This elegant city on the banks of the Garonne near the Bay of Biscay is in the heart of the justly famed Bordeaux wine region. Tour the area wineries sample some of their products and in October watch the grape harvest.

Don’t however neglect the city of Bordeaux itself: it's a stylish city with a lively cosmopolitan air and some of the best examples of 18th-century architecture in the whole of France. To see the nicest buildings stroll along the river near the Quai de la Douane (Customs House Quay).