica of Saint-Michel.
Then walk by the river until you get to the Porte Bourgone, one of the doors to the city, right next to a beautiful bridge.
Go up Victor Hugo street until you find the Big Bell of Bordeaux.
Check out all the cute stores in the street that goes out of the bell.
Walk to Cathedral of Saint-André of Bordeaux and maybe go shopping on Sainte-Catherine Street, where you can find more popular stores as well as local shops!
DAY 2
This was going to be a big day, so we started by walking to the further landmark we wanted to see, the Palais Gallien, an old roman ruin.
On your way feel free to wander of the path a little to find some cute streets and even see the National Bordeaux Opera House.
From the ruin it is a short walk to a beautiful park with amazing fauna and a lake, the Jardin Public. This is a good place to take a break from walking or have an ice-cream to cool of!
Just besides this Garden and next to the river is the big Monument aux Girondins, a very imposing column with great sculptures on the bottom!
Since you will be already near the river, walk along the river bank until you get to the Palais de la Bourse, a beautiful Palace with a water mirror that gives this square an elegant touch.
If you want you can also check out the Saint-Pierre Church, a smaller one but still very beautiful, before finding a place to eat your lunch!
Then I would suggest going to the more interior part of town and see some museums!
We ended up going to the Fine Arts Museum and to the Decorative Arts and Design Museum, where we saw amazing paintings and sculptures, and got to see an amazing palace with almost all of its original furniture!
Because one of the wings of the Fine Arts Museum was closed it was actually free entrance, and for the Decorative Arts and Design Museum the price was also cheap (3 or 4€, with our student discount).
After that we walked around that area doing some shopping and went to the Architecture Museum right before it closed! As we are both Fashion students at the Architecture College in Lisbon the entrance was free, but if you are a regular student I believe the price is around 4€, which is a good price for the size of the museum. Even if you don't love architecture or geology you have to check it out even if it's just to see the giant stained glass rosacea!
After that we had a crepe at a creperie that I won't mention, because of the terrible experience we had there, looked at some shops, and then went back to our airbnb after a tiring day!
Note: The next morning we were actually looking to tour the Bordeaux Synagogue, but they only do tours in the afternoon so we weren't able to make it. I don't know what the inside looks like, but the outside is definitely worth checking out.
DAY 3
On the last day, we went back to the Cathedral of Saint-André of Bordeaux to see the inside, walked round window-shopping, tried to check out the Synagogue without success and searched for Souvenir Shops (there are so little souvenir shops, we were very confused).
After a more chill morning mostly walking around we headed back to our Airbnb where we got our bags and hopped on a bus to the airport!
Costs:
In terms of the cost of this trip, it was VERY inexpensive, the flights were 25€ roundtrip for each of us, and the airbnb was also 25€ a night (which means each one of us payed 25€ for the 2 nights). We got our food for dinner and snacks at the supermarket, and the prices were normal, and had one lunch out- we struggled to find an inexpensive restaurant but we found a cute nerd/fan/geek cafe (Space Coffee), where a menu with a drink, cheese and ham toasted sandwich with a fried egg (croque madame), and a pastry for dessert was around 7 or 8€. Keep in mind most restaurants are around 20€ per person or more, but if you are on a budget be sure to check out this cafe or make a sandwich at home to eat mid-day!
Check out my other posts and my Instagram @go.with.jo to discover amazing places to travel to!
Joana
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