Eating your way through Bordeaux: food tours, canelés and the Capucins market
4 min read
The answer first
For a proper meal on foot, book the walking food tour with a full meal and wine. It costs €87.20 and is guided in English. If you want a shorter, sit-down option, the cheese and wine tasting lasts 1.5 hours and costs €49.
The three tastings
- Bordeaux food tour (€87.20, rated 4.7/5 from 117 reviews). Starts at Place de la Bourse and ends at Place Gambetta, with 4 or more stops: organic wine, a traditional main dish, cheese on dinner tours, and desserts such as canelés. Lunch tours add chocolate bonbons. The page gives roughly 3 to 3.5 hours, says tastings vary with season and time of day, and warns of 10 to 15 minutes of continuous walking. Tell the organiser about allergies in advance. Children under 10 pay a lower price, and the page lists people with mobility impairments as not suited. There is no hotel pickup: you meet at Place de la Bourse.
- Cheese and wine tasting (€49). Nine AOC cheeses with three Bordeaux wines (a dry white, a red and a Sauternes) in an 18th-century vaulted cellar, at a shared table, in English. Grape juice is served to guests under 18, children under 4 are not allowed, and pregnant women are listed as not suitable.
- Médoc food and wine tour (€189). A 7-hour small-group day (limit 8) with three wine estates, one a grand cru classé, each with a food pairing such as cheese or charcuterie. It leaves at 11:00 AM from the Rustic Vines agency at 26 Rue de la Devise, and the page lists children under 16, vegetarians, vegans and people with food allergies as not suitable. It is a wine day first; our guide to the Médoc and Margaux explains the area.
Canelés and the market
The canelé is the local pastry, and several tours here include one: the Garonne cruise serves one with a drink, as does the Wine and Trade Museum tasting. For the market, the Capucins hall is listed by the city of Bordeaux as open from Tuesday to Sunday, from 6:00 AM to 1:00 PM on weekdays and until 2:00 PM at weekends (bordeaux.fr). The market has no ticket and no booking, so a tour is not needed to enjoy it.
Who it suits
- Couples and groups of friends who want lunch and wine in one go.
- Short stays: the cheese tasting fits between other plans.
- Not ideal for anyone who cannot walk for 15 minutes at a stretch, or for those who want vineyards; for that see wine tasting in Bordeaux.
Side by side
| Tour | Duration | Price per person |
|---|---|---|
| Bordeaux food tour | 3 to 3.5 hours | €87.20 |
| Cheese and wine tasting | 1.5 hours | €49 |
| Médoc food and wine tour | 7 hours | €189 |
Our recommendation
For most people, the food tour: its page describes a full meal and it stays in the city. See all options on our page for food tours in Bordeaux.
