Bordeaux

Old Sep 16th, 2013, 08:22 AM
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Bordeaux

This city doesn't seem to get much love. We are planning a trip for May 2014 and we will start in Lisbon (stay 4 nights) overnight train to San Sebastian (stay another 4 nights) and then we need to finish up our 2 week trip with a place to fly home from. We do not want to end in Madrid or Barcelona so we are thinking about heading up to Paris with a stop for 3 nights in Bordeaux. We considered the Loire Valley but it's a long daytime train ride from San Seb. to there so we thought we might give Bordeaux a quick visit.

So....I'm thinking a day trip to St. Emillion and maybe seeing a chateau. We have limited interest in wine but if the chateau was scenic besides being a wine venue, it might interest us. Any comments on spending 2 and a half days in Bordeaux? We like to ride bikes, and I've read its flat around there. Are there some designated bike trails?
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Old Sep 16th, 2013, 08:27 AM
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Bordeaux is a nice town, you can do wine tasting in the city itself (there are a couple of wine tasting places near the Opera house) and it has several interesting specialty shops (one which deals only in Cognac).

You might be interested in this trip report: http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-june-2011.cfm
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Old Sep 16th, 2013, 08:33 AM
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It's nice enough for a couple days. I am not interested in touring wineries, but spent a few days there last year, but I wanted to see things actually in the city and enjoyed myself. Had some good food, also. What you are suggesting isn't even in Bordeaux itself, so the city doesn't matter (the hiking, biking, wine, etc.).
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Old Sep 16th, 2013, 08:41 AM
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It's a nice city, with gorgeous parks, a great pedestrian-only shopping area, beautiful, uniform architecture, a nice waterfront, good museums, great restaurants, etc. If you want to visit one of the big-name wineries, though, you're going to have to get a guide or join a tour. Unless most of the rest of France, you can't just "drop in." The Maison du Vin and the Tourist Office can get you on a tour (most likely not on bikes). The wine country around Bordeaux is mostly flat, true, but also not all that pretty. What IS fun and attractive is going out to Arcachon, where the wine widows built their mansions, and Cap Ferret and the Dune dy Pylat. St-Emilion is a short train ride away, and you can find plenty of wine there, too, of course. Apart from the monolithic church, I find the town to be a big overpriced meh, but a lot of people seem to be enthralled with it.
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Old Sep 16th, 2013, 08:55 AM
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You can arrange for a wine tour at the tourist office that leaves at 9am.

Includes a lovely lunch at a winery.
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Old Sep 16th, 2013, 10:50 AM
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I know it's not much north of San Seb, but what about Biarritz?
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