Bordeaux Things to Do

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I can personally recommend BordeauxWalkingTours.com
Patricia has some standard walking tours she does and will customize a tour to your needs as well. She has an amazing knowledge base of the history of Bordeaux and France and a background in architecture that seems to make any humble streetscape come to life. 2 thumbs up!
Bordeauxwalkingtours.com
She's a bit more expensive than the train but Bordeaux deserves the effort! And Patricia seems to know all the hidden treasures

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The Basilique Saint Seurin is classified as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Dated as far back as the 6th Century, the originally Romaneque church as been added on over the years, including a major Gothic facelift starting in the 15th Century. The Crypt is open from 14:00 to 19:00 and dates back to the 4th Century. Considered Bordeaux's oldest church.

The "Grosse Cloche" is one of the few monuments which have been preserved from the Middle Ages, though with quite some alterations. Like Porte Cailhau, it is also squeezed between the surrounding buildings, but impressive nonetheless. Two towers of 40m enclose the "cloche", the bell, which weighs 7,800kg. There is also a finely crafted clockwork. In former times, the "Grosse Cloche" was used as a kind of watchtower. An inscription in French reads the following:

"J'appelle aux armes. J'annonce les jours. Je donne les heures. Je chasse l'orage. Je son les fêtes. Je crie à l'incendie."

In English this would be: "I call to arms. I announce the days. I give the hours. I chase away the thunderstorms. I toll during the festivities. I scream during a fire."

Bordeaux's old town still has four city gates, the most beautiful and impressive of them being Porte Cailhau. Squeezed between the buildings surrounding it, it is impressive but also gives the impression that it would be more suitable elsewhere. It was built between 1493 and 1496 to honour King Charles VIII after his defeat of the Italians. Its name, however, derives from something much more down-to-earth: the "cailloux" were the stones unloaded from the ships at the nearby quais.

The other gates are Porte de Bourgogne (1750-1755), a few metres to the south from Porte Cailhau, Porte d'Aquitaine (1753) on Place de la Victoire, and Porte Dijeaux (1748) at the southern end of Place Gambetta. There is also the Grosse Cloche which I have covered in another tip.

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The Esplanade des Quinconces is France's largest square and one of the largest in Europe. It was laid out in the 19th century on the site of the former Château Trompette and is surrounded by trees that were planted in a specific pattern, a so-called "quinconce" (like the 5 pips of a dice). While the larger part of the square is not really inviting (a large area of gravel), the Monument aux Girondins with its beautiful and impressive fountain easily makes up for that. Built between 1894 and 1902 it commemorates the victims of the "terreur", the time when the guillotines were most active and an estimated 16,500 people fell victim to them. Hence an allegorical statue of the "liberté" is found on top of the column. The monument is surrounded by a fountain that features some original bronze statues which is rather rare in France as most others were molten during a war in order to build cannons. On the other end of the square are two other columns with yet another allegorical statue on top of them, one symbolizing the commerce, the other the navigation which combined led to Bordeaux's prosperity.

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Bordeaux's origins date back to Roman times, but from that era nothing but the Palais Gallien has survived. It is a rather curious sight as it is located amidst residential buildings and not visible until you have reached it.

Dating back to the 3rd century, the amphitheatre suffered severely over the centuries. Its complete extension is only visible from an aerial perspective as it encloses the space now occupied by houses and streets, but it is said to have had enough space for 17,000 (!) spectators. You can imagine its importance back then... During later years, when it had already fallen into disrepair, the Bordelaises used it as a quarry and deconstructed large parts of it. But already in the beginning of the 19th century measures were taken against the continueing destruction of the building. The Palais Gallien was declared a historical monument in 1911.

Nowadays, it is worth a quick visit, but in order to make the most of it you would need the explanations of a good guide as there is not really much left to see.

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Quartier Saint Michel is a very beautiful part of Bordeaux's old town. It has a rather strong Arab touch with numerous tiny street cafes, tailors and grocers selling halal meat and fresh fruit and is one of the only places where you can get groceries on a Sunday afternoon. Surrounding the Place Saint Michel (which, by the way, is known by the Bordelaises under that name although it is officially called Place Meynard) with its magnificent basilica are narrow streets in which you can get lost within minutes. They themselves are nothing special, but typically bordelais: lined with sand stone houses with window shutters, art nouveau figures adorning the walls and old-fashioned door knockers on wooden doors whose formerly bright paint flakes off slowly. Everytime you turn into a new street you'll discover something new.

Quartier Saint Michel gets very busy on weekends when a huge "marché aux puces" (flea market) is taking place there and people come from everywhere to sell old books, ugly dolls, rusty tools, 1950s advertisement signs, vases of all shapes and sizes, second-hand clothes and so on and so forth. Nearby is the ugly market hall "Marché des Capucins" - but even it is worth a visit as you can find some attractive photo opportunites inside.

Another "sight" not to be missed is the "Passage Saint Michel", a former warehouse which now houses a dozen antiquities shops crammed with lovely things the world doesn't actually need. For instance, you are greeted by a giant papier-mâché vulture on entering the building, and a little sign commemorates a goldfish that has passed away a few months ago.

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One of the buildings of Bordeaux that is visible from basically everywhere, the Basilique Saint Michel is also very beautiful and offers the best panoramic view from its belfry.

The basilica was built between the 14th and 16th century in Gothic "flamboyant" style. It is one of South France's biggest churches and measures some 75m in length. While interesting from the inside, I found it to be rather gloomy as well and didn't spend very much time in there.

More interesting was the "flèche" (=arrow), the 114m high belfry. Like the belfry of Bordeaux's Cathédrale Saint André, it is not part of the actual building, but standing separated a few metres away from it. For an entry fee of 4,50 Euros you can ascend the narrow spiral staircase and you are rewarded with the best view over Bordeaux. Surrounding the church are the thousands of roofs of the old quarter of Bordeaux. They seem to make up one uninterrupted area of houses, but there is of course the labyrinth of alleys. Only a stone's throw away is the Garonne, lined by the quais of Bordeaux with the magnificent Miroir d'Eau. In the distance, you can see the wine regions of Aquitaine.

The flèche suffered severe damage during an earthquake in 1759 and during a hurricane in 1768 so that it had to be rebuilt in the late 19th century.