Vieux Bordeaux
Bordeaux, France
The 18th-century historic centre west of the Garonne, its stone facades restored and its streets dense with restaurants and shops.
Places in Vieux Bordeaux
- Le Pressoir d'Argent Gordon Ramsay's two-Michelin-star Bordeaux dining room, formal and precise, inside the InterContinental.
- Symbiose Half cocktail bar, half bistronomic restaurant, pairing inventive French cooking with a serious drinks list.
- Bar à Vin (CIVB) A wine bar run by the regional wine council, ideal for tasting Bordeaux's classifications with expert guidance.
Practical notes for Bordeaux
- Best time to visit
- May, June, and September to October align with harvest season in the surrounding vineyards and comfortable city walking weather. Late September is ideal for combining the city with a wine-region day trip.
- Getting around
- Bordeaux's tram network is extensive and easy to use; the historic centre, Chartrons, and Gare Saint-Jean are all tram-connected. Bikes are a popular way to reach the river paths.
- Currency
- Euro (€)
- Language
- French. English is common in tourism.
- Timezone
- CET (UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer)
- Current trends
- Chartrons, once Bordeaux's merchant quarter, has become the city's wine-bar epicentre, with new natural-wine spots continuing to open along Place du Marché des Chartrons.
Other neighborhoods in Bordeaux
- Chartrons — The former wine-merchant quarter, now Bordeaux's trendiest wine-bar and antique district.
- Bacalan — A modernising riverside district anchored by the Cité du Vin museum, with newer restaurants and bars filling in around it.
Read the full Bordeaux guide