Must-see attractions in Atlantic Coast

  • Pont Jacques Chaban-Delmas

    Bordeaux

    Europe's highest lift bridge crosses the River Garonne with grace and aplomb near the entrance to the Bassins à Flot. At night, its four distinctive…

  • Tour Pey Berland

    Bordeaux

    This gargoyled, 50m-high Flamboyant Gothic belfry was built for the adjoining cathedral between 1440 and 1466. Its spire was added in the 19th century,…

  • Clocher de l’Église Monolithe

    St-Émilion

    For captivating views of the hilltop hamlet, borrow one of four keys from the tourist office to climb the 196 spiralling steps of this 68m-high bell tower…

  • Baptistère St-Jean

    Poitiers

    Constructed in the 4th and 5th centuries on Roman foundations, this ginger-stone baptistery formed part of the episcopal ensemble with the cathedral, 100m…

  • Cathédrale St-Pierre et St-Paul

    Nantes

    Inside Nantes' Flamboyant Gothic cathedral, the tomb of François II (r 1458–88), Duke of Brittany, and of his second wife, Marguerite de Foix, is a…

  • Église St-Hilaire le Grand

    Poitiers

    Consecrated in 1049, used as a warehouse during the Revolution and partly rebuilt in the 19th century, this grandiose Romanesque church appears on Unesco…

  • Tour de la Chaîne

    La Rochelle

    To protect the harbour at night in times of war, an enormous chain was raised between the two 14th-century stone towers at the harbour entrance to La…

  • Musée des Arts Décoratifs et du Design

    Bordeaux

    Faience pottery, porcelain, gold, iron, glasswork and furniture are displayed at the small Decorative Arts and Design Museum, at home in an elegant golden…

  • Ville d’Hiver

    Arcachon

    On the tree-covered hillside south of the Ville d'Été, the century-old Ville d'Hiver (Winter Quarter) has more than 300 villas, many decorated with…

  • Musée du Nouveau Monde

    La Rochelle

    La Rochelle's role as a departure point for North America is interpreted at this museum, housed in an elegant courtyard-clad mansion built in 1750.

  • Le Cale 2 Créateurs

    Nantes

    Edgy temporary art exhibitions, events and happenings fill this old industrial slipway, shaped like a wedge of cheese at the foot of Île de Nantes'…

  • Cox Gallery

    Bordeaux

    In a city increasingly known for its street art, it was inevitable that a gallery dedicated solely to street art would open. Enter Cox Gallery, with a…

  • Tour du Roy

    St-Émilion

    Climb 118 steps inside this sturdy square tower – what's left of a 13th-century donjon – for a 360-degree panorama of the town, Dordogne River and its…

  • France, Paris, Galliera museum

    Palais Gallien

    Bordeaux

    It was Celtic tribes who first established Bordeaux, but it wasn't until about 200 years later, under the rule of the Romans, that the town started to…

  • Église Notre Dame du Chapelet

    Bordeaux

    On 17 April 1828 the funeral of Romantic Spanish painter Francisco Goya (1746–1828) took place in this magnificent French Baroque church, a stone's throw…

  • Site Archéologique de St-Seurin

    Bordeaux

    Not to be confused with the small crypt inside Basilique St-Seurin, this archaeological site was uncovered in 1910 when archaeologists excavated part of…

  • Pavé des Chartrons

    Bordeaux

    Nowhere is the immense wealth that 18th-century Bordeaux amassed from its port more explicit than on this posh avenue lined with elegant hôtels…

  • Place Gambetta

    Bordeaux

    The old street plaques – place Dauphiné and place Nationale – remain firmly on the wall of one building as a reminder of this tree-shaded square's…

  • Église St-Pierre

    Bordeaux

    Saint-Pierre's enchanting labyrinth of narrow lanes inevitably leads to the predominantly 15th-century church around which the medieval neighbourhood…

  • Palais de Justice

    Poitiers

    Today it houses the law courts, but nearly a thousand years ago this stunning building was the seat of the Counts of Poitou and Dukes of Aquitaine. Its…

  • Porte de Bourgogne

    Bordeaux

    This Roman-style city gate was designed in the 1750s by 18th-century celebrity architect Ange-Jacques Gabriel (1698–1782), best known for redesigning…

  • Musée Ste-Croix

    Poitiers

    The 1970s Brutalist architecture of this art museum, built from reinforced concrete, is a shock after the elegance of its ancient episcopal neighbours…

  • Musée des Arts du Cognac

    Atlantic Coast

    Inside a contemporary building set into the ramparts alongside the 19th-century Hôtel Perrin de Boussac, this museum explains the production of Cognac…

  • Jardin Public

    Bordeaux

    Landscaping is artistic as well as informative at the Jardin Public. Established in 1755 and laid out in the English style a century later, the grounds…

  • Cathédrale St-Pierre

    Poitiers

    The town's grand Gothic cathedral safeguards beautiful 13th-century oak-carved choir stalls, an 18th-century organ with more than 3000 pipes and…

  • Musée d’Ethnographie

    Bordeaux

    A visit to this Museum of Ethnography is as much an excuse to nose around the old medical faculty of Bordeaux's prestigious university, established in…

  • Monument aux Girondins

    Bordeaux

    This imposing fountain on vast square and public-transport hub Esplanade des Quinconces is a riot of horses. It was created between 1894 and 1902 in…

  • Promenade des Remparts

    Bordeaux

    An alley of centurion plane trees charts out the course of this elevated garden behind the Capucins food market, built into the remains of the 5km-long…

  • Jardin Botanique de la Bastide

    Bordeaux

    On the right bank, attractive botanical gardens showcase six different zones, including a water garden with impressive lilies, a vertical garden planted…

  • Musée des Automates et Modèles Réduits

    La Rochelle

    This small museum displays 300 automated dolls from the last two centuries, including a near-life-size re-creation of bygone Montmartre in Paris, right…

  • Musée Bordeaux – Sciences et Nature

    Bordeaux

    With more than one million different specimens on show, Bordeaux's former Natural History Museum is among France's most impressive. Closed at the time of…

  • Musée d’Art et d’Histoire de Cognac

    Atlantic Coast

    In the southern corner of the grotto- and pond-clad Jardin Public, Cognac’s Art and History Museum showcases the town’s history. Its interior –…

  • Église Ste-Marie de la Bastide

    Bordeaux

    La Bastide's neo-medieval church, consecrated in 1884, was designed by Paul Abadie (1812–84) – the same architect who designed the Basilica de Sacre-Coeur…

  • Musée des Beaux-Arts

    La Rochelle

    La Rochelle's Museum of Fine Arts, housed inside a stunning neoclassical building, hosts an impressive collection of 15th- to 20th-century art.

  • Musée Ernest Cognacq

    Île de Ré

    This small museum, opposite the tourist office at the entrance to St-Martin de Ré, explores island history through art, ceramics and maritime curiosities…

  • Galerie des Beaux Arts

    Bordeaux

    Temporary exhibitions of the nearby Musée des Beaux Arts will be hosted at this annexe once it reopens after extensive renovation work in early 2019. The…

  • Église Collégiale

    St-Émilion

    A domed Romanesque 12th-century nave dominates the former Collégiale, which also boasts an almost-square vaulted choir built between the 14th and 16th…

  • Musée d’Histoire Naturelle

    Nantes

    Nantes' Natural History Museum has a fascinating collection of minerals, fossils, stuffed animals and an impressive whale skeleton. There are frequent…

  • Église St-Léger

    Atlantic Coast

    Cognac's main church occupies a former Benedictine priory. Building work started in 1130 and continued for more than three centuries, hence the mix of…

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