Euro 2016 host cities: guide to Bordeaux

As Uefa Euro 2016 kicks off this week, The Independent has compiled concise guides to each of the host cities

(Shutterstock)

Get your bearings

Built on a quarter-moon-like bend on the Garonne river in the Aquitaine region of southwestern France, Bordeaux is lyrically known as the “Port de la Lune” (port of the moon). The Garonne river runs north-south, and so does Bordeaux.

The main tourist office (bordeaux-tourism.co.uk) is at 12 Cours du XXX Juillet (closed Sunday). The tourist office offers a free Bordeaux app, which is very useful and can be downloaded from its website.

Touch down

Merignac airport is 12km west of Bordeaux. The navette shuttle bus (30direct.com) to Bordeaux St-Jean train station takes 30 minutes; a one-way ticket costs €7.20, a return ticket €12.30. Depending on traffic and the time of day, taxis average €25 to €30.

Eurostar travels from London St Pancras, Ebbsfleet and Ashford to Bordeaux St-Jean in six hours 47 minutes with a change in Lille or Paris (eurostar.com). When the new TGV (high-speed) train service between Paris and Bordeaux is inaugurated next year, the journey will be reduced by 90 minutes.

St-Jean train station is just south of the city centre, which is easily reached by tramway or bus (infotbc.com). Unlimited day passes cost €26, two-day passes €33, and three-day passes €40. Individual tickets cost €1.50 and can be purchased on trams and buses; these tickets allow for free transfers between buses and trams.

The city has a bike hire scheme, with bases at 166 stations. The first 30 minutes of any rental, which is paid for by credit or debit card, are free, and then cost €2 afterwards.

Take a view

The best view of Bordeaux is from the 8th floor Belvedere gallery at the brand-new Cité du Vin at 134-150 Quai de Bacalan (00 33 5 56 16 20 20; citeduvin.com; daily 9.30am-7.30pm, admission €20 for adults, and €8 for children), which proffers 360-degree views of the city. Below, some 20 themed audio-visual modules present the history, culture and making of wine according to various themes. The museum also includes three tasting laboratories that include specially designed multi-sensory spaces for a total immersion in wine; a dock from which to embark on visits to the wine chateaux up and down river; a special exhibition centre; and various restaurants.

Take a hike

Start at Place de la Bourse and its handsome 18th-century customs houses on the banks of the Garonne that are the traditional heart of the city. These horse-shoe-shaped buildings also house two interesting museums, the Musée National des Douanes (Costumes Museum) (musee-douanes.fr, open Tuesday to Sunday, tickets €3) and Bordeaux Patrimoine Mondial, which explains how the city’s architectural heritage and urban landscape evolved and became a Unesco-listed world heritage site (open daily, free entry).

Afterwards, follow the riverfront north to the Cours du Chapeau Rouge, which runs west from the river, and continue until you arrive at the Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux, one of the finest 18th-century theatres in the world (00 33 5 56 00 85 95; opera-bordeaux.com). Next, head south on rue Sainte Catherine, the pedestrianised high street, to rue du Loup. Turn west here to visit the gothic Cathédrale Saint André, where the 15th-century bell tower offers another superb view over the city.

Lunch on the run

Head for Le Flacon at 43 rue de Cheverus (00 33 9 81 86 43 43, dishes €6-18). It serves a good selection of wines by the glass and small dishes such as Réunion-style steamed pork-and-citrus dumplings and mini veal-shank hamburgers. Nearby, the Saint Pierre quarter has morphed into one of Bordeaux’s best and busiest restaurant districts. Here, Belle Campagne at 15 rue des Bahutiers has a chalkboard menu of south-western French dishes made from local, seasonal and usually organic produce (belle-campagne.fr; starters €4-8; main courses €14-25).

Cultural afternoon

Two unmissable museums are the Musée des Beaux-Arts, 20 Cours d’Albret (musba-bordeaux.fr; closed Tuesday, €4, free admission the first Sunday of every month), the city’s fine arts museum with a collection that includes works by Rubens, Chardin, Corot, Delacroix and Matisse, and Bordeaux-born artists Odilon Redon and Andre Lhote; and the Musée d’Aquitaine, 20 cours Pasteur (musee-aquitaine-bordeaux.fr, closed Monday, €4), which recounts the history of Bordeaux and the surrounding Aquitaine region. Both offer free admission on the first Sunday of every month.

A walk in the park

The tree-lined lawns of the Esplanade des Quinconces runs from the Garonne River to the Place des Quinconces, where the opulent 19th-century Monument aux Girondins is a riot of allegory referring to the Girondin faction during the French Revolution and the values of the French Republic.

For more fresh air, head north along the Cours de Verdun to the beautifully landscaped Jardin Public. The park includes a children’s playground and puppet theatre.

Dine with the locals

Chef Tanguy Laviale’s superb contemporary French restaurant Garopapilles at 62 rue de l’Abbé de l’Epée (garopapilles.com; prix-fixe dinner menu €69) is the most sought-after reservation in Bordeaux, so book well in advance. The menu changes regularly but runs to dishes such as pan-roasted scallops on a bed of shitake mushrooms in parsnip cream and veal filet with poached pears, cockles, and squid’s ink gnocchi.

If you can’t get a table, Miles, at 33 rue du Cancera (restaurantmiles.com; average à la carte dinner for one without wine €35) is a great example of the young bistros that are making Bordeaux a seriously good food city. The quartet of chefs here hail from four different countries, which explains dishes like veal tartare with a seasame-seed-oil marinated egg yolk and and swordfish with Madras curry leaf gelée and coconut-coriander gremolata.

Icing on the cake

Half-day excursions to the wine towns, including Saint Emilion, and estates surrounding Bordeaux are detailed on the tourist office’s website. Among the best is the English-speaking tour to the Margaux wine region with a personal guide-driver offered by Ophorus tours (orphorus.com); it includes a wine tasting at one of the “cru bourgeois” châteaux of the Margaux appellation (€75 per person, available April to October).