Forty-eight hours in Bordeaux

At 2h04 from Paris, you can take a trip to Bordeaux for the weekend. If it's your first time, check out our guide for the perfect weekend in Bordeaux:

• Day 1
• Day 2

On the first day, we explore the town centre. Departing from the beautiful Place de la Bourse, on the banks of the Garonne. We start at quartier Saint-Pierre, heart of the medieval city, whose walls were torn down in the eighteenth century: its streets are full of small restaurants and beautiful, unusual hotels.

A trip down the shopping street of rue Sainte-Catherine, then a 1.2km walk, we then arrive back at the Hôtel de Ville and cathédrale Saint-André neighbourhoods. On the way, stop into the Museum of Fine Arts, located in the gardens of Palais Rohan and completely renovated in 2013.

Close by, the Cours de l’Intendance showcases the wealth of Bordeaux, with its Grand Théâtre. Stop for a highly-recommended wine tasting session at la Maison des Vins de Bordeaux, it's very near! Les allées de Tourny are pathways full of greenery through which you can reach the grand Place des Quinconces. On the embankments, there are two pillars that attest to the glory of navigation and commerce; on the edge of the city, the Fontaine aux Girondins complements the Génie de la Liberté. The statues of Montaigne and Montesquieu, born here, can also be found there...

On the second day, we head north towards le Quartier des Chartrons. Named after a former Carthusian monastery, it was dedicated to the wine trade in the Middle Ages. A great story to relive at the museum of wine and trading. The docks are classified as a UNESCO heritage site and are situated on the cours Xavier-Armozan; here, you can admire an exceptional collection of houses, such as the Hotel Fenwick, where the entrance gate is flanked by the bows of ships.

Further north, towards the Port de la Lune, old warehouses have been restored to the canons of contemporary architecture: one of them became the CAPC, a beautiful contemporary art museum; is the other, the Cap Sciences museum that has a spectacular terrace suspended above le Port de la Lune.