Bordeaux in September
Jul 30th, 2019, 01:16 PM
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Bordeaux in September
Hi all!
I have found your recommendations extremely useful during past travels. This coming September, my husband and I will be visiting Bordeaux for 4 nights/5 days. We have the rest of our trip planned except for this segment. We would like to visit some vineyards, but we've read that the wineries start doing their harvests in September, and some of them don’t allow visitors at this time. We were initially thinking of staying in or near the Old Town for 2-3 nights and a chateau near the vineyards (or at a specific winery??) for 1-2 nights. Does anyone have recommendations for a place that does allow visitors in September? We would like to spend less than $250/night if possible. Also, what are your opinions on renting a car vs. signing up for a tour and then getting transportation (bus? Uber? local cab?) from the last winery on the tour to our chateau for the night? Thank you!
I have found your recommendations extremely useful during past travels. This coming September, my husband and I will be visiting Bordeaux for 4 nights/5 days. We have the rest of our trip planned except for this segment. We would like to visit some vineyards, but we've read that the wineries start doing their harvests in September, and some of them don’t allow visitors at this time. We were initially thinking of staying in or near the Old Town for 2-3 nights and a chateau near the vineyards (or at a specific winery??) for 1-2 nights. Does anyone have recommendations for a place that does allow visitors in September? We would like to spend less than $250/night if possible. Also, what are your opinions on renting a car vs. signing up for a tour and then getting transportation (bus? Uber? local cab?) from the last winery on the tour to our chateau for the night? Thank you!
Jul 30th, 2019, 01:37 PM
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Of course the vineyards start harvesting in September, and of course they don't want you buzzing around at their busiest time of year.
Bordeaux is the nearest big city to where we live, so I am there fairly often (and absolutely love it). I have absolutely no idea what you mean by "the Old Town." I'd contact the Bordeaux Tourist Office.
Bordeaux is the nearest big city to where we live, so I am there fairly often (and absolutely love it). I have absolutely no idea what you mean by "the Old Town." I'd contact the Bordeaux Tourist Office.
Jul 30th, 2019, 02:20 PM
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As StCirq mentions, you might start your search with the wine tourism portal of the Bordeaux Tourist Office-
https://www.bordeauxwinetrip.com
Here they indicate what chateaux are open in each area and which are visitable on any given day. And you can book tours departing from Bordeaux online.
I've taken chateaux tours organized by the tourist office in Saint-Emilion when staying there in late June. Their "Chateau of the Day" small group tours are given daily, and all their tours can be booked online.
https://www.saint-emilion-tourisme.c...-and-wine.html
Two chateau-hotels that were recently recommended to me by a poster on Chowhound that fall within your price range:
https://www.chateau-carbonneau.com/?lang=en
Château la Maronne
This is the link to the Chowhound poster's recommendations:
https://www.chowhound.com/g00/post/b...8%3d&i10c.dv=3
*
https://www.bordeauxwinetrip.com
Here they indicate what chateaux are open in each area and which are visitable on any given day. And you can book tours departing from Bordeaux online.
I've taken chateaux tours organized by the tourist office in Saint-Emilion when staying there in late June. Their "Chateau of the Day" small group tours are given daily, and all their tours can be booked online.
https://www.saint-emilion-tourisme.c...-and-wine.html
Two chateau-hotels that were recently recommended to me by a poster on Chowhound that fall within your price range:
https://www.chateau-carbonneau.com/?lang=en
Château la Maronne
This is the link to the Chowhound poster's recommendations:
https://www.chowhound.com/g00/post/b...8%3d&i10c.dv=3
*
Jul 31st, 2019, 07:37 AM
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We spend a lot of time in Bordeaux and the main thing I would say in terms of where to stay would be to stay close to a tram stop. By doing that you can get pretty much anywhere in the city center easily. We have stayed in various neighborhoods. Acouple of some of the more central neighborhoods we have stayed in are: Chartrons-it is a bit away from the historical center but has a nice village feel to it. Le Triangle d’Or is a very sought after neighborhood where the luxury shops line the streets between the Place des Quinconces and the Place de la Comedie. It is beautiful but to be honest not our favorite since the shops aren't really "useful" on a day to day basis.
Our preferred neighborhood after many stays now is the neighborhood around the Hôtel de Ville near the Tour Pey Berland because it is right near where the A and B tram cross and there is a wonderful Monoprix there for daily shopping and lots of cafes and restaurants as well. The historic vielle section of Bordeaux can be kind of dark with the closed in buildings and very noisy at night since many of the buildings have been converted into studios popular with students.
Our preferred neighborhood after many stays now is the neighborhood around the Hôtel de Ville near the Tour Pey Berland because it is right near where the A and B tram cross and there is a wonderful Monoprix there for daily shopping and lots of cafes and restaurants as well. The historic vielle section of Bordeaux can be kind of dark with the closed in buildings and very noisy at night since many of the buildings have been converted into studios popular with students.
Jul 31st, 2019, 08:34 AM
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I would presume the "Old Town" is the old part of Bordeaux, of course, the historic center which they and the Bordeaux TI refer to as "Vieux Bordeaux". It's the area between the cours de l'Intendance and rue Peyronnet. So this is roughly the part of the city between Quinconces and the train station.
Jul 31st, 2019, 12:12 PM
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We've stayed in two different Bordeaux city districts in two consecutive trips, this July and last July.
This year we chose La Maison Fernand in the St-Pierre quarter, not far from the Cathedral and the Tour Pey Berland, and before, the Une Chambre Chez Dupont in the antique dealers Chartrons quarter.
Both are small, beautifully decorated chambres d'hôtes, if that appeals. We had large suites in both, measuring about 45-40 square meters. Both have a/c, which was a must for us this summer. *My only hesitation about the Maison Fernand was the lack of elevator, having to drag suitcases up the very narrow, stone spiral staircase to our Rosa Bonheur suite, but the lovely hostess helped us with that. But I wouldn't arrive there again with heavy luggage. Breakfast is served on the terrace on the 3rd floor, or if it rains, it's brought to your room in a pretty basket.
https://lamaisonfernand.com
The Chez Dupont suites are more independent, in two different buildings and breakfast taken at a café across the street. In both properties we had an in-room Nespresso machine, and at Chez Dupont, packaged breakfast madaleines and juices were supplied in our Sánchez suite. The owner arranged for a winery tour of Pomerol for us, very reasonable priced.
https://www.chez-dupont.com/en/
The latter, antique-shop filled Chartrons location, although a further walk from the center, we actually preferred. As jpie says, it has a charming village feel to it. It's near a tram stop, there are nice bistrots nearby, such as the Chez Dupont (recently mentioned in the NYTimes "36 hours in Bordeaux" article) and Chez Boulan for a Cap Ferret oyster feast, and we enjoyed attending the Sunday morning Chartrons market on the quai. And it's an easy tram ride away from the Cité du Vin.
Just a bit about the Chartrons quartier-
A French neighborhood: Les Chartrons, Bordeaux - French Girl in Seattle
I agree with jpie about the Triangle d'Or. We had initially thought of booking the well-regarded, 4-star Best Western Premiere Hotel Etche Ona there for convenience, but the rates for our dates in a premium deluxe room were slightly higher than we wished to pay. We did see it and liked it and window shopped in the Triangle d'Or (made just one purchase at Mephisto) and loved browsing the vast Librairie Mollat (the largest independent bookshop in France, I believe).
We love Bordeaux!
This year we chose La Maison Fernand in the St-Pierre quarter, not far from the Cathedral and the Tour Pey Berland, and before, the Une Chambre Chez Dupont in the antique dealers Chartrons quarter.
Both are small, beautifully decorated chambres d'hôtes, if that appeals. We had large suites in both, measuring about 45-40 square meters. Both have a/c, which was a must for us this summer. *My only hesitation about the Maison Fernand was the lack of elevator, having to drag suitcases up the very narrow, stone spiral staircase to our Rosa Bonheur suite, but the lovely hostess helped us with that. But I wouldn't arrive there again with heavy luggage. Breakfast is served on the terrace on the 3rd floor, or if it rains, it's brought to your room in a pretty basket.
https://lamaisonfernand.com
The Chez Dupont suites are more independent, in two different buildings and breakfast taken at a café across the street. In both properties we had an in-room Nespresso machine, and at Chez Dupont, packaged breakfast madaleines and juices were supplied in our Sánchez suite. The owner arranged for a winery tour of Pomerol for us, very reasonable priced.
https://www.chez-dupont.com/en/
The latter, antique-shop filled Chartrons location, although a further walk from the center, we actually preferred. As jpie says, it has a charming village feel to it. It's near a tram stop, there are nice bistrots nearby, such as the Chez Dupont (recently mentioned in the NYTimes "36 hours in Bordeaux" article) and Chez Boulan for a Cap Ferret oyster feast, and we enjoyed attending the Sunday morning Chartrons market on the quai. And it's an easy tram ride away from the Cité du Vin.
Just a bit about the Chartrons quartier-
A French neighborhood: Les Chartrons, Bordeaux - French Girl in Seattle
I agree with jpie about the Triangle d'Or. We had initially thought of booking the well-regarded, 4-star Best Western Premiere Hotel Etche Ona there for convenience, but the rates for our dates in a premium deluxe room were slightly higher than we wished to pay. We did see it and liked it and window shopped in the Triangle d'Or (made just one purchase at Mephisto) and loved browsing the vast Librairie Mollat (the largest independent bookshop in France, I believe).
We love Bordeaux!
