Places to Go In Bordeaux With Children

(Please note these may change and some are seasonal so check the official website for the most up to date information.)

• La Cité du Vin (Bordeaux Museum of Wine)
• Les Bassins des Lumières (A digital art centre based in old German submarine base, I explain more below)
• A city tour: either a boat cruise, tourist train or guided walking tour.
• Tour Pey-Berland (a 15th century gothic bell tower)
• Flèche Saint-Michel (the fourth tallest bell tower in France)
• Porte Cailhau (Cailhau Gatehouse)
• Palais Rohan (City Hall)
• Musée d'Aquitaine (Aquitaine Museum)
• Musée du Vin et du Négoce (Wine and Trade Museum)
• Musée des Beaux-Arts (Museum and Gallery of Fine Arts)
• CAPC Musée d'Art Contemporain (Museum of Contemporary Art)
• Musée des Arts Décoratifs et du Design (Museum of Decorative Arts and Design)
• Cap Sciences (Sciences Exhibition Centre) 
• Musée National des Douanes (National Customs Museum)
• Musée Mer Marine (Sea and Marine Museum)
• Musée De Bordeaux (Natural History Museum)
• Musée de l'Histoire Maritime de Bordeaux (Bordeaux Maritime History Museum)
• FRAC Nouvelle Aquitaine Méca (Region's Contemporary Art Collection)
• Tasting visit at Moon Harbour Distillery (a whisky distillery inside a WWII bunker_
• As well as a guided tour of the underground monuments of Saint-Émilion and a guided tour of the Citadelle de Blaye and Arachon Bunker tour if you decide to go on a day trip to any of these places.
• There are also quite a few other places where you can get a discount on the full price tickets.

Where we Visited in Bordeaux with Our Children

As the CityPass suggests there is plenty to do in Bordeaux, there are also many temporary exhibitions and activities that are not covered by the pass. I'm not going to claim we saw the very best Bordeaux has to offer, but I thought it would be helpful to share where we went and our experiences.

Day 1 - CAP Sciences and A Walk along The River

Hands On Fun At CAP Sciences

CAP sciences is a science exhibition centre.  We were lucky enough to catch the end of the 'Lune' Moon exhibition which ran from October 2025 to the end of August 2026. We all thought it was brilliant. Why am I telling you about an exhibition you can no longer go to? Because I genuinely believe this is a taste of what you can expect at CAP Sciences so it’s worth looking at what their major exhibition is when you are visiting Bordeaux.

The exhibition was very hands on and aimed at families with children 7 plus. They often have smaller exhibitions for younger children so check out their website if you have preschoolers. Younger children would have enjoyed it, but reading is useful. Everything was in French, English and German so there was no language barrier and when we needed help the staff spoke good English.

The exhibition was divided into 3 parts: training to be an astronaut, being on the mission and then exploring what it might be like living on the moon. There were lots of different tasks to work through which were fun and educational at the same time. We all really enjoyed it.

The Exhibition was timed entry (to stagger visitors) and cost €10.50 for adults, €8 for children (3 to 12).

The Moon exhibition is replaced by one about the gut called “Poop! What does the microbiota do?”. This is running from 3rd October 2026 to 29th August 2027. Starting by stepping through a giant mouth, to the stomach and intestines there will be loads of activities that will help everyone have a better understanding of what goes on when we eat food. I’m confident we will be visiting this next year.

Worth knowing: The nearest transport stop to CAP sciences is La Cité du Vin. The entrance is on the river side of the building (helpful to know to save you walking the whole way round like we did). They have toilets and a small shop.

If you want a budget friendly snack before you go in there is a Monoprix supermarket about a minute away which has some indoor tables next to the entrance you can eat at.

The hands on Moon exhibition at CAP Sciences

Old Familiars and A Walk Along The River

CAP Sciences is in Hangar 20 next to the Garonne River. If you turn right out of the exit and continue walking along the river towards central Bordeaux there are lots more hangars with shops and restaurants. These old warehouses were built in 1925 in the dock area to store the goods delivered to the port. Like in most other cities the docklands area fell into disrepair and the hangars (now collectively named “Bord’eau Village") were the results of the regeneration.

Given my children were hungry, hot and cranky at this point they were very happy to see the familiar sites of Starbucks (my teen) and McDonalds (the younger ones). There are independent food places too if your children are more adventurous. Quite a few of the shops are interesting and worth checking out.

Between many of the hangars there are little play spaces. We visited on a really hot day so didn’t really explore these, but if visiting in cooler weather they should help break up the walk in an entertaining way.

Because it was a really hot day I thought it would be a good idea to go to Miroir d’eau. This water pool is a popular place to cool off in the heat as it fills with 2cm of water allowing children to splash around and have fun. It’s 2.5km from CAP Sciences with the hangars along about half of this distance so walkable for many families. I didn’t factor in the heat though and it felt like the longest walk of my life with all the complaints. The moods were all quickly forgotten once they were splashing around though.

The Miroir d’Eau was built in 2006 between the river and Place de la Bourse. It’s not far from the central shopping area so it may be worth a detour with children. It normally operates between April and October and is a really big (3450 square metres) making it the largest water mirror in the world, providing a reflection of the area … or at least it would in cooler weather. There were hundreds of people cooling off in it when we were there which is much more fun for families.

It operates in cycles where for about 15 minutes it is has water in it (the reflecting stage), it then drains before there are a few minutes of fog (a gentle mist comes up) and then it spends a few minutes refilling. It doesn’t have fountains or anything so you can walk on it without getting soaked (depending on the behaviour of children nearby).

Sitting in the Miroir D'Eau waiting for it to refill

Day 2 - Begles

After several frustrating holidays I have had to accept that my children need to have chill days while we are away when they don't do much or they become overwhelmed and none of us have a good time. So our second day was mostly spent splashing about in the pool at in our accommodation (my Mum’s house), but we also spent a few hours in Begles where we had lunch and my Teen went shopping while her siblings went back to the pool.

Begles is in Southern Bordeaux and while you can get there on public transport it was much easier for us being driven.

There is an indoor shopping centre Rives d’Arcins which is a good place to visit with teenagers when really hot or cold/ wet. It has popular shops like H&M, Mango, Pull&Bear, Sephora, Stradivarius, Foot Locker, Lush and Zara, but less to appeal to younger children.  Also in the area (but you would ideally drive between the car parks than walk) are other large shops like Decathlon and a Smyths toy shop.

Entertainment wise you can find Jump Arena Bordeaux (a trampoline park with ninja courses etc), a cinema (CGR Villenave d’Ornon) the films are marked with VF when they are the French version, but in peak season it’s worth checking as they may have some in English with French subtitles.

A little further North you can find Begles Beach (Bégles Plage). This is an urban beach where you can play with the sand, swim in the lake or enjoy water sports between mid June and the end of August (with lifeguard supervision). Although Bordeaux isn’t far from the coast, this is an alternative option if you don’t want to drive for an hour to the sea. 

We had lunch at Tomi which describes itself as a “semi-gourmet” “asian restaurant”, but we went because it’s all you can eat Sushi. You order from a tablet and food is delivered to your table for a set price per person. Prices vary depending on day/ time of day, but children (4 to 11) are a reduced price. They have sushi, noodle dishes and the sort of stuff you would expect at a sushi restaurant. Drinks and desserts are charged in addition. It's a large venue, but it's worth booking a table at busier times and for larger groups.

There are lots of large food places in this area as well as the normal familiar fast food restaurants like KFC and McDonalds. Combined with lots of parking it's an easy place to visit, but maybe not the culture you are craving from a holiday abroad.

The shopping area in Begles has lots of choice for places to eat

Day 3 - Our Museum Day: Cité Du Vin & Museum de Bordeaux

Is the Cité Du Vin wine museum child friendly?

When looking for recommendations of things to do with children in Bordeaux the Cité du Vin came up repeatedly. Bordeaux is known worldwide for its wine so it’s no surprise that the wine museum is a popular attraction, is it a good place to visit with children though? I think it depends on the children. There are a lot of interactive sections which will entertain them, but adults without children could easily spend much longer. We got there about 10.45 and lasted a couple of hours which is pretty successful. My 7 year old got bored and hungry long before his 10 year old sister. 

Why it can work for children

Before you go in the exhibition you get given a handset and headphones. Around the exhibition there are lots of touch points, when you hold your handset next to them a voice will tell you the relevant information. Some of these are less than a minute, some much longer. This makes it really accessible regardless of their reading level and they can hear the information in English.  It also means you are free to choose your own path through the place and interact with whichever bits you choose.

The map we were given marked the areas that the museum feels are of most of interest to children. I think the best interactive sections (ie the most fun bits for children) are in the Art of Living section, don't miss the Buffet of 5 senses or Wine and me areas (this second area wasn't suggested for the junior tour on our map, but you can do a quiz to see what sort of wine you are and do a quiz to test your learning which reading age children will enjoy). There is also a projection on the floor in the Know-How section where you can stomp digital grapes. 

My history loving 10 year old found the Through The Ages section really interesting because you can learn about the history of wine from the very beginning. My 7 year old was done with this area long before his sister. Luckily we did this section early on, neither of them would have had the attention for it when they started to get hungry.

After the exhibition you go back down to the ground floor before getting a lift up to the viewing area and look out across Bordeaux with a glass of wine. When you buy your tickets you choose whether you want one or two taster glasses included. They are only small. For children they get grape juice which my children loved and drank much faster than I wanted to drink my bubbling Crémant (Bordeaux's equivalent of champagne).

So while the CAP Sciences exhibition will work for children (5 plus) whatever their attention span, Cité du Vin requires children to be happy to listen to information rather than constantly interacting with things. You'll be able to judge best if it will work for your child.

Learning about how vines grow

What can you smell? Understanding what you can smell in wine

How many grapes can you squash against the clock

Central Shopping Area

After the wine museum we got a tram to the central shopping area where we wandered around getting food from various places. You could easily spend all day in this area shopping if that was your thing. We didn’t stay for long because I’m a mean mummy and didn’t want to spend time in the LEGO store etc or toy shops as my children would want to buy things. It was a much cooler day though and more pleasant to be wondering around than a couple of days before.

If food is your thing do a little research about the best places to buy snacks in this area as there are some brilliant food places. Like in any city what is good changes regularly and the more touristy the area the more you will likely pay for basic quality food.

From Galeries Lafayette to LEGO there are lots of recognisable shops around Rue Sainte-Catherine

From fresh, flaky pastry to canelés there are plenty of snacks to discover in Bordeaux

Museum de Bordeaux

You know how some websites refer to things by the French name and others by an English version? Well I’m going to blame that for not realising that Museum de Bordeaux is the city's Natural History Museum. I did find it odd that they had a museum that was full of stuffed animals and another museum that was the Natural History Museum, but who am I to question the French? So anyway, they are the same place which means this is also included in the City Pass. It’s not very expensive though compared to some of the other places on the list (a third of the price of Cité du Vin for instance).

As a family we enjoy going to Natural History Museums where they have endless glass cabinets full of curious (and sadly departed) creatures, but I absolutely recognise that many people probably find it creepy. While I would hate the idea of anyone capturing an animal purely for the purpose of display, in a place like this many of the exhibits are from before this became unacceptable or are from natural deaths.

We initially decided to check out the museum because of Miaou! the cat temporary exhibition (we are a cat loving family) running until 3rd January 2027. It’s a small exhibition and I wouldn’t recommend going out of your way to visit, but it has been put together by a group of cat loving people who had apparently never created an exhibition before (that’s not me being rude by the way, that’s what it said on one of the information boards). It explores different aspects of cats senses and has made my son finally understand what we mean when we say our cat has sensitive hearing and not to make loud annoying noises near her (he understands, but still does it). It ended with a video screen where you could sit down and watch a series of photographs sent in by people of their cats. My husband and daughter watched this for ages. Quirky, but appealing to cat lovers. The programme varies over the run so you might see something different.

As it was the summer holidays they also had some hands on activities for children including step by step drawing guide of a cat and cat origami (for clarity this was folding paper to look like a cat, not folding up actual cats). If visiting in the summer it is worth checking out if they have any free activities and the times to coordinate your visit.

If your child needs a bit of structure in a museum check out the map they give you on entering. For most of the exhibition spaces the map has "specimens you mustn't miss" which are some of the highlights in each room like the whale skeleton on Level 2 (although unless this is hanging over the whole room so pretty difficult to miss) and the narwhal's tusk in the semi-permanent exhibition on Level 1. It's not a huge museum (especially if you compare it to the Natural History Museums in London, Paris or Madrid for instance), but there is a huge amount to see, including drawers you can open. 

When looking at the website for this post I noticed that they say to look for all the red squirrels as they are used to explain everything from classification to mammalian reproduction. I had notice that there were a lot of stuffed red squirrels, but didn’t realise it was “a thing” so worth asking children to look for them and see how many they can find.

The museum is next to a park (Jardin Public) and there is a small playground right outside the entrance to the museum (I would say best for 8 and under). If your children have any energy left there is also a bigger playground on the other side of the park which has more equipment for older children (they recommend up to age 12).

The Bordeaux Natural History Museum

Day 4 Les Bassins des Lumières

This was another quiet day for us with only a short trip out, but it was a pretty impressive one both because of what it is now and the history of the place that I found haunting. 

Please allow me to start with a little history lesson (it will be brief). In World War II France was quickly invaded by the Germans and it spent much of the war occupied until they were liberated in 1944. Bordeaux became an important strategic base for the German forces due to it's port facilities and the location away from Britain. In September 1940 they began building an initial base for Italian submarines to be concealed from allied aircraft and a year later they started building a more substantial concrete structure which took a year and a half to build. This is the structure that Les Bassins des Lumiéres is part of.

A reported 6500 workers were involved in the construction of the base, more than a third of whom were Spanish prisoners of war, but there were workers from other European countries too. It is built from thick concrete designed to withstand aerial attacks. U boats were launched from there for attack mission in the Atlantic Ocean (near America) and resupply missions in the Indian Ocean.

The submarine base was understandably a key target for allied forces with one American bombing in May 1943 causing substantial damage and death of around 200 civilians. It was abandoned by German troops on 26th August 1944 (for context the D Day invasion which started the liberation of France was in June 1944). Despite the bombings the submarine base was mostly intact after the war and the units were partly occupied by companies from the 60s to the 90s. 

In 1999 the base was reopened with a variety of arts programmes. Culturespaces manages 4 wet docks of the submarine base as Bassins des Lumieres which opened in April 2020 and is the largest digital art centre in the world. The docks are joined together by walkways making it effectively one large space with each of the rooms 110 metres long and 22 metres wide. It's large so it doesn't feel claustrophobic, but I found it impossible to ignore the weight of it's history.

Having said all that, you can choose to ignore all that and just focus on the awesome way it is now being used.

Les Bassins des Lumières is included in the CityPass and the website seems to say that even if a slot is fully booked you can visit with a CityPass. In winter it can be cold so wrap up warm.

If relying on public transport the entrance is about 10 minutes walk from the nearest bus stops. While this is a bit of a trek with young children it gives you a chance to see some of the outside of the submarine base so you can appreciate the size and you can see some minor damage from the air raids during the war.

There is a seating area where you can watch the digital art

During school holidays they have displays which will appeal to children, this was 'Ocean'

Day 5 Saint Emilion

While I very much hate guides that are like “10 things to do in Bordeaux” which can’t list more than a handful of things to do without suggesting you go on a day trip leaving the city, this is a guide of what we did on our holiday and on the final day we decided that we would rather go somewhere outside of the city.

As the Rocade (the ring road) and traffic generally were busy in several directions we ended up going to Saint Emilion. You can get there by train from Bordeaux, followed by a 20 minute walk which isn't very child friendly so if you don't have a car you might want to give it a miss. There are several free car parks in Saint Emilion, but if visiting at a peak time like us (eg just after lunch on a weekend in the summer when a large wedding is about to start) you might have to pay for parking.

I have been to Saint Emilion a couple of times and it is a beautiful place, but it isn't the most entertaining village for children. Strolling around Bordeaux you often find playgrounds to break up the sight seeing, but that’s not the case here. While it’s a lovely place to visit, it probably won’t be the most fun day of the holiday for your children if they don't like exploring.

Having said that there are things to do in Saint Emilion that will be enjoyed by all ages.

If you got a CityPass you might want to prebook and go on the underground tour. Beneath the streets there are catacombs, a cloister and the cave built by a monk to store wine. It suggests you can book by calling the Tourist Office.

The Tourist Train - Les Train Des Grands Vignobles

We went on a land train ride which takes you round in a loop showing you many of the famous wine chateaus. You wear headsets and get a prerecorded talk in a variety of languages so if your children enjoy land trains, you can sit back and enjoy the pretty landscape. While they probably won’t care about the wineries, near the end of the route they point out the medieval city walls.

You can choose between a tour which stops off at Château Rochebelle Grand Cru Classé and includes a tasting (for adults) or just enjoy the land train ride which takes about half an hour.

You buy tickets from the ticket office in Espace Villemaurine. This is also where the tour starts and ends. You can't park here so make sure you leave enough time to find a space and get tickets. The train runs multiple times a day from April to October.

Whether or not you have been on the land train tour, the view of the vineyards around Saint Emilion is lovely. The easiest way to see this is from outside the Monolithic Church. This doesn't require any climbing and feels quite safe, even for those not keen on heights. If you prefer more of an adventure there are two options:

The Church Bell Tower - Built between the 12th and 15th century you can climb up the 196 steps to the tallest point in Saint Emilion. Entry is possible when the Tourist Office is open (seasonal) for a small fee.

Tour Du Roy - Possibly the better option with children because it's a Keep (basically a castle). The keep was built sometime around 13th Century and has 118 steps to the top. There is a large space at the top to enjoy the view, which might be preferable with little ones. It has seasonal opening and like the church tower, there is a small fee per person for access.

Exploring

The main part of Saint Emilion isn't very big so once you are parked it is easy to explore it all on foot (as long as you can cope with the cobblestones). If you are visiting with a pushchair the Family Guide has a map with colour coded roads, with red labelled "baby will surely wake up', I'm pretty sure these are the cobbled and most bumpy roads.

To make exploring more interesting there are some free guides for children available (scroll down to the Treasure Hunt with Robin section).  They have different versions for age 5 to 7 and 8 to 10. You can print and download them at home or it looks like you can pick them up from the Tourist Office too. They point out some of the historical buildings like the wash houses and gates, and also encourage children to look at some of the details. 

It's also worth looking at the free TerraAdventura app which has a 3km route that is like a treasure trail with puzzles to solve. There are trails in lots of across Nouvelle-Aquitaine as well as Saint Emilion. 

Food & Drink

Obviously the big thing in Saint Emilion is wine, but there are treats for people with a sweet tooth as well. You can  find crepes, macarons (including a traditional saint emilion version) and ice cream to enjoy. A popular choice for ice cream and sorbet is Le Gouter d'Amelie which has a huge selection in both expected and unexpected flavours.

Bordeaux Airport

We flew back from Bordeaux airport to London. Despite it being a weekend in August they were well organised without huge queues. They don’t recognise the sunflower lanyard for hidden disabilities like many airports, however when they saw that we were really struggling in the security queue on the way home we were invited to jump the queue.

There are 3 departure halls at the airport, you can walk between them easily enough, but with children and luggage it is useful if you can work out where your airlines check in desks are in advance.

After security there is a small cafe selling food and a duty free style shop. There was also a stand selling the classic Canelles and Macarons (they looked expensive, I didn't check the price). There is currently renovation work at the airport so there might be more facilities in the future. There is plenty of seating in this area, including more downstairs and there are toilets.

Near your flight time to the UK you are asked to go through immigration. They probably announce this, but we were watching the board so saw when it said immigration was open for our flight. By the gates there was a relay shop, a slightly smaller version of the duty free place, a cafe type place, vending machines and toilet. So if immigration is open for your flight you can still get food and gifts after going through while waiting to board the plane.