Food and Wine Tours of Southwest France

Personalized Tours

We don't believe in "cookie-cutter" travel experiences and neither should you. Our aim is to provide the most personalized and unique experience possible. Every tour we give is never the same because it is based on YOU. With the exception of a few must-try foods, the rest is built around what you're curious about tasting.

We offer small group food and wine tours in both Bordeaux and Biarritz. Each tour is limited to 8 people and has a slightly different focus to emphasize the unique offerings of either historic Bordeaux or the rich diversity of the French Basque region. In Bordeaux, our Old Town tour offers a little bit of everything and includes charcuterie from one of our favorite butchers. Our cheese and wine masterclass gives you a thorough overview while including a visit to the city's oldest bakery. Our Biarritz tour showcases the unique French Basque country and gives you an in-depth look at what makes this region so special. Please read the tour descriptions for a detailed overview of what each offers. 

If you're coming to Bordeaux or Biarritz but don't see your preferred dates available, feel free to send us an email to bordeauxinbites@gmail.com about additional dates and possibilities.

Basque Country in Biarritz

Basque Country in Biarritz

The French Basque region draws much of its culinary influence from the sea, mountains and nearby Spain. All of this is reflected in the area's local cheeses, hams, pastries, and even wine. We'll start with a tour of the lively town market before

3 hours

from €97

Cheese, Wine, and Bread

Cheese, Wine, and Bread

This is the "holy trinity" of the French table. Your tour starts with a visit to one of the most unique bakeries in Bordeaux which uses an oven dating back to 1765. After sampling pain Gascon, you'll move on to an artisanal cheese shop to discover

3 hours

from €97

Old Town

Old Town

With its magnificent medieval architecture and winding cobblestone streets, you'll stroll through Old Bordeaux while sampling some of the best the city has to offer. We'll start at a bakery whose "boulanger" comes from a long line of bakers dating

3 hours

from €97

Why We're Different

You'll be sampling the best of French food with an incredibly knowledgeable guide. Did you know that a baguette is some of the worst bread in France and you should be asking for something else? Or that there are seasons for cheese? Would you like to have someone walk you through the regions of French wine? Our guides can do this because they are food professionals - former chefs, food writers, and wine experts - not a student who has memorized a script.   

Through rigorous testing and vetting, we have selected only the highest quality shops to showcase some of the best France has to offer. Among our purveyors are the bread baker for many of France's Michelin star restaurants, a cheesemonger who ages her own cheese, and a wine bar that emphasizes biodynamic wines. These are artisans who put a lot of heart and thought into what they produce, and you’ll sample that dedication through their cheeses, pastries, bread, and charcuterie.

What to Expect

The tour is roughly divided into two halves. The first half takes you to the highest quality artisanal shops of the neighborhood. You are mostly standing or walking while sampling along the way. The second half is a sit down, blow out tasting accompanied with copious amounts of wine. Tours last approximately 3 to 3.5 hours. Tasting portions are very generous and double as a meal for most people. There is often food leftover, which you are welcome to take home with you.

Gallery

About

Founded by Diane Rovner, Bordeaux in Bites is the culmination of over 15 years in food publishing and tourism. Her food career started at the late, great Gourmet Magazine working under Ruth Reichl before spending several years at Saveur.

Leaving New York for Paris, Diane discovered the wonderful world of food tours where she got to share her knowledge with curious and hungry travelers. For the last several years, Diane has worked with Paris by Mouth, the city's preeminent tour company. During her time in France, Diane fell in love with Bordeaux and has made it her mission to help visitors discover the Southwest's culinary gems.

Most recently, Diane was featured in the cookbook World Food: Paris by James Oseland, for which she was a contributor.    

Photo for World Food: Paris by James Roper

Contact Us

Questions? Feel free to send us an email to: bordeauxinbites@gmail.com or fill in the form below. We promise not to spam you!

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Reviews

Rebecca W
Phenomenal!

"

This tour was the perfect balance of local treats, curated beautifully to highlight some of the best edibles I've enjoyed in Bordeaux and culinary information complete with some delightful historical stories. Definitely exceeded my expectation and I'm grateful I was able to experience this tour with Alex. He is very thoughtful in his approach to customize the tour to the interests and tastes of the group. Absolutely, phenomenal.

"

Rebecca W , Sunnyvale, California
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Kevin E
Exquisite Food Tour in Bordeaux

"

We are so glad we took this tour. Our tour guide Diane was personable and knowledgeable, and we could tell she really wanted to make this tour memorable for us. This tour combined Diane's knowledge of food, (Diane is a former food writer) with her passion for the Bordeaux region and the food shops that we visited offered a uniquely Bordeaux experience. By asking us about some of our favorite tastes and foods Diane curated a tour that left a lasting impression for us. The walk through the city was both picture perfect and leisurely. If you are looking for a way to experience the foods of Bordeaux and the city itself, with a guide who made you feel like a friend, please do yourself a favor and take the Bordeaux in Bites tour.

"

Kevin E , Canada
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Sarah P
Do it - you won't regret it

"

When we visit a city for the first time, the first thing we look for now is a food and wine walking tour. It's a good way to get to orientate yourself in a new place, and to discover local food and wine places you'd never find otherwise, benefitting from the knowledge of the local guides. We've done similar tours in Florence and Verona and really enjoyed them, so we were very happy to find Bordeaux in Bites. The format of the tour is slightly different from other tours we've done but just as enjoyable, if not more so. In other tours, we've sampled produce in each venue and then moved on to the next one. With Bordeaux in Bites, we visited and collected produce from artisan stores before sampling it all at the final location, an amazing cheese shop, where the owner paired the cold cuts and cheeses we'd selected with wines and beers (we couldn't eat all of the produce at lunch and went away with a doggy bag containing enough for another lunch the next day).
Highly recommended; you'll learn about the gastronimic history of the city and get to taste some amazing bread, wine, cold cuts, cheeses, not forgetting the canelé and coffee. Our guide was Diane, the founder of Bordeaux in Bites, and we had a great time. Thanks Diane! We will go back to Bordeaux again, and I wouldn't be surprised if we do the tour again - we really enjoyed it, and there were so many tempting things we didn't get to try first time...

"

Sarah P , Devon, UK
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