Bordeaux Walking Tour with Audioguide on your Smartphone

What's Included

Meeting and pickup

Itinerary

• 1
  Place des Quinconces

  Place des Quinconces is one of the largest public squares in Bordeaux. Laid out in the 19th century on the site of a former royal castle, it opens toward the Garonne River and the city’s classical façades. Its tree-lined layout, monuments, and vast open space reflect Bordeaux’s urban grandeur and civic history.

  10 minutes • Admission ticket free
• 2
  Monument aux Girondins

  Monument aux Girondins is one of Bordeaux’s most important civic monuments. Built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it honours the Girondins, a political group of the French Revolution. Its tall column, bronze fountains, horses, and allegorical figures reflect republican memory, liberty, and the monumental scale of Place des Quinconces.

  10 minutes • Admission ticket free
• 3
  Jardin Public

  Jardin Public is Bordeaux’s historic public garden near the Chartrons district. Created in the 18th century and later redesigned in English landscape style, it brings together lawns, ponds, bridges, old trees, and elegant townhouses. The park reflects Bordeaux’s urban refinement, leisure culture, and Enlightenment-era civic planning.

  10 minutes • Admission ticket free
• 4
  Palais Gallien

  Palais Gallien is the surviving ruin of a Roman amphitheatre in Bordeaux. Built around the 2nd century, it once hosted public spectacles for the ancient city of Burdigala. Its remaining arches, stonework, and urban setting reveal one of the oldest layers of Bordeaux’s history beneath the elegant 18th-century city.

  10 minutes • Admission ticket free
• 5

  Place de Tourny is an elegant square in central Bordeaux. Laid out in the 18th century, it reflects the city’s classical urban planning and the refined architecture of the Enlightenment period. Its curved façades, broad avenues, and connection with the old city gates show Bordeaux’s transformation into a grand modern city.

  10 minutes • Admission ticket free
• Opéra National de Bordeaux - Grand-Théâtre (Pass by)

  Opéra National de Bordeaux – Grand-Théâtre is one of the city’s finest neoclassical landmarks. Opened in 1780 and designed by architect Victor Louis, it became a symbol of Bordeaux’s Enlightenment-era elegance. Its Corinthian columns, sculpted façade, grand staircase, and opera house interior reflect the city’s cultural prestige.

  Admission ticket free
• 6

  Sanna is a monumental sculpture by Catalan artist Jaume Plensa on Place de la Comédie in Bordeaux. Installed after a public art exhibition in 2013, the elongated human head creates a calm contemporary presence beside the Grand-Théâtre. The work reflects themes of silence, inner life, and contrast between modern sculpture and classical urban space.

  10 minutes • Admission ticket free
• 7
  The Water Mirror

  The Water Mirror, known locally in French as Miroir d’eau, is one of Bordeaux’s most recognizable modern landmarks. Created in 2006 opposite Place de la Bourse, it alternates between a thin layer of water and clouds of mist. Its reflective surface links the 18th-century façades with the Garonne riverfront and the city’s renewed public spaces.

  10 minutes • Admission ticket free
• 8
  Place de la Bourse

  Place de la Bourse is one of Bordeaux’s most elegant 18th-century squares. Designed during the city’s Enlightenment-era expansion, it opens toward the Garonne River with symmetrical classical façades. The square reflects Bordeaux’s commercial wealth, royal urban planning, and transformation into a grand Atlantic port city.

  10 minutes • Admission ticket free
• 9
  Place du Parlement

  Parliament Square is a historic square in the old centre of Bordeaux. Created in the 18th century, it reflects the city’s classical urban design and former connection with the Parliament of Bordeaux. Its elegant façades, café terraces, and central fountain show the refined civic atmosphere of the historic district.

  10 minutes • Admission ticket free
• 10

  Rue Sainte-Catherine is Bordeaux’s main pedestrian shopping street. Stretching through the historic centre from Place de la Comédie toward Place de la Victoire, it follows one of the city’s oldest urban axes. Its shops, façades, and constant movement reflect Bordeaux’s commercial life from the medieval city to the modern centre.

  10 minutes • Admission ticket free
• 11

  Hôtel de Ragueneau is a 17th-century mansion in the historic centre of Bordeaux. Built for the family of Pierre de Ragueneau, a councillor in the Bordeaux Parliament, it later housed municipal services and city archives. Its courtyard, stone façade, and Renaissance-inspired decoration reflect the elegance of Bordeaux’s private architecture.

  10 minutes • Admission ticket free
• Tour Pey-Berland (Pass by)

  Tour Pey-Berland is the freestanding bell tower of Bordeaux Cathedral. Built in the 15th century and named after Archbishop Pey Berland, it was placed separately to protect the cathedral from bell vibrations. Its Gothic stonework, tall spire, and city-centre position reflect Bordeaux’s religious heritage and medieval civic ambition.

  Admission ticket free
• 12
  Cathedrale Saint-Andre Bordeaux

  Bordeaux Cathedral, known locally in French as Cathédrale Saint-André de Bordeaux, is one of the city’s major Gothic landmarks. Built and expanded between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, it is linked with royal ceremonies, pilgrimage routes, and the religious life of Bordeaux. Its sculpted portals, long nave, and nearby Pey-Berland Tower reflect the city’s medieval importance.

  10 minutes • Admission ticket free
• 13
  Hotel de Ville de Bordeaux

  Rohan Palace is an 18th-century former archbishop’s palace beside Bordeaux Cathedral. Built for Archbishop Ferdinand Maximilien Mériadec de Rohan, it later became the city hall of Bordeaux. Its classical façade, courtyard, grand staircase, and civic role reflect the city’s religious, political, and administrative history.

  10 minutes • Admission ticket free
• Musee des Beaux-Arts de Bordeaux (Pass by)

  Musée des Beaux-Arts is one of the oldest museums in the city. Founded in 1801, it presents European painting and sculpture from the 15th to the 20th century. Its galleries near Palais Rohan connect Bordeaux’s civic centre with works by artists such as Titian, Rubens, Delacroix, Picasso, and Matisse.

  Admission ticket free
• 14

  Château du Hâ, also known locally in French as Fort du Hâ, was a royal fortress built in Bordeaux in the 15th century after the city came under French control. Later used as a prison, it was largely dismantled, leaving only surviving towers and historic fragments. The site reflects Bordeaux’s shift from medieval independence to royal authority and modern civic institutions.

  10 minutes • Admission ticket free
• Musee d'Aquitaine (Pass by)

  Musée d’Aquitaine is one of Bordeaux’s main history museums. Its collections trace the story of the region from prehistory and Roman Burdigala to the Atlantic port, colonial trade, and modern city. Archaeological objects, sculptures, maps, documents, and everyday artefacts connect Bordeaux with the wider history of Aquitaine and the Atlantic world.

  Admission ticket free
• 15

  Falling Car, known locally in French as La voiture qui tombe, is an unusual public artwork on the Victor Hugo parking garage in Bordeaux. The car appears to burst through the wall and hang above the street, creating a playful illusion of urban accident. The installation reflects Bordeaux’s taste for hidden curiosities, humour, and unexpected art in everyday spaces.

  10 minutes • Admission ticket free
• Grosse Cloche (Pass by)

  Grosse Cloche is one of the oldest belfries and city gates of Bordeaux. Built on medieval foundations and later reshaped, it once formed part of the town hall complex and marked civic authority. Its twin towers, large bell, clock face, and former prison rooms reflect Bordeaux’s medieval identity and municipal power.

  Admission ticket free
• 16
  Basilique Saint-Michel

  The Basilica of Saint-Michel is one of Bordeaux’s major Gothic churches. Built between the 14th and 16th centuries, it stands in a historic district shaped by trade, markets, and river life. Its ornate stonework, stained glass, and separate bell tower reflect the religious and urban history of medieval Bordeaux.

  10 minutes • Admission ticket free
• 17
  Pont de Pierre

  The Stone Bridge, known locally in French as Pont de Pierre, is Bordeaux’s historic bridge across the Garonne River. Built in the early 19th century during the Napoleonic period, it was the first permanent bridge to link the two banks of the city. Its long line of arches, brick-and-stone structure, and river setting reflect Bordeaux’s urban expansion and connection with the right bank.

  10 minutes • Admission ticket free
• Porte Cailhau (Pass by)

  Porte Cailhau is one of Bordeaux’s historic city gates. Built at the end of the 15th century, it celebrated royal power while also forming part of the medieval defences. Its pointed towers, sculpted decoration, and position near the Garonne reflect Bordeaux’s transition from fortified port to grand urban centre.

  Admission ticket free

Additional info

• Public transportation options are available nearby
• Suitable for all physical fitness levels
• The audio guide is available through a special mobile app for iOS and Android
• Entry tickets to the museums are not included. Please buy them separately in advance
• The tour doesn’t cover all Bordeaux sights
• This is a self-guided tour. You will need to download the audio guide mobile app, activate your purchase, and follow the route on the app's map. There is no human guide provided

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