Bordeaux vineyard day trips by TER leave from Bordeaux Saint-Jean station, and the tourist office's coach tours leave from 12 Cours du 30 Juillet. Saint-Émilion, the Médoc, the Graves and Sauternes, the Entre-deux-Mers and Blaye and Bourg all have estates that receive visitors.
This guide covers how to reach each area, which estates take walk-in visitors and which need a booking, the tourist office's half-day tour and what a day costs. For the wider region, see the Bordeaux region page and the Bordeaux city guide.
Getting there
The fastest way from Paris is the direct TGV INOUI from Paris Montparnasse to Bordeaux Saint-Jean, which takes 2 hours 4 minutes. Direct OUIGO trains take from 2 hours 7 minutes, with adult fares from €19 ($21). Paris to Bordeaux by Train compares the two.
In Bordeaux, tram line C connects Saint-Jean station with the city center, and trams B, C and D stop at Quinconces, near the tourist office.
| Destination | Mode | Fastest time | Fare |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Émilion | TER from Saint-Jean | 29 min | from €9.50 ($10) |
| Saint-Émilion | Car | 35 min | — |
| Margaux | TER line 42 | 42 min | — |
| Margaux | Car on the D2 | 45 min | — |
| Pauillac | TER line 42 | 1h04 | — |
| Pauillac | Car | 50 min | — |
| Barsac | TER toward Langon | 42 min | — |
| Langon | TER | 35 min | — |
| Pessac-Léognan | TBM bus line 4 | — | €1.90 ($2) |
By train and bus
Saint-Émilion has about 16 TER trains a day from Bordeaux, the fastest in 29 minutes, with tickets from €9.50 ($10). The station is 1.5 km south of the village, about a 20-minute walk, and the Tuk-Tuk des Cordeliers transfer costs €5 ($5) per person. Bordeaux to Saint-Émilion has the full timetable.
In the Médoc, TER line 42 toward Le Verdon-sur-Mer stops at Margaux, Moulis-Listrac and Pauillac. Pauillac has 12 trains a day from Bordeaux, the fastest in 1 hour 4 minutes. Bordeaux to the Médoc covers the line and the coaches.
For the Graves and Sauternes, the TER Bordeaux–Agen line follows the Garonne through Podensac, Barsac and Langon. Barsac has 9 trains a day, the fastest in 42 minutes, and Langon is 35 minutes away at fastest.
Pessac-Léognan is on the city network: TBM bus line 4 serves Haut-Brion, and a TBM single ticket costs €1.90 ($2) for one hour. Bordeaux Vineyards Without a Car covers the other buses and bike routes.
By car
Allow around 35 minutes to Saint-Émilion, depending on traffic. For Margaux, take the D2 toward Blanquefort and Macau, about 45 minutes. Pauillac is 50 minutes away by the D2, the Route des Châteaux, or the D1215.
The citadel of Blaye is 50 minutes from Bordeaux, Bourg is 35 km north of the city, and Sauternes is 47 km south-east. Ferries cross the Gironde between Blaye and Lamarque, on the Médoc side.
When to go
Château Guiraud in Sauternes is open 7 days a week, public holidays included, and Château Pape Clément in Pessac welcomes visitors all year.
Sunday hours differ by estate. Château Lynch-Bages runs its cellar visit Monday to Saturday, and Château de La Grave in Bourg is closed on Sundays. The Maison du Sauternes opens every day except Christmas and January 1.
The Maison des Vins de Graves in Podensac opens Tuesday to Saturday from January to March, and 7 days a week from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. between July 15 and August 31.
On Saturday, November 14 and Sunday, November 15, 2026, more than 50 Sauternes and Barsac estates open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., with free admission. In the Côtes de Bourg, estates open their doors during the Tous Ô Chais weekend each May.
Visiting the estates
Some estates take walk-in visitors, others book online or by appointment. Booking Bordeaux Château Visits covers lead times in more detail.
The Bordeaux tourist office runs the Châteaux & Terroirs half-day coach tour to a different area each day:
- Monday: Bourg and Blaye
- Tuesday and Saturday: the Médoc
- Wednesday: Graves and Sauternes
- Thursday and Sunday: Saint-Émilion
- Friday: Entre-deux-Mers
The coach leaves the tourist office at 1:30 p.m. and returns at 6:30 p.m. Arrive 15 minutes early. The guide speaks French and English, and groups run from 10 to 50 people. Except on Saint-Émilion days, the tour includes two château visits with two wines tasted at each.
Saint-Émilion
The Jurisdiction of Saint-Émilion was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List on December 2, 1999, as a cultural landscape of eight villages and about 5,000 hectares of vines.
Each day, the tourist office's château-of-the-day list shows 2 to 4 estates open for tastings, and reservations with them are compulsory. Clos Systey, on that list, runs visits of 1 hour to 1 hour 30 minutes between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.
Château Figeac, a 1st Grand Cru Classé A, shows individual visitors its vineyard, new winery and vat-house in 1 hour or 1 hour 30 minutes, ending with a guided tasting of two or three wines. Visits run in English and Spanish.
On Thursdays and Sundays, the tourist office tour visits one château with a tasting of 2 wines and includes entry to the monolithic church.
The Médoc
The Médoc wine route follows the D2 for about a hundred kilometers, from Blanquefort to Saint-Vivien-de-Médoc. In Pauillac, the Maison du Tourisme et du Vin at La Verrerie books visits at its partner châteaux and provides a map of the Grand Cru châteaux.
Château Lynch-Bages runs a 1 hour 30 minute cellar visit from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., booked online. Its 2 hour 30 minute tasting classes need at least two people and run every day except Sunday.
Graves and Pessac-Léognan
The Graves and Pessac-Léognan vineyards lie just outside Bordeaux. Château Haut-Bailly in Léognan books its visits online: a 30-minute tasting of two wines, or a 1 hour 15 minute classic visit of the vineyard and cellar with two wines.
Château Pape Clément, a Grand Cru Classé de Graves in Pessac, takes all visits by online booking. Its Visite et Dégustation lasts 1 hour 30 minutes.
From the Villenave Pyrénées tram stop, a 15-minute bike ride on a 5 km road reaches Smith-Haut-Lafitte, Carbonnieux, La Louvière, Haut Bailly and Larrivet-Haut-Brion.
In Podensac, the Maison des Vins de Graves at 61 cours du Maréchal Foch runs a visit and tasting workshop with an introduction to tasting and four wines. Booking is essential.
Sauternes and Barsac
Sauternes is an appellation within the Graves region. Fall morning mists there encourage Botrytis cinerea, the noble rot, which increases the grapes' sugar content.
Château Guiraud, a 1er Grand Cru Classé in 1855, receives visitors from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. with or without a booking. Its two tastings are three estate wines or three Premier Grand Cru Classé vintages, and visits run in French, English and Norwegian.
Château Climens in Barsac, also a 1er Grand Cru Classé in 1855, takes bookings on its website, by email or by phone. The Discovery of Climens lasts about 1 hour and covers the vineyard, cellars and herbal tea room, with two wines.
In the village, the Maison du Sauternes at 14 Place de la Mairie opens from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., with tastings from about eighty producers of the appellation. From Barsac, Yquem is a 12 km bike ride with a few steep sections.
Entre-deux-Mers
The Entre-deux-Mers spans over 7,000 hectares between the Garonne and the Dordogne rivers. It makes dry and sweet whites, reds, rosés, clairets and crémants.
Château Lestrille, at 15 route de Créon in Saint-Germain-du-Puch, books all visits in advance. Its tasting of a white, a rosé and a red lasts about 1 hour.
The Abbey of La Sauve-Majeure, built in 1079, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site as part of the Roads to Santiago de Compostela, and the Maison des Vins de l'Entre-deux-Mers is nearby. Transgironde bus line 473 from Bordeaux-Stalingrad stops at Bourg in La Sauve. By car, take the D936 toward Bergerac, then the D671 toward Créon.
The Roger Lapébie cycle path runs on a former railway line with a low gradient between Latresne and Sauveterre-de-Guyenne. In Cadillac, the market runs every Saturday morning.
Blaye and Bourg
The citadel of Blaye overlooks the Gironde estuary. Engineer François Ferry built it between 1685 and 1689 under the supervision of Vauban, and it was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008.
The Blaye tourist office, at 1 place of the citadel, runs guided tours of the citadel all year and hosts winegrowers from the Blaye Côtes de Bordeaux and Côtes de Bourg appellations. The Blaye appellation covers reds from fifteen châteaux on 37 hectares.
Château de La Grave stands on the hillsides above Bourg, about 40 km north of Bordeaux. Its six-wine estate tasting needs no appointment Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to noon and 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturday visits are by appointment. The estate also has a free walking trail, The 4 Seasons of the Vine.
In Bourg-sur-Gironde, the Maison des Vins des Côtes de Bourg at 1 place de l'Éperon runs a wine bar every Friday and Saturday from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. Transgironde lines 201 and 202 serve the Côtes de Blaye.
What it costs
A standard visit with a tasting at the estates on this page costs €6–80 ($6–86). The Maison du Sauternes tasting is free.
At the lower end, Château Lestrille charges €6 ($6) for its tasting, and Château de La Grave €10 ($11) for its estate tasting or €20 ($22) for the cellar tour and tasting. The Maison des Vins de Graves workshop costs €7 ($8), and Saint-Émilion estate visits start at €7 ($8) at Château Cadet Pontet. Clos Systey charges €15 ($16).
In the Graves and the Médoc, the Haut-Bailly tasting costs €20 ($22) and its classic visit €50 ($54). The Lynch-Bages cellar visit and the Pape Clément Visite et Dégustation each cost €25 ($27), and the Lynch-Bages tasting classes start at €75 ($81).
In Barsac, the Discovery of Climens costs €45 ($49), Climens's Know-How €60 ($65) and The Vertical Tasting €110 ($119). Château Figeac charges €80 ($86) per person.
The tourist office's Châteaux & Terroirs tour costs €55 ($59) per person, tastings included. Entry to the Abbey of La Sauve-Majeure costs €7 ($8) and is free under 18. On the Roger Lapébie path, the Station Vélo de Créon rents classic bikes from €10 ($11) and electric bikes from €20 ($22).
Before you go
- In the Médoc, a visit is always by reservation unless a château clearly announces visits without an appointment, and some estates are booked up for several days. Book as early as possible.
- Château Margaux and Château Mouton Rothschild receive visitors Monday to Friday only and close on weekends and public holidays. Both stop visits during the harvest, Château Margaux also closes in August, and Mouton Rothschild tours must be booked at least two months ahead.
- The Bordeaux–Saint-Émilion regional coach, line 4617, runs from August 29 to November 1, 2026, then from April 10 to June 25, 2027. Outside high season, the bus stops at Libourne, 7 km away, and you continue by taxi.
Spit as you taste if you are driving, or choose a designated driver.
Frequently asked questions
Can I visit Saint-Émilion from Bordeaux by train?
Yes. About 16 TER trains a day run from Bordeaux to Saint-Émilion, the fastest in 29 minutes, with tickets from €9.50 ($10). The station sits 1.5 km from the village: walk for about 20 minutes or take the Tuk-Tuk des Cordeliers for €5 ($5).
Do I need to book Médoc château visits?
Yes, unless a château clearly announces visits without an appointment. Some estates are booked up for several days, and Mouton Rothschild needs at least two months' notice. In Pauillac, the Maison du Tourisme et du Vin books visits at its partner châteaux.
Which vineyard tour does the Bordeaux tourist office run?
The Châteaux & Terroirs half-day coach tour costs €55 ($59) and lasts 5 hours, leaving the tourist office at 1:30 p.m. The area changes by weekday: the Médoc on Tuesdays and Saturdays, Saint-Émilion on Thursdays and Sundays, and Graves and Sauternes on Wednesdays.
Are Sauternes estates open on Sundays?
Château Guiraud opens 7 days a week, public holidays included, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., with or without a booking. The Maison du Sauternes also opens daily, with free tastings from about eighty producers, closing only at Christmas and on January 1.
Can I reach the Graves vineyards by public transport?
Yes. TBM bus line 4 serves Haut-Brion in Pessac-Léognan for €1.90 ($2). From the Villenave Pyrénées tram stop, a 15-minute bike ride reaches Smith-Haut-Lafitte and Haut Bailly, and TER trains toward Langon stop at Podensac and Barsac.
