Walking tour through Bordeaux vineyards from Saint-émilion to Sauternes

Trip codePied 01
Trip activity :Self-guided walking holiday
Location :Bordeaux - France
Duration :7 to 8 days
Departure :From April to October 15
Trip grading :
Capacity :Minimum 2 people
Price per person :
Discover our other walking tour in Bordeaux area here
  • Walking tour through Bordeaux vineyards from Saint-émilion to Sauternes
  • Walking tour through Bordeaux vineyards from Saint-émilion to Sauternes
  • Walking tour through Bordeaux vineyards from Saint-émilion to Sauternes
  • Walking tour through Bordeaux vineyards from Saint-émilion to Sauternes
  • Walking tour through Bordeaux vineyards from Saint-émilion to Sauternes
  • Walking tour through Bordeaux vineyards from Saint-émilion to Sauternes
  • Walking tour through Bordeaux vineyards from Saint-émilion to Sauternes
  • Walking tour through Bordeaux vineyards from Saint-émilion to Sauternes
  • Walking tour through Bordeaux vineyards from Saint-émilion to Sauternes

Tour description

The Bordeaux vineyard walking tour is a Mixed up of landscape beauty, wine tourism and cultural discoveries…  This walking tour will lead you from the vineyard of St Emilion, to the vineyard of Sauternes. You’ll also cross the Entre-Deux-Mers area to discover charming villages which astonish by their marvellously preserved inheritance… And by many wine châteaux and wine storehouses which decorate the landscape by their sumptuous architectures. Hiking tour with varied landscapes, alternating footpaths across vines and woods, without forgetting stop over in wine producers.

The Bordeaux vineyard walking tour across some of the most famous vineyards in the world! Where you’ll find a mix of beautiful landscapes and the fabulous wines of Saint Emilion and Sauterne. There are charming villages to be discovered while you walk along tracks alternating through vineyards, woods and along river banks. Five villages in South Gironde, nestled between the pine forests and the Garonne, produce one of the most famous wines in the world: Sauternes.

Saint Emilion, the largest wine appellation in Bordeaux’s right bank with the beautiful town itself resting on top of the hill overlooking the stunning surrounding landscape.  Granted UNESCO status in 1999 this enchanting medieval town is bursting with wondrous monuments both above and below ground; The Kings Keep, The Collegiate Church and its magnificent cloisters, las tetras. The somewhat challenging to walk along yet so pretty las tetras are steep, narrow cobblestoned streets that connect the high and low parts of the town. Underground there is almost just as much to explore with numerous wine cellars and the monolithic church, an impressive “cellar” dating back to the 12th century.

You will cordially be accommodated each evening in Charming guesthouses, hotels***. In most cases you’ll be accommodated in sumptuous castles or wine châteaux in the hearth of the vines.

Highlights
  • The walks through renowned vineyards
  • The medieval city of St-Emilion classified by Unesco
  • The winery visit and wine tasting in St-Emilion
  • Daily walks between vines and rivers
  • The beautiful territory of Entre-deux-Mers and the city of St-Macaire
  • The prestigious Sauternes wine estates
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Program

Day 1Arrival in Bordeaux and transfer to St Emilion

Arrival in the train station or Bordeaux Airport in Aquitaine region. Taxi transfer to the your guesthouse or hotel*** in St Emilion.

Delivery of the route notes.

Dinner by yourselves in a restaurant in the medieval city.

Day 2Saint Emilion vineyards – UNESCO inheritance 8 or 15 km - 110 or 225 m

You will begin your week with a hiking day in the jurisdiction of St-Emilion. All around the city extends the vines: Châteaux and wine properties, like Petrus or château Cheval Blanc, Angelus , Pavie or Beau Séjour, draw up themselves there, well planted in the grounds, proud of their history and the men who set them up.

Circuit through the characteristic landscape of the coomb as well as specificities of the vineyards. Exceptional site formed by a succession of coomb covered with vines.

This ” landscape ” was the first “no architectural” site, classified UNESCO world heritage.

Depending on you willingness, you can visit and taste the Château du Clos de la Madeleine (great classified vintage), located on your course. this is one of the first area for red wines production in Bordeaux wine region, you can ask for a guided tour in a chateau and you’ll do a tasting of red wines and you’ll learn all about winemaking, winemakers, Grands Crus, french wine regions, appellations, French wines,  grape varieties like Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot or Merlot!

Back to you guesthouse.

Day 3 (optional)Saint Emilion : Exceptional medieval village

The morning, you will have a guided tour of the underground monuments of the city. Built in amphitheatre and true museum in the open air, the town of St-Emilion will astonish you. Its troglodyte tradition is seizing: a single romanesque church monolith in the world, more than 70 hectares of underground galleries dug in the calcareous rock.

The monuments and vestiges of the great Roman time follow one another along the steeps lanes, defying the rules of time the most established. Around 1h.

The afternoon, private guided visitof one of the oldest Winerie of Saint-émilion. This winery is one of the jewels of St. Emilion: The Couvent des Jacobins followed by a wine tasting of 3-4 great wines of Saint-émilion and/or Pomerol… Around 2 hours

At the end of the afternoon, taxi transfer until Camiran, in the “Entre-Deux-Mers” vineyard.

Dinner and night in guesthouse, renovated and arranged in bedrooms within a cordial framework of old stones and wood.

At the edge of the swimming pool, you enjoy the charm, the sight, the relaxation and the pleasures of South-west.

The host table will accommodate you the evening, to discover a regional kitchen and wines of the soil.

Day 4The Entre-deux-Mers area 16 km - 240 m

The Entre-Deux-Mers area, between the Dordogne and the Garonne rivers, is a triangle of ground, water and stones which surprises by its cultural variety.

You will cross a part of this vineyard which profits from an exceptional geographical site on the slopes dominating the valley of the Garonne. Here , ths is the first area for white wines production in Bordeaux wines

At the end of the afternoon, you will arrive in the heart of the cute village in the edge of the Garonne. We will drive you back to your guesthouse

Dinner in your guesthouse.

Day 5From Caudrot to St Macaire 8 km - 30 m

You will walk in a landscape of greenery, along the vines and estuary of the Gironde. Castles, fishermen huts of the area offer astonishing sights. You will be able to make a halt in the small port and its locks marking the departure of famous “Canal du Midi”, linking the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea.

The footpath lead you directly to one of the door of the medieval city of St Macaire, site protected by the historic buildings since 1965.

You will take time to visit by your own this village. Dinner and night in hotel*** in full heart of the city.

Day 6Loop from St Macaire to Sainte Croix du Mont 11 or 18 km - 120 or 250 m

Above Saint-Macaire, the hills open splendid scenic views. One guesses there the dark spots of the tobacco drying sheds. In this landscape of hills and small valleys, the vines succeed the meadows and the thickets of leafy trees. One discovers many mills and castles there, opening very broad sights on changing reliefs.

This circuit will carry out you to the “Domaine de Malagar”, residence of the writer François Mauriac, whom you will be able to visit and to the tomb of the famous painter Toulouse Lautrec.

You will reach the village of Sainte Croix du Mont, perched on a slope, offering a spectacular view on the Garonne Valley and remarkable for its wines and caves, whose walls are covered with fossilized oyster benches and where cellars and even a vault were arranged. Do not forget the church as well.

At the end of the afternoon, return to the hotel at St Macaire and transfer in the taxi until Sauternes.

Night in hotel in Sauternes

Dinner in a restaurant in the Sauternes village at 5 minutes from the Château.

Day 7The Famous Sauternes vineyards area 16 km - 30 m

Located on left bank of the Garonne, in fact the high-class wines of Sauternes are offered to the discovery. Throughout your course, you will walk along well-known wine producer like Château La Tour Blanche and château Rayne Vigneau and will be able to appreciate the small local inheritance (churches, mills, laundrettes…) but also a varied natural inheritance: landscapes of vine, forest and the Ciron river, wild small river formerly used for the transport of wood.

You will walk in an exceptional vineyard by its single soil which results from a know-how, two century old, who gave quality and prestige to the wines of Sauternes and Barsac.

Once accommodated, you will finish the day by an “aperitif tasting” in the Château Gravas. Like other high-class wines of Sauternes, the fame of the Château Gravas date of the time of Richard Coeur de Lion (XII century).

Lodging and dinner in the castle which knew how to preserve the elegance of the XVIIIème century and the Néo-Renaissance charm of XIXème with its vast rooms having view on the vines or the park.

Please do not hesitate to relax inside the Jacuzzi. After one week hiking, it is a real pleasure.

Day 8End

Practical details

Need more informations ? +33 (0)5 56 79 25 05

We take care of transporting your luggage with each change of accommodation so that you travel light and fully enjoy your daily hike.

You leave your luggage at the reception of your accommodation before your departure.

At the end of the afternoon, you will find them at the reception of your new accommodation or directly in your room.

Luggage accepted per person: 1 suitcase or travel bag (20 kg maximum) + 1 hand luggage.

We remind you that the rental bikes are equipped with saddlebags to be used to transport the belongings that you deem useful for the day

Your travel record corresponds to the documents or files that you receive before your trip (usually one month before) and upon your arrival at the first accommodation.

It includes:

  • A welcome letter with the main practical information:
  • The time slot for luggage transport
  • Details of the delivery and collection of rental bikes if necessary
  • Your local contact and phone number (s) in case of emergency
  • Any additional information
  • The travel diary including a map with the route (to the appropriate scale) and directional, tourist and practical indications
  • The necessary voucher (s) to give to the service provider (s) (only if needed!)

On request and depending on the tours:

  • The “Evazio” application to download to a smartphone for “GPS” navigation with visual guidance (reading the track on the screen of your smartphone) and / or oral.
  • The application also contains practical and tourist information. Once the trip has been downloaded, no internet connection is necessary
  • The loan of a GPS device with pre-recorded tracks
  • Sends GPX traces of each step for use with your own navigation medium

The type of accommodation is classified into 3 ranges:

Comfort : The circuit mainly presents hotels classified 2 and 3 stars (or equivalent) and guest rooms.

Superior : The circuit mainly presents hotels classified 3 and 4 stars (or equivalent) and charming guest rooms.

Luxury : The circuit mainly presents 4 and 5 star hotels or equivalent

Our assistance remains available throughout your stay.