10 reasons why Bordeaux is France's greatest city

Forget Paris, Lyon and Marseille – Bordeaux is the French city with everything (and, as of today, it's even easier to get to). 

1. It's simple to reach by rail

As of today (July 2) the train journey between London and Bordeaux will be cut to just under six hours, bringing the pleasures of the city, and the surrounding region, within much easier reach.

The speedier journey time is made possible by the opening of a new 188-mile (302km) stretch of high-speed track between Tours and Bordeauxwhich slashes some 70 minutes off the Paris-Bordeaux run (down to just over two hours). Even with a change of station in Paris (Nord to Montparnasse), it will be possible to do the journey from London by Eurostar and TGV in just five hours 55mins.

See voyages-sncf.com; eurostar.com; loco2.com

2. The Queen is a fan

“The very essence of elegance,” concluded The Queen last time she visited Bordeaux.

Our expert Giles Milton adds: “Stroll the most graceful streets in France, eat well, drink better and then have the liveliest possible time in a city lately in touch with its Latin side. 

“The centre had a grandiose 18th-century harmony unmatched in Europe. It seemed quite possible that the French Revolution never made it this far. Poor people looked rich and rich people didn’t look at all. But the city felt haughty and aloof. It had also grown shabby round the edges. No longer. Bordeaux has had the renovators in with a vengeance – restoring noble façades, installing trams and reclaiming from dereliction the vast swathe of riverbank. There are few more graceful urban sights in France than the miroir-d'eau reflecting the splendid Palais-de-la-Bourse.”

3. It's got the world's greatest wine museum (and the wine isn't bad either)

“Bordeaux is wine capital of the world,” confirms Anthony Peregrine. “You name a reasonable rival and we might discuss it, but I can’t think of one.”

Since 2016 it has also been home to Cité du Vin wine museum. Peregrine's verdict? “It may look like the shiny foot of a cartoon character but it is a world-beater; certainly the best wine centre I’ve encountered. Granted, competition is not intense. Most wine museums are dreadful. 

“Within, there’s loads of open space, light, shade, and the contemporary sense that straight lines are old hat. The extraordinary round wine shop has 800 wines (200 from France, 600 from the rest of the world). Nearby are three state-of-the-art tasting rooms. Shortly, you are flying like Superman over vineyards of the world, Greece through Chile, by means of three giant screens.  It is mesmerising evidence of how vineyards adapt to landscapes, then re-define not only the land but also the architecture - and indeed, the associated lives. The soaring show (it’s short; I sat through it twice) underlines, too, that this isn’t a museum of Bordeaux wine but Bordeaux’s museum of world wine. So the claim to wine capital status is enhanced.”

4. The food is incredible

Joel Robuchon, the French chef who runs La Grande Maison, found in the city, writes: “Bordeaux has produce that is world-famous: oysters from the Bay of Arcachon; milk-fed Pauillac lamb, grazed on the Médoc marshes; and cèpes de Bordeaux, in my opinion the best mushrooms in France. They grow superb raspberries just a few kilometres from here; they rear ducks for magret de canard (duck breast); and the asparagus, too, is wonderful.”

See his pick of the city's best restaurants

5. There are more swish hotels than you can shake a slipper at

Try Le Saint-James, high on a hill with a memorable view over Bordeaux and it's own Michelin-star restaurant; unique Yndō, featuring surreal acrylic paintings, creamy stuccoed ceilings hung with a frosty chandeliers and 12 vast bedrooms; the sumptuous, refined Intercontinental Bordeaux, whose restaurant is run by none other than Gordon Ramsay; or wine-inspired Les Sources de Caudalie, to the south of the city beside a lake and surrounded by vineyards. 

6. Art lovers are catered for

The Musée des Beaux Arts will suit those who prefer the Old Masters; fans of modern stuff should head to the CAPC Museum of Contemporary Art.

7. There are lofty views

“Stop at the flamboyant Gothic St Michel church, whose free-standing spire is the tallest and most elegant building in Bordeaux,” says Giles Milton. “The views from the top are outstanding. The views from the bottom are pretty interesting, too – notably during the Sunday-morning flea market which fills the surrounding square.”

8. A beautiful river to wander beside

Milton explains: “Nowhere is Bordeaux’s renewal more evident than along the banks of the broad, idle Garonne river. Fifteen years ago, the detritus of dead port activity – derelict warehouses, no-go zones, lost souls – littered the quays, driving a wedge between river and town. Subsequent transformation has been profound. What was once abandoned is now tailored open space, gardens and greensward. Old warehouses on the Quai de Bacalan have become shops, jaunty bars and cafés and the dirt has been blasted from the merchants’ premises. Seen from the Pont-de-Pierre bridge, the long line-up of magnificently regular buildings – all arches, slate roofs and thin chimney stacks – shows how Bordeaux managed trading wealth with style and substance. There’s no finer city riverscape in Europe.”

9. A surfeit of shops

Top-end shops gravitate around the Triangle d’Or, Bordeaux’s monumental heart, bounded by three fine boulevards (Cours Clemenceau, Cours de l’Intendance, Allées de Tourny). The trendy St Pierre district provides options for those not up to such ambitious price-tags.

10. And day trips galore

Naturally, you'll want to take a wine trip out of town. “I’d consider going on one of the Tourist Office’s jaunts,” says Milton. “This saves the hassle of hiring a car or otherwise making your own arrangements. It also gets you a vineyard ride in a coach and two good wine château visits.”

Other options for day trips include the beautiful town of St Emilion; Médoc, home to a clutch of famous Bordeaux wine châteaux (Latour, Margaux, Mouton-Rothschild); and Arcachon, an endearing seaside spot known for its oysters.