Private Vintage Sidecar Sightseeing Ride in Bordeaux

Place de la Bourse and the Water Mirror

Every private sidecar tour of Bordeaux passes the city's signature view. Place de la Bourse, built between 1730 and 1775, was one of the first royal squares in France to open onto a river rather than close around a statue, and its two pavilions frame the Fountain of the Three Graces. In front of it, the Water Mirror, created in 2006, covers a huge granite slab with a thin film of water that reflects the facades and releases a cool mist every few minutes.

Your driver-guide stops here so you can step out of the sidecar and take the classic photos, with the vintage motorcycle as the perfect prop. The square looks its best in the soft morning light of the 9:30 am departure, before the crowds, and your guide explains how the square transformed the riverside into the city's grand entrance.

The Grand Théâtre and the Golden Triangle

From the river the sidecar heads into the Golden Triangle, the elegant 18th-century district framed by three great avenues. Its centrepiece is the Grand Théâtre, inaugurated in 1780, with a portico of twelve Corinthian columns topped by statues of muses and goddesses, considered one of the most beautiful theatres in France.

Nearby, Place des Quinconces is one of the largest city squares in Europe, with a monumental fountain of bronze horses and figures at its northern end. Riding through these wide boulevards in an open sidecar is a very different experience from walking: you feel the scale of the city, and your guide adds stories about the merchants, architects and trades that shaped this district.

The old town, Porte Cailhau and the cathedral

The ride continues into the medieval heart of Bordeaux, where narrow streets wind between small squares. Porte Cailhau, a late 15th-century city gate with pointed turrets, once guarded the entrance from the river port, while the Grosse Cloche, the belfry of the old town hall, is one of the oldest in France.

Further on rises the great Gothic cathedral, built mainly between the 12th and 16th centuries, with its bell tower standing apart on the square. Old town streets are sometimes too narrow or pedestrian, so your driver chooses the best route and stops where you can step out for photos. Many visitors ask what to do in Bordeaux in a half-day; this ride covers the essentials in a single morning.

The right bank of the Garonne

A highlight of the longer rides is crossing the Garonne to the right bank. The sidecar crosses the Stone Bridge, completed in 1822 with seventeen arches of brick and stone, to the Bastide district, where riverside gardens look straight back at the city. From here the whole UNESCO-listed waterfront of the Port of the Moon appears as one long golden line of facades, with Place de la Bourse in the centre.

This is the best viewpoint over Bordeaux and the ideal place for a group photo with the sidecar. Your guide also points out the vertical-lift bridge downstream, opened in 2013, and the new districts growing on the right bank, where old docks and rail yards have become parks and modern neighbourhoods.

The covered market and local flavours

The three-hour ride adds a taste of local life. Your guide takes you to the covered market of the Capucins, nicknamed the belly of Bordeaux, where locals shop for fresh produce, cheese and seafood. Here you enjoy oysters from the nearby Atlantic coast and Arcachon Bay, opened at the counter as Bordeaux people like to eat them on market mornings.

The tour also includes a taste of local sweet specialities. If you have dietary requirements or do not eat seafood, tell us when booking so the guide can adapt the stops. The ride then continues through the Chartrons, the old merchants' quarter of antique shops and stone houses, before returning to the meeting point.