Campsites on the Bordeaux wine route
Some campsites are located on the Bordeaux wine route, close to the Bordeaux vineyards. They will accommodate you in order to make the most of your visit to the vineyards and the discovery of Bordeaux wines. Saint Emilion campsite **** is located on the edge of a magnificent lake and nestled in the heart of the vineyards of St-Emilion, a UNESCO World Heritage site. It would be difficult to find accommodation in a better place than this to visit the vineyards. Not to mention all there is to discover here in addition to the vineyards. The municipal campsite Les Gabarreys **** in Pauillac is situated on the banks of a river and has 7 mobile homes and 58 pitches.
Make the most of your camping holiday on the Bordeaux wine route to visit the cellars, taste the greatest Bordeaux wines and enjoy the beauty of the regular green landscape formed by the vineyards. Accompanied excursions to the vineyards, but also participation in wine evenings or wine cruises. Visits to châteaux and estates allow you to discover the secret and closed world of the greatest producers. During your stay you will find an essential part of French gastronomy and traditions.
The five main regions of the wine route around Bordeaux
Saint Emilion is the first wine-growing area to be listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Pomerol and Fronsac are its neighbouring appellations and form an unparalleled group of AOCs where the historical heritage, at least as rich as the vines, is not to be missed on the Bordeaux wine route. In the medieval village of Saint-Émilion, you can admire the vines from the church overlooking the town or stop to watch the proclamation of the Judgement of the New Wine, once a year in the Tour du Roy, the only keep in Gironde still intact, or in front of the monolithic church, the largest underground church in Europe, which leads directly to the catacombs.
Bourg and Blaye are the second region on the wine route. Here we propose to explore the vineyards with a cruise on the Gironde, the largest estuary in Europe, formed by the Garonne and the Dordogne. You can learn about the rich heritage of the estuary, as well as stop off and discover the AOC Blaye Côtes de Bordeaux and Côtes de Bourg on the right bank. On foot or by bike, you can enjoy the magnificent scenery along the Corniche road, stopping off at the troglodyte houses along the Dordogne, the Gallo-Roman villa of Plassac and the prehistoric cave of Pair-non-Pair in the commune of Prignac-et-Marcamps, one of the oldest decorated caves in the world.
The third is the most important wine region of Bordeaux. The Entre-deux-Mers was made by the oceanic influence of the Garonne and the Dordogne and its vines, on 7 000 hectares, are planted on a very diversified soil: sand, clay, limestone and gravel. This is what makes this wine region so special. Dry and sweet whites, reds such as Merlot, but also Crémants are produced here. Farms, fortified villages, mills, Romanesque churches and abbeys are the witnesses of a region with an important medieval heritage. If only one were to be visited, it would be the Abbey of La Sauve Majeure. Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site on the Pilgrimage Route to Santiago de Compostela, it was built in 1079. It is also around this building that the first vine of the Entre-Deux-Mers was planted. You can get there by bike along a greenway created on an old railway line which allows you to cross the whole of the Entre-deux-Mers and make a stop to admire the bastides of Sauveterre and Créon. Finally, the Cadillac market on Saturday mornings and the Château Ladruc next to Bordeaux, offer you a tasting of the Entre-Deux-Mers AOC.
In the Médoc region, there are prestigious appellations and grands crus classés such as Mouton-Rothschild, Margaux, Latour or Lafitte-Rothschild. But prestige is not only reserved for the grands crus. Indeed, the châteaux, the vineyards, the Atlantic Ocean and its beaches, the large lakes, the pine forest... are also part of an exceptional territory. A mild and humid climate, favourable to the vines. In Pauillac, the cellars of the Odyssey of the Rose is an original visit to the cellar, where you can discover the cycle of the vine over the course of the seasons and through video projections, an immersive show and light displays, all in a mixture of imagination and reality. An exciting journey that ends with a wine tasting. For children from 5 years old, a sort of treasure hunt is organised for them and the tasting will be done with a grape juice. A wine tourism experience for the whole family.
The Graves and Sauternes are the last wine region on the Bordeaux wine route. From great classified growths such as Château d'Yquem, to small local producers, this is a region that promises a particularly diverse tourist offer and raises awareness so that the work of the winegrowers is accessible to the greatest number. It is the Ciron, a small river which flows into the Garonne, which feeds the Sauternes AOC vines by causing the formation of a mist in the autumn, which increases the sugar content of the grapes and thus gives the Sauternes their sweet and very mild taste. The geography of the region allows for beautiful walks or mountain bike rides but also canoeing on the Ciron. Here, the winegrowers are full of imagination to make their work known to tourists: unusual tastings, original workshops around wine, such as the plant scenography on 4000 m2, located in the Jardin Millésimé of Château Larivet Haut-Brion, which is really worth a visit.
More information on the Bordeaux wine route:
Bordeaux Tourist Office
12, Cours du 30 Juillet
Tel. +33 (0) 5 56 00 66 00