Bordeaux Wine Country with Kids: Château Rules and Prices

Planning Bordeaux wine country with kids means picking the châteaux that run visits for children. Several estates in Saint-Émilion, the Médoc and the Graves offer family tours with treasure hunts, farm animals or grape juice tastings, and set their own children's rates.

In Bordeaux itself, the Cité du Vin has a Juniors tour and a family ticket. Saint-Émilion adds an underground tour, a little train through the vineyards and free game booklets for children.

This page covers the trains from Paris, opening times, each estate's family visit, ticket prices and what to know before you go.

Getting there

The fastest option is the direct TGV INOUI from Paris Montparnasse to Bordeaux Saint-Jean, at 2 hours 4 minutes, with 33 round trips a day. Direct OUIGO low-cost trains take from 2 hours 7 minutes.

OUIGO adult fares start at €19 ($21), and children up to and including age 11 pay a fixed €8 ($9).

Tram line C links Saint-Jean station with the city center. The Cité du Vin is 30 minutes from Saint-Jean by tram, and its tram B stop is a 2-minute walk from the entrance.

From Bordeaux Saint-Jean, the TER reaches Saint-Émilion from 29 minutes. Saint-Émilion station is about 1.5 km south of the village, about a 20-minute walk. By car, allow around 35 minutes from Bordeaux to Saint-Émilion.

For the Médoc, Margaux is about 45 minutes from Bordeaux by car on the D2 toward Blanquefort, Macau and Margaux, and TER line 42 reaches Margaux in about 42 minutes at fastest.

For fares and timetables, see Paris to Bordeaux by train, Bordeaux to Saint-Émilion and Bordeaux to the Médoc.

When to go

The Cité du Vin opens every day of the year except December 25 and a closure week from January 25 to 31, 2027.

From April 3 to October 31, 2026, it opens every day from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. From November 1, 2026 to January 3, 2027, it opens 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays and Sundays and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturdays and during the holidays. It closes at 4 p.m. on December 24.

Via Sensoria, the Cité's sensory tasting journey, runs from April 1 to November 1, 2026.

Château Pape Clément welcomes visitors all year. Château Villemaurine closes from mid-December to mid-January, during en primeur week and on Wednesdays.

In the Médoc, unless a château clearly announces visits without an appointment, a visit is always by reservation.

Visiting the estates

Family visits at Troplong Mondot, Chauvin, Villemaurine, Pape Clément and Lanessan are booked in advance, and each château sets its own rules for children. In Saint-Émilion, children's admission varies by estate, and some estates can only be visited by reservation.

Saint-Émilion

Château Troplong Mondot runs a 1 hour 45 minute family visit. Children drive electric mini Land Rovers, help the mascot find his hazelnut and feed the chickens and the pig. Parents taste 2 wines while the children have a snack. Visits are in English, and you book through the estate's visits page.

Château Chauvin, at 1901 Route de Vachon, runs Chauvin's little ones: a 1-hour treasure hunt around the estate and a tour adapted for children on the work of the vine and winemaking. Children taste 2 grape juices, a cabernet rosé and a merlot red.

Chauvin's visits start at 10 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 1 p.m., 2:30 p.m., 4 p.m. and 5 p.m., in English, and reservation is essential through the tourist office ticket shop.

Château Villemaurine runs the 1-hour Visite Patrimoine of its underground quarries, in French at 11:30 a.m. and in English at 4:30 p.m. Children must be with an adult, booking is mandatory, and the Visite Privilège does not accept minors.

Château Fleur de Lisse in Saint-Hippolyte pours a tasting of 2 wines with or without an appointment during wine shop hours, and its nature tour of the vineyard, cellars and aging room is by appointment. Children go free on all its tastings and get juice. The Bordeaux tourist office recommends its visit for children aged 6 to 14 who can read.

The Médoc

Château Lanessan, at 113 Lanessan in Cussac-Fort-Médoc, runs a 2-hour family tour for 2 to 30 participants. It covers the estate's history, the château park, the vineyard, the cellars and the Musée du Cheval, the old stable with the family's coaches and a complete saddlery.

On the Lanessan tour, families solve riddles along the way and finish with a five-senses activity. Adults taste 3 wines, and children get grape juice or syrups. The tour runs in French, English and Spanish.

Château Citran, at 30 Citran in Avensan, runs wine-cultural and fun routes from 3 years old, in the cellar, park and castle, with workshops, play areas, storyteller tours, peacocks and grape juice tasting.

Graves, Pessac and Sauternes

Château Pape Clément, a Grand Cru Classé de Graves at 216 avenue Dr Nancel Pénard in Pessac, runs Petits Curieux, Grandes Découvertes. The 1 hour 15 minute visit covers the vineyard and the gardens and the scents and virtues of the estate's plants. Older visitors then taste wine, and younger ones taste grape juice.

Château Bardins in Cadaujac and Château Saint-Ahon in Blanquefort run family programs with workshops, play areas, guided tours with a storyteller, peacocks and grape juice tasting.

Château de Rayne Vigneau, a 1st Grand Cru Classé of Sauternes at 541 Route du Piquey in Bommes, runs a 1-hour discovery tour through the vineyard, the terroir and the barrel cellar. The tour is open from the age of seven, and only visitors over 18 taste the three wines.

Family sights beyond the cellars

La Cité du Vin

At the Cité du Vin, the Juniors tour on the visit companion guides children aged 7 to 12 through vines and their environment, the winegrowing profession and the civilizations of wine. Reception staff can set a child's companion to junior mode.

Under-7s can smell, look and explore the exhibition, and over-12s can follow the tour at their own pace. The Cité advises families to allow 1½ to 2 hours or more and to start at the 10 a.m. opening to avoid crowds.

The ticket includes the Belvédère on the 8th floor, 35 meters up, with a 360° view, and its included drink can be a non-alcoholic one. Via Sensoria, a one-hour sensory journey with four Bordeaux wines or non-alcoholic drinks, is open to families from age 6, and wine is for over-18s only.

The Cité has a baby-changing area on the ground floor where you can also breastfeed, a water dispenser near the ground-floor toilets and free gardens where picnics are allowed.

Bordeaux city

The Bordeaux tourist office at 12 Cours du 30 Juillet gives out the free Petit Robin treasure hunt booklet for ages 7 to 12, in French, English and Spanish.

On Place de la Bourse, the water of the Miroir d'eau disappears every 10 minutes and gives way to fog. Cap Sciences, at Hangar 20 on Quai de Bacalan, has interactive exhibits, and the Bassins des Lumières shows immersive digital art in a former submarine base and welcomes strollers.

Near the Cité du Vin, the Tèrra Aventura trail Bacalan, au pays des possibles is a 3 km circuit, about a 2-hour walk, through urban art and industrial and maritime heritage. Tèrra Aventura is a free geocaching treasure hunt on a mobile app, for players from 7 to 77.

Saint-Émilion village

The Saint-Émilion underground tour visits four monuments: the hermitage of Émilion, the Trinity Chapel with its medieval paintings, the catacombs and the monolithic church. It lasts 45 minutes to 1 hour, starts from Place de l'Église Monolithe and is guided in French, with written translations in English on request at the tourist office.

Raconte-moi Saint-Émilion is a set of three guided visits for children aged 5 to 12: Pierre the stonemason, on the fortifications and limestone, an underground investigation with an illustrated booklet, and Lie detector. For the underground investigation, the child must be able to write.

Robin's Tracks are free game booklets for children aged 3 to 15, in English, Spanish and German. Collect one at the tourist office on Place des Créneaux or print it from the website, and return it completed for a prize.

The Great Vineyards Train leaves from Espace Villemaurine and tours the ramparts and vineyards. Departures are at 10:30 a.m., 11:15 a.m., noon, 12:45 p.m., 2 p.m., 2:45 p.m., 3:30 p.m., 4:15 p.m. and 5 p.m. The full ride takes 1 hour 20 minutes with a visit and tasting at Château Rochebelle, and the 12:45 p.m. train does not stop at the château.

Entre-Deux-Mers

The Roger Lapébie cycle path follows a former railway line with a low gradient. The Station Vélo de Créon on the path rents children's bikes, and the Abbey of La Sauve-Majeure is free for under-18s.

What it costs

An adult visit or tasting at the estates on this page costs €7–50 ($8–54). Children's rates differ by estate:

• Château Troplong Mondot: €20 ($22) for ages 3 to 16 and free under 3. Adults pay €50 ($54).
• Château Chauvin: €5 ($5) per child and €17 ($18) per adult.
• Château Villemaurine: €12 ($13) for ages 12 to 17 and free under 12. Adults pay €25 ($27).
• Château Les Joualles Cormeil Figeac: Apprentice winemakers costs €12 ($13) for children and €6 ($6) for adults. Traditional tours cost €10 ($11).
• Château Fleur de Lisse: free for children. The adult tasting costs €7 ($8) and the nature tour €14 ($15).
• Château Lanessan: the family tour costs from €15 ($16) per person.
• Château Pape Clément: Petits Curieux, Grandes Découvertes costs from €12.50 ($14).
• Château de Rayne Vigneau: the discovery tour costs €20 ($22) per person.

Tickets for the family sights:

• Cité du Vin: €23 ($25) for adults, €9 ($10) for ages 6 to 17 and free under 6. The family pack for 2 adults and 2 children aged 6 to 17 costs €56 ($60). Via Sensoria costs €23 ($25) for adults and €9 ($10) for children.
• Bordeaux CityPass Junior: for ages 6 to 17, €22 ($24) for 24 hours, €28 ($30) for 48 hours and €34 ($37) for 72 hours, against €37 ($40), €48 ($52) and €56 ($60) for adults. It covers tram and bus travel, the Cité du Vin, the Bassins des Lumières and the natural history museum.
• Saint-Émilion underground tour: a reduced rate for ages 6 to 17, and free under 6. The bell tower is a separate €2 ($2) ticket.
• Great Vineyards Train: with the Rochebelle visit, €15 ($16) for ages 15 and over, €7 ($8) for ages 3 to under 13, €8 ($9) for ages 13 to under 18 and free under 3. The 35-minute train-only ride costs €8 ($9) for adults.
• Abbey of La Sauve-Majeure: €7 ($8), and free under 18.
• Station Vélo de Créon: children's bikes from €6 ($6) and classic bikes from €10 ($11).

Before you go

• The Bordeaux tourist office's half-day wine coach tours do not accept children under 5, and under-18s must be with an adult and may not taste wine.
• The Cité du Vin has no stroller storage and does not allow scooters, skateboards or other wheeled devices inside, though a single stroller fits easily in the permanent exhibition.
• On the Saint-Émilion underground tour, children under 6 need a ticket even though they go free, and once the monument gates close, latecomers cannot join the guide and get no refund.

For booking terms château by château, see Booking Bordeaux château visits.