Bordeaux Scavenger Hunt and Self-Guided Tour

Ten stops, two medieval gates and a river: the way from Saint-André to the old belfry

10 stops · about 49 min walking · start: Cathédrale Saint-André · finish: Grosse Cloche

The hunt starts at the Cathédrale Saint-André and heads west to the Porte Dijeaux on Place Gambetta. Via the Notre-Dame church you reach the Grand Théâtre and Place des Quinconces, then follow the river to Place de la Bourse. From there you enter the Saint-Pierre quarter at Place Camille Jullian, pass the Porte Cailhau and the Porte de Bourgogne by the Pont de Pierre, and finish at the Grosse Cloche. Each riddle is read from a gate, a portico or a fountain in the open air, so not one stop on this walk of pale stone asks for an entry ticket, and if you arrive by the river rather than at the cathedral, the app lets you begin at Place de la Bourse and rearrange the stops that follow.

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1. 

   1Cathédrale Saint-AndréStart

   Bordeaux's Gothic cathedral was built mainly between the 13th and 15th centuries on the site of an older Romanesque church, and in 1137 Eleanor of Aquitaine married the future King Louis VII of France here. Its bell tower, the Tour Pey-Berland, stands apart from the church and is crowned by a gilded statue of the Virgin.

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2. 

   2Porte Dijeaux

   This classical city gate was built in the mid-18th century under the royal intendant Tourny, replacing a medieval gate in the town walls. Its name is said to come from the Latin Porta Jovia, the gate of Jupiter, and today it leads from Place Gambetta into the old town.

3. 

   3Notre-Dame Church and Presbytery

   Notre-Dame was built for the Dominican friars between the late 17th and early 18th centuries, and its richly sculpted Baroque façade stands out among the city's churches. Beside it are buildings of the former Dominican convent, including the presbytery, whose old cloister survives as the Cour Mably.

4. 

   4Grand Théâtre (Opéra National de Bordeaux)

   Designed by the architect Victor Louis and inaugurated in 1780, the Grand Théâtre is the home of the Opéra National de Bordeaux. Its portico on Place de la Comédie has twelve Corinthian columns, topped by statues of the nine Muses and three goddesses.

5. 

   5Place des Quinconces

   This square was laid out in the early 19th century on the site of the demolished Château Trompette fortress and is one of the largest city squares in Europe. At its western end the Monument aux Girondins, a tall column with bronze fountains, honours the Girondin deputies of the French Revolution, and statues of Montaigne and Montesquieu stand at the river end.

6. 

   6Place de la Bourse

   Built between 1730 and 1755 to plans by Jacques Gabriel and his son Ange-Jacques Gabriel, this royal square opened the city towards the Garonne. The Fountain of the Three Graces stands where a statue of Louis XV stood before the Revolution, and across the quay the Miroir d'eau, a shallow water mirror, reflects the façades.

7. 

   7Place Camille Jullian

   This small square in the Saint-Pierre quarter, one of the oldest parts of Bordeaux, is named after Camille Jullian, the historian of ancient Gaul who also wrote a history of the city. The Utopia cinema occupies the former Saint-Siméon church here, so films are shown inside an old church.

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8. 

   8Porte Cailhau

   This 35-metre gate was built in 1495 to celebrate King Charles VIII's victory at Fornovo in Italy and guarded the entrance from the river port. With its pointed roofs and turrets it looks more like a small castle, and one explanation links its name to the pebbles, cailloux, unloaded on the quay.

9. 

   9Porte de Bourgogne

   This triumphal arch was built in the mid-18th century and lines up with the Pont de Pierre, the first bridge across the Garonne in Bordeaux, completed in 1822. It is also called the Porte des Salinières, after the salt merchants who once worked in this district.

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10. 

    10Grosse ClocheFinish

    The Grosse Cloche is the belfry of the old town hall, built on a 13th-century city gate whose two round towers still frame the street. Its bell, cast in 1775, weighs almost eight tonnes, and a gilded leopard on the roof recalls the three centuries when Bordeaux belonged to the English crown.