“You’re all flying to France together – including three toddlers?” 😀
Well, yes. Travelling is just really normal to us, even or especially with the little ones. So it was only natural that my brother, his girlfriend, my parents and my husband should surprise me with a family trip to France for my 40th birthday last year, including yes, all the little children!
Our family party currently makes up six adults and three small children aged two, three and five. It was very exciting to occupy three rows on the plane with nine of us travelling from Vienna via Zurich to Bordeaux.
Vive la France: The flight to Bordeaux via Zurich was easy to manage thanks to the great family area at Zurich airport and lots of entertainment for the whole family.
Bordeaux with (young) kids: Guided city tour, Miroir d’Eau and our stay at Meininger Hotel Bordeaux.
At the ITB Berlin travel trade fair, I was given the option to put our family up at Meininger Hotel Bordeaux, which is centrally located and close to the train station. This was also an advantage in that we could easily walk from the hotel to the main station car hire office on the third day, pick up the cars and continue our journey from there.
Meininger Hotels stand for a cosy, modern mixture of youth hostel and hotel. Play areas for the little ones, bright, friendly rooms, a great breakfast buffet and the good location are advantages that we all enjoyed.
Welcome to Meininger Hotel Bordeaux! A typical French dessert awaited us in our room (it didn’t last for the photo, it was eaten straight away!).
The common areas remind me of the wine barrels so typical of Bordeaux …
… and we regularly went down to check out the gaming area ..!
Bordeaux itself, i.e. the typical sights and the city centre, are only a few stops away from the main station by tram. We opted for an exclusive German-speaking city tour so that we could learn something about Bordeaux while busying ourselves with the little ones 😉 which was totally worth it.
Sonia, who was waiting for us at the Bordeaux tourist information centre, was very patient and eager to tell us about the history of France’s ninth largest city. Bordeaux, which is derived from the French “à bord d’eaux”, meaning on the edge of the water, is located right at the confluence of the Garonne and Dordogne rivers. And less than an hour away from the Atlantic Ocean with its famous Arcachon dunes (more on this in a moment).
On the road in Bordeaux: We start our journey of discovery at the Place des Quinconces and the huge fountain complex, the so-called Monument des Girondins.
Bordeaux is such a pretty town, often reminding us of Paris somewhat …
… Liam likes is here, too, and it’s easy to navigate the centre with kids as many streets are pedestrian zones.
One of the former city gates at the Place de la Bourse …
… leading directly to the Miroir d’Eau, literally to the “water mirror”, a huge area that is always slightly flooded and which you should not miss out on, especially with children in summer. Great for refreshing your feet, by the way!
Tip: Just around the corner is the Brasserie L’Aero, which offers delicious croque-monsieurs with chips and salad – a good trade-off between what children like internationally and what is still a little typical of France!
Quick visit to the world of wine in Bordeaux: Cité du Vin and Château du Taillan.
Just outside the city centre, you can visit the Cité du Vin, which only opened a few years ago, and the Bassins des Lumières, which is also located in Bordeaux’s harbour district. The latter is not directly related to wine, but rather to the unusual question: how can a submarine bunker from the Second World War be redesigned as a modern cultural centre?
Both are definitely worth a visit, as is the Château du Taillan wine estate just outside Bordeaux: ideal for all those who want to get to know one of the many famous wine estates in and around one of the world’s most renowned wine regions.
Les Bassins des Lumières impresses with modern light and sound shows in a completely unusual building: the city’s historic submarine bunker.
Things continue in a curious way in Bordeaux harbour as we cross over from the light shows to the Cité du Vin: Who or what has landed here?
The Cité du Vin is a modern, interactive visitor centre for all those interested in wine – beginners and experienced wine connoisseurs alike. Both the architecture of the building and the way in which wine is presented here in all its facets (including cultural history) is truly impressive.
On top of Bordeaux: Cheers!
We continue our winesome exploration of Bordeaux at the Château du Taillan wine estate …
… a marvellous excursion target just half an hour’s drive from the city, which you can also reach by public transport.
La Dune du Pilat, La Plage du Petit Nice: Holidaying in “the largest sandpit of Europe”.
No visit to Bordeaux is complete without the equally world-famous Arcachon dunes. Maybe it’s because my parents, my brother and I have been here before and we wanted to refresh our memories of this special place from over 25 years ago. Or maybe it’s just the fact that when the sea calls, Austrians just have to go.
Much to the delight of our children, we spent several hours visiting the huge sand dune of Arcachon, La Dune du Pilat. The dune, which is one of the largest in Europe, is more than 100 metres high and almost three kilometres long, so it really is huge. Fortunately, it is now possible to climb up the steps to see it. When we were guests there many years ago, we still had to climb up steep sandy slopes “one step forwards, two steps back” …
Off we go: From the parking lot to the dune, it gets sandier by each step …
… and thankfully, there is now a built staircase up the dune, so you don’t have to slide – unless you want to, of course!
Now you know what I meant when I talked about “the largest sandpit of Europe”.
Just a short distance further south is the Plage du Petit Nice, a stretch of beach with a campsite and a few restaurants for a typical day at the beach. We were also in the water … the Atlantic is fresh!
So, if you liked my descriptions of Bordeaux with children, you are welcome to continue reading in one of the next posts: In addition to Bordeaux, we also visited La Rochelle, Angers and Mont Saint Michel on this trip.
Disclaimer: We have been invited by Meininger Hotels Bordeaux and Bordeaux Tourisme on our guided city tour and the Bassins des Lumières. All opinions are my own.