In-depth guide · CampingSpirit
From Bordeaux along the Médoc wine road, by ferry to Blaye, through the Bourgeais, Saint-Émilion and Entre-Deux-Mers to Sauternes and into the Graves: around 350 kilometres of the Bordelais, where the driving days are short and the evenings in wine country long.
The spirit of the route
The Bordelais is a landscape of water, even if everyone only talks about wine. In the Médoc the famous châteaux sit on flat gravel ridges barely higher than the Gironde, which here is almost as wide as an arm of the sea and presses against its banks the colour of milky coffee. On the ferry to Blaye it smells of silt and diesel, and gulls circle above the ramparts of the citadel. On the right bank the land turns hilly: limestone slopes in the Bourgeais, quarries and cellars beneath Saint-Émilion, villages with arcaded squares in the Entre-Deux-Mers. In autumn, mist hangs over the Ciron in the mornings, and it is precisely this mist that lets noble rot grow on the grapes in Sauternes. From the sliding door you see rows of vines to the horizon, fishermen’s huts on stilts and, in the evening, the Garonne in the last light – a route for slow days, bike and footpath rather than chasing kilometres.
Stage-by-stage plan
1Stage 1: Bordeaux to Pauillac (approx. 55 km)
- The drive
- Only a short stop in Bordeaux: leave the camper at a Parc relais (park and ride) on the edge of the city and take the tram into town, then head via Blanquefort onto the D2, the actual Route des Châteaux. It runs north through Ludon, Macau, Cantenac and Margaux, mostly two-lane, flat and with few bends, but narrow in the wine villages, with pinch points at churches and wall corners. Around an hour of pure driving time from the Rocade.
- Highlights & must-sees
- Cité du Vin on the Garonne riverbank in the Bacalan district, reachable by tram: an exhibition on the wine cultures of the world and a viewing floor above the Bassins à flot.
- Margaux: the avenue leading to the neoclassical Château Margaux – a photo subject from outside, inside only by appointment. The Maison du Vin in the village arranges visits to estates of the appellation.
- The hamlet of Bages near Pauillac, a restored village with a bakery, café and wine shop that you can visit without an appointment.
- CampingSpirit overnight tip
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Official campsite or RV park: Camping Les Gabarreys, Pauillac’s municipal campsite, lies on the Gironde bank south of the centre, with the riverside path leading to the harbour on foot or by bike: pitches with electricity, sanitary facilities, water and waste disposal. Seasonal operation, check opening times in advance. Alternative without a campsite: the Aire communale in Saint-Laurent-Médoc in the hinterland, with water and waste disposal.
Free camping or nature tip (where legal): Bordeaux is no place to spend the night in your vehicle, and in the Médoc, too, the car parks in front of the châteaux and the tracks between the rows of vines remain private land. Several wine estates in the Médoc host France Passion members for one night; call ahead and don’t set up camp. At Pauillac harbour the municipal parking rules apply, so watch the signs.
- Insider tip for campers
- From the Médoc you can also visit Bordeaux without the camper: the regional train (TER) on the Ligne du Médoc stops in Margaux and Pauillac and runs to Bordeaux. If you do drive in with the camper: the Rocade is toll-free and exempt from the low-emission zone. Many Parcs relais have height barriers or are designed for cars only – check on infotbm.com whether a site, such as Cantinolle at the terminus of tram line D on the way to the Médoc, suits your vehicle. Château visits almost always by appointment only, and schedule tastings for the end of the driving day.
2Stage 2: Pauillac to Blaye (approx. 40 km)
- The drive
- First north on the D2 to Saint-Estèphe and back, then south through Pauillac and Saint-Julien-Beychevelle to Cussac-Fort-Médoc and Lamarque. From Lamarque harbour the Gironde département’s ferry (Bacs de Gironde) crosses the Gironde to Blaye in around 20 minutes, a little longer depending on the tides. Around an hour of driving on the D2, plus waiting time at the landing stage.
- Highlights & must-sees
- Château Cos d’Estournel near Saint-Estèphe with its pagoda-like towers, right on the D2 – a photo subject even from the road.
- Saint-Julien-Beychevelle: Châteaux Beychevelle and Ducru-Beaucaillou by the road, plus the view across the vine slopes to the Gironde.
- Fort Médoc near Cussac, the Vauban fort on the left bank which, together with the Blaye citadel and Fort Paté on the island, is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Vauban’s fortifications.
- CampingSpirit overnight tip
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Official campsite or RV park: Aire de Blaye on the Route des Cônes, around one kilometre north of the centre near the estuary: a large, paved and lit area, electricity, water and waste disposal included, fee payable, motorhomes up to 8 metres according to the operator. The small Camping municipal de la Citadelle lies within the fortress walls – atmospheric, but the access through the gates is narrow; check your vehicle length beforehand.
Free camping or nature tip (where legal): In Lamarque there is a small, fee-paying Aire at the harbour with electricity, water and waste disposal, handy if you want to take the first ferry in the morning; stays are limited to 24 hours. Within the Blaye citadel the protection zone around a Monument historique applies – no overnight stays there outside the campsite.
- Insider tip for campers
- On this line, ferry tickets are sold at the ticket desk on board or online from the département (gironde.fr/bacs); an online ticket is not a space reservation. The fare depends on the vehicle category; if in doubt, the staff will classify your vehicle. Heavy vehicles must be registered in advance by email with the operator (bacs@gironde.fr) – with a motorhome over 3.5 t, ask there. In summer get to the landing stage early and check the seasonal timetable – in winter a separate, reduced timetable applies.
3Stage 3: Blaye to Libourne (approx. 50 km)
- The drive
- Upriver on the D669, the Corniche de la Gironde, via Plassac, Gauriac and Bayon-sur-Gironde to Bourg: beneath the limestone cliffs stand cave houses, and along the bank the fishermen’s huts with lift nets (carrelets). The road is narrow and winding, in places single-track along walls in the villages. From Bourg via Saint-André-de-Cubzac and Fronsac to Libourne. A good hour of driving.
- Highlights & must-sees
- The Blaye citadel in the morning: a walk on the ramparts above the estuary; the site is freely accessible.
- Grotte de Pair-non-Pair near Prignac-et-Marcamps: a cave with Ice Age animal engravings, only in small guided groups – book a place in advance.
- Bourg: the gardens of the Citadelle high above the Dordogne, a few kilometres before it joins the Garonne, plus the Tertre de Fronsac shortly before Libourne with a view over the Dordogne valley.
- CampingSpirit overnight tip
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Official campsite or RV park: Camping-Car Park aire at the Lac des Dagueys near Libourne: pitches with electricity, water and waste disposal, access with the network’s card at the terminal, on the leisure lake with cycling and walking paths. If you’d rather stay in Bourg: the Camping municipal de la Citadelle lies down by the harbour, and Bourg also has a simple Aire.
Free camping or nature tip (where legal): In the Bourgeais, known for its hills as the “little Switzerland of the Gironde”, quite a few winegrowers of the Côtes de Bourg and Blaye welcome motorhomes, some through France Passion, others on their own pitches. Along the Corniche the small lay-bys on the riverbank are only meant for short photo stops.
- Insider tip for campers
- The Corniche is doable with large motorhomes, but slow: oncoming farm machinery means pulling into farm entrances. Libourne is a 13th-century bastide; the market on the Place Abel-Surchamp under the arcades takes place on several mornings a week and is one of the largest in the region – ideal for shopping. Reach the Lac des Dagueys via the bypass, not through the old town.
4Stage 4: Libourne to Créon (approx. 45 km)
- The drive
- On the D243 for around 8 kilometres through the rows of vines to Saint-Émilion; avoid the narrow vineyard lanes. Then south across the Dordogne bridge at Branne into the Entre-Deux-Mers, the hill country between the Garonne and the Dordogne, and on minor departmental roads to Créon. Gentle hills, many roundabouts, hardly any pinch points outside the village centres. About an hour of pure driving time.
- Highlights & must-sees
- Monolithic church of Saint-Émilion: hewn from the limestone rock in the Middle Ages and one of the largest underground churches in Europe, visitable only on a tour run by the tourist office. The old town and the wine landscape of the Juridiction are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
- Cloître des Cordeliers: a ruined cloister in the middle of the village, with crémant produced in its cellars.
- Créon in the evening: the arcaded square of the 14th-century bastide, as the heat leaves the stones.
- CampingSpirit overnight tip
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Official campsite or RV park: Aire de camping-cars de Créon close to the village, with water and waste disposal, a few minutes’ walk from the bastide and the bike station on the Piste Roger Lapébie. Check the number of pitches, fee and electricity on site. If you’d rather stay with a winegrower, you’ll find numerous pitches on wine estates in the Entre-Deux-Mers.
Free camping or nature tip (where legal): Saint-Émilion itself is not suitable for spending the night in your vehicle: the whole village lies within the protected area of several Monuments historiques, and the car parks on its edge charge a fee and are not intended for overnight stays. Around Saint-Émilion, wine estates offer pitches for one night, some with water and waste disposal – ask through France Passion or directly at the château.
- Insider tip for campers
- Cycling from Libourne to Saint-Émilion saves you looking for a parking space: the route along the back roads is short, only the last ramp up to the village is steep. If you arrive by camper, park down on the edge of the village and walk – the cobbled lanes are narrow and steep. Macarons made to an old recipe, for provisions, are sold in the village bakeries.
5Stage 5: Créon to Cadillac (approx. 35 km)
- The drive
- A day on the bike; the drive afterwards is short: from Créon on the D671 to the abbey of La Sauve-Majeure, then via Haux and the hill country to Langoiran on the Garonne, and on the D10 along the river via Rions to Cadillac. Some steep sections down to the Garonne, narrow village through-roads on the D10. A good 45 minutes of driving.
- Highlights & must-sees
- Piste Roger Lapébie: a cycle path on a disused railway line from Latresne to Sauveterre-de-Guyenne, just under 60 kilometres long from Bordeaux, asphalted and with gentle gradients. From Créon the ride east through woods and vines is worthwhile.
- Abbey of La Sauve-Majeure: Romanesque ruins of a powerful Benedictine abbey with finely carved capitals and a tower with a panoramic view; a UNESCO World Heritage Site as a stage on the Way of St James.
- Cadillac: a bastide with town walls and the château of the Dukes of Épernon, an early 17th-century building with large fireplaces and painted ceilings.
- CampingSpirit overnight tip
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Official campsite or RV park: Camping-Car Park aire in Cadillac near the Garonne: electricity, water and waste disposal, access with the network’s card, walking distance to the bastide. The Maison des Vins de Cadillac also welcomes motorhomes overnight; ask there about the conditions.
Free camping or nature tip (where legal): In the Entre-Deux-Mers small municipal aires and winegrowers’ pitches are thick on the ground, so wild camping is unnecessary. Along the Garonne the riverside paths and towpaths flood when the water is high – by the river, never stand overnight in the flood zone.
- Insider tip for campers
- At the Station Vélo on the cycle path in Créon you can hire bikes if you don’t have any on board. For a detour to Sainte-Croix-du-Mont, a few kilometres upriver: beneath the village lie rocks full of fossil oyster beds, and from the terrace by the château the view reaches far across the Garonne valley and the vineyards of Sauternes.
6Stage 6: Cadillac to Bazas (approx. 50 km)
- The drive
- Across the Garonne bridge from Cadillac to Cérons on the left bank, then via Barsac and Preignac to Sauternes. On along narrow departmental roads through vines and pine forest to Mazères for the Château de Roquetaillade, and to Bazas. Quiet country roads, few pinch points outside the village centres. Around 1 hour 15 minutes of driving.
- Highlights & must-sees
- Sauternes: the small village among the vineyards, with Château d’Yquem on a hilltop above it – visits by appointment only, but the view from the road comes without one.
- Château de Roquetaillade near Mazères: a medieval castle restored and furnished by Viollet-le-Duc in the 19th century, with guided tours.
- Bazas, briefly: the Gothic Cathédrale Saint-Jean-Baptiste, a UNESCO World Heritage Site as a stage on the Way of St James, and the sloping cathedral square with its arcades.
- CampingSpirit overnight tip
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Official campsite or RV park: Bazas has a campsite on the edge of town, most recently run by a holiday chain as “Le Paradis de Bazas” – check the season and facilities in advance. The Aire de Caroy in Bernos-Beaulac, just under 10 kilometres south, is well equipped with water and waste disposal. Alternatively: the Camping municipal in Villandraut next to the castle ruins of Pope Clement V.
Free camping or nature tip (where legal): Around Sauternes and Barsac, wine estates welcome motorhomes through France Passion; calling ahead is customary. South of Bazas the forests of the Landes de Gascogne begin: forest tracks and skid trails are off limits, and in summer the prefecture’s access restrictions apply when there is a risk of forest fires.
- Insider tip for campers
- The bridge at Cadillac is an old suspension bridge – watch the weight and width signs on the approach. If it is not permitted for your vehicle, take the bridge at Langon. In Sauternes the village has the Maison du Sauternes, a wine shop with tastings for which you need no appointment at the estates. Bazas is known for its beef, with butchers on the cathedral square.
7Stage 7: Bazas to Bordeaux (Gradignan) (approx. 70 km)
- The drive
- Via Langon back to the Garonne and north on the D1113 through the Graves: Podensac, Portets, Castres-Gironde, then inland to La Brède and via Martillac and Léognan, the heart of the Pessac-Léognan appellation, to the southern edge of Bordeaux. Wide roads, many village through-roads at 50 km/h with speed bumps. Just under 1.5 hours of driving.
- Highlights & must-sees
- Podensac: the Maison des Vins de Graves and the aperitif Lillet, which is made in the town; visits of the house by appointment.
- Château de La Brède: a moated castle where Montesquieu was born and wrote, with a park and guided tours in season.
- Pessac-Léognan: the châteaux between pine forest and gravel soils, where the Graves merge with the city; visits almost everywhere by appointment only.
- CampingSpirit overnight tip
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Official campsite or RV park: Camping Beausoleil in Gradignan on the southern edge of Bordeaux: a small site with electricity, sanitary facilities and waste disposal; check the season and opening times in advance. From there into the city by bus and tram or on cycle paths; ask at reception about connections. In the north of the city, the large campsite at the Lac de Bordeaux in Bruges is the alternative with a tram connection.
Free camping or nature tip (where legal): In the Bordeaux metropolitan area, stay on campsites or aires: the low-emission zone applies inside the Rocade, many multi-storey car parks have height barriers, and on the outskirts car parks often have no-camper signs.
- Insider tip for campers
- The Rocade is sluggish at rush hour – drive in the morning after the commuter traffic or in the early afternoon. If you’re heading further south into the Landes or north into Cognac country, you’ll find the connections on the Rocade, and you can bypass the low-emission zone inside the ring completely.
Camping practice & local rules
Wild camping & overnight parking
- France distinguishes between parking and camping: a motorhome may stand, including overnight, wherever parking is allowed, for a maximum of seven days in the same place, unless a municipal order (arrêté) prohibits it. Levelling jacks, an awning, table and chairs or draining water count as camping and are only allowed on campsites and aires. Blanket bans covering entire municipalities are legally challengeable, but signs at individual car parks do apply.
- Wild camping is prohibited in classified landscapes (Sites classés), within 500 metres of Monuments historiques – on this route, therefore, in Saint-Émilion, at the citadels of Blaye and Bourg, at Fort Médoc, at the abbey of La Sauve-Majeure, in Cadillac and around the cathedral of Bazas –, near drinking water catchments and on the seashore.
- The vineyards and château driveways are private land. You can spend the night legally and pleasantly with winegrowers: numerous estates in the Médoc, Bourgeais, Saint-Émilionnais, Entre-Deux-Mers and Sauternais are France Passion members or offer their own pitches – call ahead, one night, no camping behaviour; a purchase is not required but is appreciated.
- Forest fires: in the south of the route (Graves, Bazadais, Landes de Gascogne) the prefectures can restrict access to forests in summer; fires and outdoor barbecues are then off limits. Maps and alert levels on risque-prevention-incendie.fr, usually updated the evening before.
- Apps: park4night, Campercontact and Caramaps; the tourism websites of the Gironde and the wine regions list municipal aires and winegrowers’ pitches.
Waste disposal & supplies
- Service points (bornes) for water and waste are plentiful on this route: Lamarque, Blaye, Bourg, Libourne (Lac des Dagueys), Saint-Sulpice-de-Faleyrens near Saint-Émilion, Créon, Cadillac and Bernos-Beaulac. The aires of the Camping-Car Park network (including Libourne and Cadillac) work with their own access card, which you get at the terminal of the first aire.
- Empty grey water and cassette toilets only at the service point, never into ditches, vineyards or the Gironde, Dordogne and Garonne.
- Drinking water from the tap where it is marked “eau potable”; taps at cemeteries are often labelled “eau non potable”. In dry spells the Gironde prefecture imposes water restrictions in summer.
- Gas: French exchange cylinders (butane, propane) are available at petrol stations and supermarkets; foreign cylinders are not exchanged. LPG pumps for filling refillable tanks (Dish or Euronozzle adapter) are more likely to be found at supermarkets around Bordeaux and Libourne than in the wine villages.
Vehicle size & traffic rules
- Speed limits: motorhomes up to 3.5 t and vehicle-trailer combinations up to 3.5 t gross combination weight drive like cars – 130 km/h on motorways, 110 on dual carriageways, 80 on country roads (90 where signed), 50 in built-up areas, in rain 110/100/80. Motorhomes over 3.5 t up to 12 t: 110 on motorways, 100 on dual carriageways, 80 on other roads, even where cars may do 90, 50 in built-up areas, with a speed limit disc on the rear. Combinations over 3.5 t: 90 on motorways and dual carriageways, 80 on other roads.
- Vehicles over 3.5 t, expressly including motorhomes, need “Angles morts” (blind spot) stickers on the sides and rear; not having them costs €135.
- Low-emission zone: on 21 May 2026 the Conseil constitutionnel struck down the nationwide abolition of the ZFE, so the zones remain in place. Bordeaux Métropole bars vehicles without a Crit’Air sticker inside the Rocade; the Rocade itself is exempt. The sticker also applies to foreign vehicles and should only be ordered from the official website. Check the current situation before your trip.
- Tolls: the route itself runs on toll-free departmental roads, and the Rocade around Bordeaux is toll-free. Motorways such as the A10 and A62 for getting there and back are tolled – class 2 for vehicles up to 3.5 t over 2 and under 3 metres high, class 3 for two-axle vehicles from 3 metres high or over 3.5 t, class 4 for three or more axles over 3.5 t or from 3 metres. The Lamarque–Blaye ferry has its own fares by vehicle category.
- Blood alcohol limit 0.5 (new drivers 0.2) – on a wine route the most important rule: schedule tastings for the end of the driving day, use the spittoon or take the bike. Phones and headsets at the wheel are prohibited, a high-visibility vest for the driver is mandatory and must be within reach, and a warning triangle must be on board. Secure and mark bikes or boxes projecting from the rear.
CampingSpirit packing & preparation checklist
- Bikes with panniers and a lock – this way you reach the Piste Roger Lapébie, the paths to Saint-Émilion and the wine villages of the Médoc without hunting for parking and without worrying about the alcohol limit.
- Wine box inserts or bottle padding so that bottles you buy don’t clink or break on the cobbled streets and speed bumps; in summer also a cool box against the heat in the vehicle.
- Printed or saved confirmations for château visits, the tour of the monolithic church and the Grotte de Pair-non-Pair – almost everything here works by appointment.
- A chip-and-PIN credit card for the terminals at the Camping-Car Park aires and for the ferry, plus some cash for small village aires and winegrowers.
- Binoculars for the Gironde with its fishermen’s huts and shipping traffic, and for herons and storks along the banks.
- Mosquito repellent: on the Gironde, the Garonne and the lakes near Libourne, mosquitoes are a nuisance on summer evenings.
As of 2026-10. Closures, fees and booking rules change: check official sources before you go.
