Voyage, voyage : Bordeaux.

Just the name of this glorious city is eponymous with viticulture, and if you're an aficionado you're almost duty-bound to come to the home of wine. You don't need to be told that there's a world of prestigious châteaux and smaller wineries to locate and visit.

Tip - Get the Bordeaux Metropole City Pass for free access to several museums and attractions and free use of public transport.

But you might not be aware of the brand new Cité du Vin, a 21st-century architectural demonstration of what wine means to the city and the rest of the world. The UNESCO-listed old city, on a crescent-shaped meander in the Garonne, demands your attention too, with its extraordinary 18th-century quays and squares, and fabulous civic buildings made from a beguiling honey-colored stone.