I believe every area has its redeeming qualities.

And as I started with that disclaimer, I know I’ve tipped you off: Nope, I didn’t fall madly in love with Bordeaux during (or after) my visit.

Many cities are better for residents than for tourists, and I feel like Bordeaux may fall into this category. For example, I lived in Houston for years, and I’d say the city has much to offer its residents—yet I never encouraged any friends to visit as I had no idea what I’d do with them, barring a couple very special museums.

Bordeaux the city profits as a tourist destination from Bordeaux the region’s magnificent reputation for wine. The area around the city is lovely, but the city likely won’t live up to a tourist’s expectations.

Want the lowdown on Bordeaux for tourists? Here goes.

Bordeaux Not Built for Beauty or Repose

The city of Bordeaux has little of visual and historical interest and has an ambiance bordering on absolute chaos—and not of the charming variety.

Bordeaux is dirty, noisy, and stressful. The small streets, which have tiny strips of sidewalk in most cases, share their limited space with pedestrians, cars, skateboards, scooters, and motorcycles. Everyone competes for space at different speeds along frequently slick cobblestoned paths.

The simplest walk from point A to point B in Bordeaux felt like a game of dodging trash, other pedestrians confined to limited spaces, and vehicles of all shapes, sizes, and speeds coming from all directions and often without much warning.

Further, the area along the Garonne River is a wasted opportunity. An ideal spot to feature green parks and shade trees instead is nearly completely paved. You reach it after traversing a busy tramway and a loud and hectic autoroute. If you have a hot or a rainy day, you won’t find much by way of shelter (and we experienced both) along the riverfront. Further, because of the—yes, here too—trash everywhere mixed with pedestrians, bikes, and scooters, you won’t find it a particularly lovely place for a stroll, either.

According to what we learned on the guided walking tour we booked at the city’s tourist office, Bordeaux’s central layout got a rework several times during its history, most recently with an eye to facilitating car traffic through the city and, not long before that, with the goal of moving freight from the river into the interior more easily. Since the city’s early days, Bordeaux’s leadership has focused predominantly on making the flow of commercial activity as viable as possible—hence the lack of sidewalks, trees, and other more pedestrian- or leisure-focused amenities.

Many a city has made the same decision, but the choice has made the city less attractive for visitors seeking visual splendor and historical interest.

Bordeaux’s Attractions, Events, and Historical Sites

Bordeaux offers several museums and sites that lend valuable historical context on the city’s and region’s history.

At the Bordeaux Office of Tourism, you can get a full rundown of the major museums and sites of interest. Also, you can buy tickets to many of the major attractions and events of the moment while there.

If you plan to visit even just the city’s famed museum of wine, the Cité du Vin, the tourist pass available at the Office of Tourism will pretty much pay for itself. The pass includes many (if not most) of Bordeaux’s tourist attractions and covers all public transportation during the time period covered by the pass—which you’ll need, as you’ll find the sites relatively widely spread across the metropolitan area. You can buy a pass covering from one to up to three days of your trip.

Our visit to Bordeaux—packed with visits to different sites and attractions—more than paid for the cost of our three-day tourist passes. For what to expect and how to prioritize your visit to the different sites and experiences, read my article with reviews of Bordeaux’s tourist attractions.

The Best Part of Bordeaux: The Eats!

My favorite aspect of Bordeaux?

Hands down, no question: the food.

The casual restaurants we visited treated us with delicious, substantial fare—we didn’t go hungry after a single meal in Bordeaux. And, peppered throughout the city, we found all sorts of delectable treats and sweets that kept us coming back, time and again. We didn’t find much by way of French standards—think éclairs and mille feuille—but we found plenty of tasty sweet innovation to recommend.

For the full story, including restaurant and sweet-treat recommendations, read my article on the best food in Bordeaux.

Stay in (or at Least Visit!) the Region of Bordeaux

Bordeaux, the city, sits in the French region of Bordeaux—two very different things.

The city of Bordeaux may not rank highly on my list of favorite French cities for tourists, based on what I’ve seen, but the region of Bordeaux has a lot of to offer. Even if you don’t stay in Bordeaux the city, you should visit Bordeaux the region. The Bordeaux region, filled with nature preserves, coastline, and vineyards, will give your eyes a feast and provide tons of activities and diversions for all tastes and types of travelers.

When visiting a region, I recommend people choose a convenient base of stay and radiate from there. A base of stay for a regional visit has comfortable hotels or rental apartments conveniently located near grocery stores, pharmacies, bakeries, and other amenities that make your stay easy and facilitate your travels in the local area and around the region.

While—as with Tours for a visit to the Loire Valley—this often means that I’d recommend a base of stay in the area’s largest metropolitan area, in this case I’d recommend finding a base of stay elsewhere in the region for a visit to Bordeaux, even if you do choose to spend time in the city. The rental apartments and hotels in Bordeaux come at a markup not justified by the city’s lack of amenities, its noise and pollution, and the inhospitability of its streets for pedestrians and cars.

If you do choose to stay in the city, you can still easily get to other parts of the region from there. For ideas, read my article on accessible day trips outside of Bordeaux for ways to explore the larger Bordelaise area.

Bordeaux: Not a Coup de Cœur (as the French Say)

As I mentioned in my post about bad vacations, I always hesitate to classify a site or a visit as “good” or “bad,” simply because so many extenuating factors can influence our perspectives.

However, no matter the weather, the company, or the mood, I don’t think I’d have loved Bordeaux. (Other than, indeed, its food.)

That said, the city has many interesting aspects for tourists—and perhaps has even more to offer for residents. Count me happy to have visited, and very willing to visit again. Next time, with the tourist attractions already covered, maybe I can find some hidden angles to Bordeaux that have made so many locals fall in love with it.