The city of Bordeaux is a great base for day trips. As well as enjoying the city of Bordeaux, you can see more of France with Bordeaux as your base. And you can do these day trips using public transport. Here are the best day trips from Bordeaux without a car.
Bordeaux is situated in the west of France, near the Atlantic coast. This part of France is famous as one of the most important wine regions in France, and in the world. There’s a huge number of vineyards just a short distance from Bordeaux. So Bordeaux is a great base to do day trips into the wine region and taste some of the famous wines. But there’s more to this part of France than just wine. There are beautiful beaches at nearby Arcachon, and also the tallest sand dune in Europe. And the pretty waterfront town of La Rochelle is an easy train ride away from Bordeaux. Here are my recommendations for the best day trips from Bordeaux without a car.
You can easily visit these places without a car. Hiring a car abroad can be challenging, with different driving conditions and not knowing where you’re going. Where possible, I always prefer to do day trips by public transport. France has a great public transport system. There are regular trains connecting Bordeaux with nearby trains and cities. It’s super easy to use the trains. And there are good buses from the train stations as well. So it’s easy to do the best day trips from Bordeaux without a car. Here are the top 3 day trips you can do.
Day Trip 1: The Wine Region
No trip to Bordeaux is complete without a visit to the famous wine region. The area around Bordeaux is one of the most important wine-growing regions in France, and in the world. There are a huge number of vineyards and Chateaux, all producing their own blends of wine from 6 main grapes.
There are lots of companies offering tours of the wine region. So you definitely don’t need to have your own car to explore this area. It’s much better if you’re not driving, as then you can taste lots of different wines. I did a small group tour with a company called Rustic Vines. There were 5 of us on the tour, with a guide/driver. The guide/driver took us from the centre of Bordeaux to two different Chateaux. In France, Chateaux doesn’t just mean the big, impressive castles – it can also mean any wine producing house and vineyard. So don’t expect huge castles – it’s most small farmhouses.
Wine tasting at Chateaux
At each of the Chateaux we tried three different wines. They were all red wines. We’d start off with a lighter, more fruity red wine. And then move onto the more complex red wines with higher tanin content.
Each wine tasting also included a tour of the vineyard and the rooms where the wine is aged in huge vats and barrels. The owner would talk about how the wine is produced and the complex science behind it. It was fascinating to learn more about wine production as well as taste the wine.
The tour included a picnic lunch in the grounds of one of the Chateaux. There was plenty of cheese, meat, and fresh bread. And of course some more wine!
And one of the wine tastings also included chocolate tasting, where we could try different chocolates that were specifically paired with each wine to help bring out the flavour.
Saint-Emilion village
The trip also included a visit to the small, pretty village of Saint-Emilion. If you don’t want to do a small group tour, you could get the train to Saint-Emilion and spend some time in the village. There are plenty of wine shops in the village offering wine tastings, with a huge selection of local wines.
The village is really nice to walk around. There are cute, historic streets lined with wine shops and cafes. The church is also really nice, with colourful artwork in the cloisters area.
My favourite part of Saint-Emilion was the view over the village and surrounding countryside. It’s definitely worth walking up the steep streets in the village to get to the viewpoint and take some photos. My trip to Saint-Emilion and the wine region was definitely one of the best day trips from Bordeaux without a car.
Day Trip 2: Dune du Pilat and Arcachon
The second of my best day trips from Bordeaux without a car is to the largest sand dune in Europe, as well as the beaches of Arcachon. Bordeaux is close to the Atlantic coast, so it’s a great way to spend some time by the sea.
You can get the train from Bordeaux main train station to Arcachon. It takes about 50 minutes and the trains run regularly. From Arcachon train station, walk across the road to the bus stop. And take bus line 3 to Dune du Pilat. The bus runs about once an hour, and takes 20-25 minutes to get to Dune du Pilat. When you get to the Dune du Pilat bus stop, just walk through the car park towards the area of buildings. Here, you’ll find toilets, an information point, and also a few places selling food. Keep walking through to reach the sand dune.
Dune du Pilat
As the largest sand dune in Europe, Dune du Pilat is really impressive. It really is huge. If you’re feeling energetic you can try to climb up the sand dune. Or, you can walk up the steps in the sand dune. Every summer, they put stairs into the side of the sand dune. It’s still quite a lot of steps, but it’s a lot easier walking up the steps than walking up the sand.
From the top of the sand dune, you get amazing views out to sea. Even on a cloudy day the sea is still really blue. You also get great views inland, looking over the dark green trees.
I walked along the top of the sand dune, and it didn’t take long to get away from the crowds of people and find a more secluded spot. The views all around were just amazing. I spent several hours here, and could easily have spent longer. But I dragged myself away from Dune du Pilat to get the bus back to Arcachon.
Arcachon town and beaches
I had a few hours to spend in Arcachon before getting the train back to Bordeaux. I enjoyed looking around the town. The buildings were brightly coloured and it felt like a seaside town. There was a market here on the Sunday, as well as lots of cafes and restaurants with outdoor seating.
The beach at Arcachon is lovely as well. It’s only a few minutes’ walk from the two centre, with a vast expanse of golden sand. There’s also a pier, which you can walk out onto for great views out to sea and also back to the beach.
Arcachon has a lot of restaurants selling seafood, with oysters being a particularly speciality here. So you can enjoy some of the seafood restaurants near the beach before heading back to the train station for your train back to Bordeaux.
Day trip 3: La Rochelle
The third of my best day trips from Bordeaux without a car is to La Rochelle. La Rochelle is a really pretty city right on the coast, with a lovely waterfront.
The train from Bordeaux to La Rochelle is direct, and take about two hours. It’s a fairly long train trip for a day trip, but if you don’t have enough time to stay overnight in La Rochelle then it’s easily doable. The train was comfortable with reserved seats, so it was a relaxing 2 hours to get to La Rochelle.
La Rochelle Maritime Festival – the Fêtes Maritimes de La Rochelle
In June, there’s a 4 day maritime festival in La Rochelle. If you enjoy looking at boats, it’s definitely worth visiting La Rochelle at this time. I really enjoyed the maritime festival.
There were some really interesting boats and ships. You could walk around the area for free. Or you could pay to go down onto the pontoons and go on board some of the bigger ships if you wanted to have a closer look. I enjoyed just watching everything from the side, and just admiring the historic ships.
La Rochelle town and waterfront
The historic waterfront of La Rochelle is a lovely place to walk. The harbour is guarded by tall towers. And the promenade along the waterfront is great.
There are loads of cafes and restaurants with outdoor seating. So you can sit in one of the restaurants and enjoy some lunch while looking out over the water. There are lots of seafood restaurants in La Rochelle, so you could have a seafood lunch. Or there are plenty of other options too, such as salads, and of course plenty of wine and beer.
The centre of La Rochelle is also nice to walk around. There are cute historic streets with lots of independent shops and also more cafes and restaurants. I enjoyed stopping at a creperie for a delicious chocolate and almond crepe, with an espresso coffee.
After enjoying more of La Rochelle’s food, there was just time to walk along the seafront a bit more and enjoy some more of the boats at the festival before getting the train back to Bordeaux.
Hope you enjoyed my guide to the best day trips from Bordeaux without a car! You can check out my more detailed guide to 5 days in Bordeaux, with some of the top city sights. If you’d like to explore more of France, check out my guides to 4 days exploring the French Riviera from Nice, the top day trips from Nice, and the beautiful village of Eze.
