Bordeaux France private tours put your party alone in the car with a driver-guide, and nearly all of them collect you at your hotel. Check how each is priced, per person or per car, and whether the château fees are in it.
The car is the day: a 1973 Citroën DS convertible with a chauffeur-guide, from pickup in Bordeaux along the Médoc's châteaux road. Its transport is listed as wheelchair accessible. Tastings are paid at each château.
From $333 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Up to three people in an open Citroën 2CV with a chauffeur, collected from a hotel, a flat or a cruise ship. Visits and tastings at two châteaux fill the four and a half hours, and both are in the fare.
From $286 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Nine hours in the Médoc planned around your party, with a wine-expert driver-guide and pickup at your Bordeaux accommodation. The fare is per person, and the châteaux's entrance and tasting fees and lunch are extra.
From $336 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Your own driver-guide for eight hours in Saint-Émilion, with a guided walk in the village and pickup at your accommodation. The fare is per person and leaves the wineries' fees and lunch to you.
From $336 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Four hours for your party in Saint-Émilion: hotel pickup, one winery pouring red, white and rosé, and the village with your guide. The underground monuments can be added as an upgrade.
From $398 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Not a wine day: nine and a half hours to the Basque coast, Biarritz and Espelette, with a driver-guide who collects you at your Bordeaux accommodation. Lunch, visits and tasting fees are paid on the day.
From $462 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
A driver-guide collects you at your hotel for four hours in the Médoc, with two wineries pre-selected and their tasting fees paid. Other languages on request; no tours on 25 December, 1 January or 1 May.
From $480 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
A WSET-certified guide takes your party to Saint-Émilion's classified estates for six to seven hours. Hotel pickup, the visits and the tastings are in the fare, and a child ticket lets families come along.
From $573 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Private visits on both banks in eight hours, Saint-Émilion and the Médoc, with a WSET guide and about ten to twelve wines in the fare. Pickup in Bordeaux; lunch is yours to buy.
From $573 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
A tailor-made full day in Saint-Émilion, from about 9 am to 6:30 pm, with pickup at your hotel or river boat. Tastings, château visits and third-party insurance are in the fare. Two people minimum.
From $632 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Your own guide and vehicle for about nine hours in the Médoc, with hotel pickup and drop-off and the tastings in the fare. The usual brasserie lunch is about EUR 25; ask the guide for an upmarket table.
From $643 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Built around a ship's call: collected at the Bordeaux cruise terminal and returned there after eight hours in the Médoc. Two wineries are booked ahead, the minivan takes eight at most, and two people is the minimum.
From $661 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
One fare for the sedan and up to three of you: a driver-guide for eight to nine hours in Saint-Émilion, from your hotel or Place de la Comédie. Château visit and tasting fees and restaurant meals are extra.
From $673 per group, up to 3
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
This private day meets at Place de la Comédie rather than your door: eight to nine hours in Cognac in a premium vehicle with wifi, one fare for up to three. The cognac houses' visits and tastings are extra.
From $790 per group, up to 3
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
A van with wifi for a party of up to six, at one fare for the vehicle. Your driver-guide collects you at your hotel or the tourist office; each château's visit and tasting, and your meals, are paid on the day.
From $878 per group, up to 6
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Pessac-Léognan begins at the city's edge. A WSET guide leads private château tours with tastings, all in the fare, over five to six hours from hotel pickup. Children have their own ticket; lunch is extra.
From $878 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Two appellations in one private day: Saint-Émilion and Pomerol with a WSET guide for seven to eight hours. About ten to twelve wines are poured for adults, soft drinks for children; pickup in Bordeaux.
From $878 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Entre Vides takes your party to Saint-Émilion and the Médoc with a WSET-trained guide, and about ten to twelve wines are in the fare.
Check availabilityIt is a day with your own vehicle and your own guide, usually a driver-guide who does both. Nobody else joins, and on all but one of these days you are collected at your hotel, your flat, your cruise ship or your river boat.
Most private days go to the wine country: Saint-Émilion, Pomerol, the Médoc or Pessac-Léognan. Two go further, to Cognac and to the Basque coast at Biarritz and Espelette. The operator books each château visit ahead, and on several days you choose what you taste.
The length runs from four hours to a full day of about nine, and the price basis varies. Most fares are per person; a few buy the whole car.
Hotel pickup comes with every private day except the Cognac trip, which meets at Place de la Comédie. The cruise-port Médoc day starts at the ship terminal, the 2CV will collect you from a cruise ship, and SIP Wines from a river boat.
The premium sedan costs $673 for up to three people, the van with wifi $878 for up to six, and the Cognac day $790 for up to three. Filled, the van works out at $146 each.
The Entre Vides days sell a child ticket, and on the Saint-Émilion and Pomerol day and the two-bank day the children get soft drinks while the adults taste. Infant seats are available on request on many private days.
Stay longer where you like the wine, skip the lunch stop, or ask your guide about the estate's history. SIP Wines builds its Saint-Émilion day to order, and the DS convertible lets you pick the châteaux you taste at.
The alternative is a shared van of six to eight from a kerb in the centre. Here is how the two compare, using each listing's own figures.
| A private day | A small-group day | |
|---|---|---|
| Who is in the car | Your party only | Up to six or eight travellers |
| How you pay | Per person on most; per car on the sedan, the van and Cognac | Per person |
| Where it starts | Your hotel, on all but the Cognac day | A fixed kerb in the centre |
| Tasting fees | In the fare on some; paid on the day on others | In the fare |
| Lunch | Extra on nearly all | A picnic at a château on the full days from Rue Mably |
| Fare | $286 to $878 per person, or $673 to $878 per car | $86 to $292 per person |
| Best for | Couples, families and the curious | Solo travellers and tighter budgets |
If you are four or more, compare the per-car fares against four per-person fares. If you are one or two on a budget, the shared days are the better buy.
What these days add is the vehicle or the guide, not a different vineyard. The DS convertible is a 1973 Citroën with a chauffeur-guide who is also a wine expert, and its transport is the one listed as wheelchair accessible. The 2CV is open-topped and seats three. The premium sedan and the van with wifi sell comfort for a full Saint-Émilion day.
For the guide rather than the car, Entre Vides' Grand Cru days send a WSET-certified guide to Saint-Émilion's classified estates, to Pomerol, to both banks, or to Pessac-Léognan. Their fares run $573 to $878 per person, with the tastings in the fare.
Read the tasting line before you choose: the DS, the sedan and the van leave the château fees to you, and the Entre Vides days include them.
4 roues sous 1 parapluie collects you at your hotel, flat or cruise ship, and two château visits with tastings are in the fare.
Check availabilityWeighing the bank first? Read Saint-Émilion or the Médoc, then come back to the cards above.
Would you rather share the van? Compare every private day with the small-group days on Bordeaux France Tours.