Travel review: Bordeaux is a thing of beauty

Waking up as our cruise ship (the Azamara Journey) made its way up the river Garonne, looking at the beautiful banks of the river and as we crept towards Bordeaux, I was awe-struck – so much beauty, with old world charm and grand architecture. Read this travel review: Bordeaux to learn more!

We spent three amazing days in Bordeaux and were able to explore St. Emilion, Medoc, and some of the city itself. Each area had its own flavour and we look forward to travelling back soon to this region to experience more of what it has to offer.

Based on our first visit, we have a few recommendations.

Recommendations

Activities:

We struck it gold with two great companies for our wine tasting adventures – Bordovino and Ophorus Bordeaux Wine Tours.

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With Bordovino, we did a full day bicycle trip through the St. Emilion region which included: a walking tour through St. Emilion , a world heritage site; visit and lunch to a private family run estate (Chateau Baleau), including sampling of their wines, and pick up of our bicycles; and, visits to two classified growth estates with sampling (Chateaux es Roches Blanches, Chateau Larmande). It was over 100 degrees fahrenheit and we were cycling in that dry heat, but we made it and had a blast!

The next day, with Ophorus, we drove from Bordeaux up to Medoc. We visited Chateau la Tour Carnet (a favourite!), Chateau lafon-rochet (where we received a superb tasting from the barrel!), and Chateau Dauzac Margaux.

Eat:

With Bordovino, the Chateau Baleau provided a tasty lunch of cheese, duck confit, potatoes cooked in duck fat and an apricot dessert. All of this was accompanied by a lovely sampling of local red and white wine. In the Medoc region, we had a fantastic lunch at Le Saint Julien. Our group of six ate like kings and enjoyed fish, lamb, some lovely vegetarian dishes, and beautiful flourless chocolate cake with homemade ice cream.

Can’t wait to return so we can sample more of the region! Learn more about how we plan our cruises to ensure we include some of these great destinations!