Hi all, we will be in Bordeaux for 3 days the 1st week of August.
Still looking at hotels -- which areas of the city would you recommend for a convenient location?
Also, any recommendation on a wine tour guide? Other interesting things to do in wine country?
Any restaurants recommendations?
Any quick tips are very appreciated.
We will be 4 adults with 3 kids (ages 6-8).

Thank you in advance!
Olga

You need to consult a guidebook or two. There is a host of things to do in and near Bordeaux. It's a hugely important and well-visited city, so learn about it before you go. Consult a map so you know how to get around it. Tram tickets and discount booklets are on sale at the Gare St-Jean.

You'll probably want to stay somewhere near the train station or on one of the major tram lines (this is why you need to know how to get around the city in advance). I always stay in an aparthotel a few blocks north of the train station, but that may be completely off your radar. Hotels I've stayed at include L'Etche-Ona and Le Bayonne. You haven't mentioned a budget, though, nor room configurations, so no one can hazard a guess as to where you should stay.

La Maison du Vin can set you up with wine tours. "Other interesting things to do in wine country" ??? Like what? Wine country is fields full of vines; it's the countryside. Other than village cafés and such, not much going on. You need to make reservations if you want to visit the famous wine châteaux; you can't just "stop by."

Bordeaux is full of restaurants of every description. You haven't mentioned a budget, but with kids ags 6-8 one can presume you're not going to spend an evening at La Tupina. Just plonk yourselves down at any place around the Place du Parlement or off the rue Ste-Cathérine and you'll be fine and eat well.

St C covers the city well.

You'll be hot and the kids may suffer, the beaches are great and worth a day out, make sure you go to the Coastal ones (some big dunes) or if the mouth of the river if you want, not just along the river where the swimming is less good.

I'd avoid St Emilion just too touristy and crowded. The vinyards do get hot in August so take water. There are drop by tasting vinyards out there but only in the unfashionable places. However some wine-villages have a tasting room (like the sweet wine areas such as Cadillac, long line of these near the canal) where you can taste and buy. Often of restricted hours not fantastic unless you are a fan of the type.

Bike hire, there are a few bike paths in the area (old railway lines) http://www.bordeaux-tourism.co.uk/Wh...e/Cycle-routes

<<You'll be hot and the kids may suffer, the beaches are great and worth a day out, make sure you go to the Coastal ones (some big dunes) or if the mouth of the river if you want, not just along the river where the swimming is less good.>>

Yes, but there's Le Miroir to play in these days. Of course, a day out in Arcachon and/or the Dune du Pylat and Cap Ferret is always nice.

St-Emillion is an absolute horror nowadays.

This is awesome, guys, appreciate all the feedback. Thanks for a St Emillion tip, we've been thinking about going there, of course .

One place I did like is the Chateau de Montbasillac, a short drive west just south of Bergerac, the COOP there has a lovely position overlooking the valley, the house is visitable but nothing posh and the winery/shop lets you taste. Food in the village is pleasant amd the grounds would let the kids burn up some energy and you can picnic in the grounds. Nothing special just a nice country side atmosphere.

If you follow my name back to the autumn of 2014 I cycled over a fair bit of the area and something might gel.

We haven't been to the Bordeaux train station in the past 6 years, but the train station area looked quite grungy to me and a tad far from the "main" sites in Bordeaux. We took a taxi from the train station to a downtown hotel, and a taxi back to the train station to pick up a rental car. My Michelin Red Guide shows only 1 hotel near the train station - a "functional" "business" hotel (obviously, there are others not recommended by Michelin). I would stay downtown. I don't recall the specific hotel we stayed in.

Stu Dudley

My wife's Shutterfly book from our recent stay in Suterns for 4 nights
https://stududley.shutterfly.com/42

Click on "Full Screen"

Because of Shutterfly software problems, captions & titles are often missing or truncated. If you see a chateau or village you would like to visit but the name is missing - let me know the page number it is on & I'll identify it.

Stu Dudley

>>Suterns<<

Sauternes

Stu Dudley

Yes, you do not want to stay right near the train station. Like every other train station in Europe, the immediate area around it is rather sketchy. Plus, it's under major renovation now and a bit of a horror to navigate. When I said "near the train station" I meant the area near the Bourse, or the Place du Parlement. Proximity to the train station among other things affords you the best access to all the wonderful tram lines in Bordeaux.

because we were renting a car when we left Bordeaux and the airport bus drops off there, [and because I had amassed loads of Best Western points] we spent 3 nights in the Best Western near the station. Not sure I'd like to do it in winter, but we found the area around the station was fine, the tram stop was very convenient, and we had the fun of seeing the station security guards giving chase when some chap tried to run off with a floral wreath from the monument inside the station. He didn't get very far with it - they must be quite difficult to run with.

one point however, - it turned out that the car hire offices were much further away from the station than we had realised and from that PoV we'd have been better off staying in the centre and getting a cab to the car hire office.

Anyway, this is where we stayed:

http://www.hotel-bordeaux-saint-jean.com/en/

very clean, comfortable and quiet and a good breakfast.

I think Bordeaux is like most any city for a first-timer, you want to stay relatively in the center, which is usually the historic area with some things to see just walking, plus plenty of restaurants and shops, but also fairly good public transportation options in larger cities. So stay somewhere around the Opera/main TI office/place de la Bourse, I'd recommend.

I was in Bordeaux a couple years ago and the train station didn't seem grungy to me that I can recall. I would certainly agree that area has nothing to recommend it for a tourist and isn't near the center so I don't know why you'd want to stay there. I agree being near a tram line is nice, but there are tram lines in the area I named, they go around Quinconces park for one thing and run along the quai. IN fact, I took a tram from the gare to my hotel right near Quinconces.

> the train station didn't seem grungy to me<

>> the train station area looked quite grungy to me<<

I was referring to the area around the train station - which we saw twice. I don't remember anything about the train station itself.

Stu Dudley

Best hotel/touring/restaurant area is within the " golden triangle" -- look up the term for Bordeaux and you'll find loads of links for hotels and apartments. It is that area enclosed by three boulevards. Stay away from train station, which construction is probably now completed. With kids your ages, I would highly recommend the Aquitaine Musee, which was fabulous for us with no kids in tow, but the layout is according to periods of time, beginning with the caves, so it funnels you (which makes it harder for kids to disappear, only one way to go through), but truly think they'll get something out of it, if less than will you. Miles is a popular restaurant but a hard ticket, so I'd try to get a resv right now. I'd drive up the 'slow' route to Paulliac or even beyond, you would not be able to get a tour at one of the seven premier cru wineries with kids that age, nor would they or you enjoy it. The ride up along the river is lovely. Not much commercialization on that route, so pack snacks until you reach a spot for lunch. As stated by St.Cirq above, the waterpark along the river will be fun for the kids though not much protection from the sun there. Guess the star in the city is the new Cite du Vin, which should provide interactive things to keep the kids engaged (hopefully).