With kids · Bordeaux · France
Bordeaux with kids
Family-tested sights, a calm base and the practical details that make travelling with children easier.
Updated By the AMZBooking editorial team
Photo: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answer
Bordeaux works well with children: the centre is flat and largely pedestrian, trams are step-free and easy with a stroller, and kids love splashing in the Miroir d'Eau on hot days. The Jardin Public, the Bassins des Lumières and Cap Sciences fill rainy afternoons, and the Dune du Pilat is a memorable day out. Top picks: Place de la Bourse and Miroir d'Eau, Jardin Public and Bassins des Lumières. Families usually base themselves in Chartrons.
Key facts
- Family picks
- 5
- Best area for families
- Chartrons
- Rainy-day options
- 2
Best things to do with kids
Landmark · Saint-Pierre
1.Place de la Bourse and Miroir d'Eau
The royal square built between 1730 and 1775 by the Gabriel father and son opens onto the river, with the Three Graces fountain at its centre. In front of it, the Miroir d'Eau is a granite reflecting pool of about 3,450 square metres covered by a couple of centimetres of water that alternates between a mirror and a cool mist. It is the city's signature view and is free.
Come at dusk, when the floodlit façades reflect in the water; the pool is usually switched off during the colder months.
- Time needed
- 30–45 minutes
- Cost
- Free
- Iconic
- Free
- Kids
- Photo spot
- After dark
- Couples
Garden · Chartrons
2.Jardin Public
Laid out in the 18th century and later remodelled as an English-style park, the Jardin Public has lawns, a winding stream with ducks, a botanical garden and playgrounds. The Muséum de Bordeaux – sciences et nature, the city's natural history museum, is in a mansion on its edge and has a dedicated space for young children.
Pick up pastries on Rue Notre-Dame or Cours de Verdun and picnic on the lawns, which are open to sit on.
- Time needed
- 1–2 hours
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- Kids
- Outdoors
- Nature
Experience · Bassins à Flot
3.Bassins des Lumières
Inside the concrete submarine base built during the German occupation in the 1940s, four vast water-filled bays have become a digital art centre. Large-scale projections of painters' work move across the walls and reflect in the water, with a soundtrack, and programmes change each year.
Visit on a hot or wet afternoon; the bunker stays cool, and weekday mornings are quieter.
- Time needed
- 1–1.5 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Book ahead
- Buy timed tickets online for weekends and school holidays.
- Art
- Kids
- Rainy day
- History
Museum · Bassins à Flot
4.Cap Sciences
A hands-on science centre in a former riverside hangar near the Chaban-Delmas bridge, with changing interactive exhibitions on technology, the body and the environment and a dedicated area for younger children. Most visitors are local families and school groups.
Check which exhibition is running; the programme rotates and some are aimed at teenagers rather than toddlers.
- Time needed
- 1.5–2 hours
- Cost
- Low cost
- Kids
- Rainy day
Experience · Riverfront quays
5.Garonne river cruise and BatCub shuttles
Sightseeing boats leave from the quays near the Place des Quinconces for cruises past the 18th-century façades, the Pont de Pierre and the Chaban-Delmas bridge. The BatCub river shuttles, part of the city's TBM transport network, follow part of the same stretch for the price of a transit ticket.
Ride the BatCub from Quinconces to Stalingrad on the right bank for a cheap mini-cruise, then walk back across the Pont de Pierre.
- Time needed
- 1–1.5 hours
- Cost
- Low cost
- Kids
- Views
- Couples
- Outdoors
Rainy-day ideas
- Bassins des Lumières — Visit on a hot or wet afternoon; the bunker stays cool, and weekday mornings are quieter.
- Cap Sciences — Check which exhibition is running; the programme rotates and some are aimed at teenagers rather than toddlers.
Where families should stay
$$$ · Best for families, couples, food lovers and quiet stays
Chartrons
North of the centre, Chartrons grew up around the warehouses and townhouses of the wine négociants who shipped Bordeaux's barrels abroad. Rue Notre-Dame is lined with antique dealers, delis and cafés, the Jardin Public is on its western edge, and on Sunday mornings the Marché des Quais spreads along the river. Tram B runs along the quays to the centre and on to the Cité du Vin.
- Good
- Neighbourhood feel with good cafés; Near the Jardin Public for children; Short tram ride to both the centre and the Cité du Vin
- Watch out
- Fewer hotels than the centre; Quiet on weekday evenings
- Nearby
- Rue Notre-Dame, Jardin Public, CAPC, Marché des Quais
Family travel tips
- Bring a change of clothes or a towel; children often end up soaked in the Miroir d'Eau's mist.
- Trams are low-floor and easy with strollers, unlike many older buildings in Saint-Pierre with steep stairs.
- The Muséum de Bordeaux in the Jardin Public has a dedicated space for young children.
- At the Dune du Pilat, go early or late in summer; the sand gets very hot and the climb is steep for small legs.
- Restaurants open for dinner around 7:30pm; brasseries and crêperies are the easiest choices for an early meal.
Day trips for families
- Arcachon (About 50 minutes by train) — A seaside resort on the Arcachon Bay with a long beach, the Ville d'Hiver quarter of 19th-century villas on the hill and oyster villages around the bay.
- Dune du Pilat (About 1 hour 20 minutes by train and bus) — Europe's tallest sand dune rises more than 100 metres above the Atlantic at the mouth of the Arcachon Bay, with forest on one side and the ocean and Banc d'Arguin sandbanks on the other.
When to go with children
The best months overall are May–June and September–October. Weather by month.
Questions travellers ask
+Is Bordeaux good for kids?
Bordeaux works well with children: the centre is flat and largely pedestrian, trams are step-free and easy with a stroller, and kids love splashing in the Miroir d'Eau on hot days. The Jardin Public, the Bassins des Lumières and Cap Sciences fill rainy afternoons, and the Dune du Pilat is a memorable day out.
+What can kids do in Bordeaux?
Place de la Bourse and Miroir d'Eau, Jardin Public, Bassins des Lumières, Cap Sciences and Garonne river cruise and BatCub shuttles.
+Where should families stay in Bordeaux?
Chartrons: Old wine-merchant quarter with antiques, brunch cafés and a Sunday quay market.